Israel-Hamas war: reports of 'massacre' at Israeli settlement on Gaza border

Israel’s military on Tuesday allowed journalists into a kibbutz on the border with the Gaza Strip that was targeted by Hamas militants during their unprecedented attack on the Jewish nation.

Many residents of Kfar Aza were killed or taken captive on Saturday after militant fighters overran the kibbutz.

Troops were seen recovering the remains of a number of victims in the area on Tuesday, placing them in body bags to be taken to nearby facilities where officials will try to identify them.

For three days, Israel's military fought to clear the kibbutz of militants, in a campaign led by Major General Itay Veruv, who described the scenes his troops encountered as the aftermath of a massacre.

Explosions of rockets in the air and distant gunfire peppered the otherwise deadly silent kibbutz as troops moved slowly over shattered glass and other debris.

As soldiers moved through the kibbutz, they were followed by search-and-rescue teams that were attempting to recover every body part of the civilians killed.

One of the team members explained that according to some Jewish traditions, the body must be buried whole to ensure resurrection when the Messiah comes.

Remnants of the Hamas attack littered the ground: a dozen bodies of killed militants, a broken paraglider and motorcycle used to infiltrate into Israel; ammunition, and at least two live grenades.

Israel’s military said Tuesday that it had regained effective control over its south and the border with the Gaza Strip four days after Hamas fighters stormed into the country and brought gun battles to its streets for the first time in decades.

It also said more than 1,000 people had died in Israel since Saturday's incursion and one of the officers present at the kibbutz on Tuesday compared the trauma to that the United States experienced on 11 September in 2001.