- Title: 'I saw a sea of bodies' - Israeli man recounts Hamas attack on his town
- Date: 7th October 2023
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI CITIZEN, SHLOMI, SAYING: "At six in the morning I was sleeping, it's Saturday, a day of holiday, the whole country is resting. Suddenly at six I heard a siren, explosions. I checked on the internet and I saw there is a terrorist infiltration. You can see in the background their bodies. I went out, I saw loads of bodies of terrorists, civilians, cars shot up, sea of bodies, inside Sderot along the road, other places, loads of bodies. It is sad, it is tragic. We are at war. I don't know when it will all end." BULLETS NEXT TO DEAD BODY MILITARY UNIFORM ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI CITIZEN, SHLOMI, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER SHOT OF DEAD BODIES ON ROAD BEHIND SHLOMI): "I understand these people, not just these but in the whole area are killing innocent people. But I say, like you say in Arabic, haram, it's just a shame. They go out to die and are killed. It's a shame. Young men who have chosen the wrong way and end their lives this way." VARIOUS OF BURNT CAR ON ROAD
- Embargoed: 21st October 2023 17:40
- Keywords: Gaza Hamas Israel Sderot
- Location: SDEROT, ISRAEL
- City: SDEROT, ISRAEL
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA007788007102023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
An Israeli man reported seeing multiple bodies and bullet-scarred vehicles in the southern Israeli town of Sderot where groups of Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli troops 12 hours after a surprise attack was launched on Saturday (October 7)
"I went out, I saw loads of bodies of terrorists, civilians, cars shot up. A sea of bodies, inside Sderot along the road, other places, loads of bodies," said Shlomi from Sderot. "I don't know when it will all end."
A Reuters journalist saw a dog walking between dead bodies on the road. The dog then returned to a car and sat in the footwell.
The sudden assault by gunmen who crossed into Israeli villages, killed dozens of people and brought hostages back into the Gaza Strip.
The bodies of Israeli civilians lay strewn across a highway in Sderot, surrounded by broken glass. A woman and a man lay dead dead across the front seats of a car.
Sderot is just 4 km (2 miles) from the Gaza Strip and has been bearing the brunt of previous Palestinian shelling attacks.
Israel responded with massive air strikes deep inside the coastal enclave, killing scores and wounding hundreds of people and vowing unprecedented retaliation.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem.
(Production: Ammar Awad, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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