Australian grandmother killed in Hamas attack
A grandmother living in a kibbutz settlement in southern Israel is the first Australian confirmed killed in the Hamas attack.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned the Hamas militants who "murdered" Galit Carbone, 66, at her home in Be'eri kibbutz, a scene of horrifying atrocities.
Carbone was found lying on the ground outside her home in the Be'eri kibbutz.
READ MORE: How music festival turned into worst civilian massacre in Israel's history
Galit Carbone, who has been killed in the conflict, with her daughters. Today / Supplied
It's believed Carbone raised her three children at Be'eri, and previously worked at the settlement, just to the east of the Gaza border, as a librarian.
More than 100 bodies have been found in the kibbutz, a self-sustaining farming community of 1000 residents near Gaza. Carbone is one at least of 1000 killed in Israel.
Be'eri kibbutz was one of first places targeted by militants who breached the border early on Saturday morning, and among the hardest hit.
Heavily armed militants arrived in Be'eri on motorbikes around 7am, 30 minutes after they breached the typically high-tech, tightly guarded border wall between Gaza and Israel.
Carbone is the first known Australian victim of the conflict.
"On behalf of the government, I wish to convey my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Ms Carbone," Wong said in a statement today.
"Australia unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas. There is no excuse for the deliberate killing of innocent civilians.
"The loss of life from these attacks has been devastating and unacceptable."
The government called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those taken hostage, Wong said.
Terrified residents told Israel's Channel 12 television station that assailants went door to door, trying to break into their homes.
LIVE UPDATES: 'They killed babies in front of their parents': Horror in Gaza
Gunshots and blood stains on a door and walls of a house in a kibbutz where civilians were killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas militants. Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Getty Images
Of the 107 bodies discovered in the aftermath, most were of local residents of the kibbutz, though some were Israeli security forces, an official confirmed.
The IDF acknowledged that Be'eri was "very badly hit."
Horrific details are emerging from various kibbutzim attacked by Hamas, as soldiers and search and rescue teams recover bodies and look for survivors.
There are reports of Hamas militants killing babies in front of parents, and the slaughter of old and young.
Traditionally agrarian, the kibbutzim were popular in the country's early years, founded on ideals of communal living and agriculture.
READ MORE: How a spot of gardening almost cost Glenn his arm
About 125,000 people live on them today, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel, and there are approximately 250 kibbutzim across Israel.
The attack on Be'eri came around the same time as Hamas militants descended upon a music festival, known as Nova, just 5km south of the kibbutz.
At least 260 festivalgoers were killed.
Israel-Hamas war: What you need to know
- Israel continues to pound Gaza with airstrikes. More than 1000 are dead in Israel, and at least 900 in Gaza. An Australian grandmother has been killed at a kibbutz.
- Horrifying reports of babies being killed in front of parents and other atrocities are emerging from communities hit hard in the Hamas attack.
- The number of hostages held in Gaza is estimated between 100 and 150. American citizens are believed among the hostages.
- The US carrier strike force ordered to the eastern Med has arrived, and will act as a deterrent to "any actor hostile to Israel", US Central Command said.
With CNN
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
