THIS IS WHAT 'HEINOUS EVIL' LOOKS LIKE

A volunteer in Israel says the Gaza region looks like the set of a horror movie now, with 'burnt-out cars' and 'bodies strewn all across the road'

HAMAS WAS AN EXCUSE TO DO WHAT ISRAEL WANTED TO DO ANYWAYS

Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Mon, October 9, 2023 

The rubble of destroyed buildings and mosque after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on October 9.Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A volunteer in Israel says the region around Gaza now resembles a horror movie set.


Josh Wander told The Daily Beast he is working to help recover bodies of civilians killed in Israel.


"You're literally driving around bodies as you're driving down the main roads there," Wander said.

A volunteer working to recover the bodies of civilians killed in Israel says the conflict following Hamas' attacks has transformed the region around Gaza into a scene of continuous horror.

"Just driving down from my home in Jerusalem to that area, it is like walking into a horror movie," Josh Wander, a volunteer with ZAKA, a rescue and recovery organization in Israel, told the Daily Beast in a story published Monday.

"You're looking out on both sides of the road and you're seeing burnt-out cars flipped over on the side of the road, many of them riddled with bullets, bodies strewn all across the road," Wander added. "You're literally driving around bodies as you're driving down the main roads there."

Wander told the Daily Beast that he thinks of the Hamas attacks as "the Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 of Israel all wrapped in one." And recovering the bodies — especially those of children — has been difficult, even for "hardened, seasoned volunteers," Wander added.

Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza. The Palestinian militant group also fired at civilians attending the Tribe of Nova Music Festival happening a few miles from the border. At least 260 bodies have been recovered from the music festival attack.

CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, reporting from the ground in Israel, also came across several bodies when driving through the area, including those of dead Hamas militants. Ward said that many festival attendees were still missing after being taken hostage by fighters from Hamas.

"Many of them are still missing. Many of them are dead. It's been very difficult to try and get a precise number," Ward said in her report.

On Sunday, Israel declared a "state of war," with officials saying their goal was to eliminate Hamas and take complete control of Gaza.

Civilian deaths and injuries have been reported on both sides. Israeli authorities said that the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 900 Israelis. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 687 people in Gaza have been killed, with thousands more injured.

On Monday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he'd ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip. This means some 2.2 million people inside the blockaded area will have no outside access to electricity, food, or fuel.

A representative for ZAKA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Photos show the devastation in Gaza since Israel launched its counterattack

Grace Eliza Goodwin,Elias Chavez
Mon, October 9, 2023 

Lightning strikes as smoke billows following Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023.Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's counteroffensive began over the weekend and continued into Monday, October 9.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "complete siege" of Gaza on Monday, cutting off electricity and the flow of food, water, and supplies.

Photos show neighborhoods in Gaza reduced to rubble and entire buildings leveled.

Content note: This article contains graphic images of violence.

Days of fighting have rocked the Middle East after Hamas militants launched a series of attacks on Israel early Saturday morning, beginning the deadliest conflict between Gaza and Israel in decades.

At least 687 Palestinians have been killed and 3,800 more have been injured, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. At least 900 Israelis were killed and more than 2,500 others have been injured, according to Israeli authorities. According to a statement by President Biden, at least 11 Americans citizens were also among those killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared war against Hamas on Saturday and announced a "complete siege" of Gaza on Monday.

Since launching its aggressive counterattack on the Gaza Strip over the weekend, Israel continued with heavy airstrikes onto the Palestinian territory well into Monday evening.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "complete siege" of Gaza as Israeli forces continued to bombard the Palestinian enclave with airstrikes.

A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023.Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Under the siege, Gaza would be cut off from electricity and the flow of food, water, and supplies.

Palestinians mourn the death of their relatives.Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli airstrikes have leveled entire buildings in Gaza.

People walk through a destroyed street in Gaza on Sunday.MOHAMED ZAANOUN/Getty Images

With over 2 million residents living within 140 square miles, Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, Insider previously reported.

Hundreds of sites across Gaza have been reduced to rubble.

A group of people stand beside bombed out cars and buildings in Gaza on Sunday.MOHAMED ZAANOUN/Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces claims it has hit over 1,000 targets within Gaza.

An Israeli airstrike hit a refugee camp in Gaza, destroying a busy shopping center as well as surrounding buildings and cars.

Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on buildings in the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on October 9, 2023.Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images

Jabalia is the largest of the Gaza Strip's eight refugee camps. As of 2019, 5.6 million Palestinian refugees were registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Of those, around 1.7 million were in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens were killed and wounded in the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.

People carry the body of a Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia refugee camp, October 9, 2023.Reuters/Mahmoud Issa

Several mosques have also been destroyed, including the Yassin mosque.

Yassin mosque was destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Monday, October 9, 2023.AP Photo/Adel Hana

As well as the Sousi mosque in Gaza City.

The Sousi mosque in Gaza City after an airstrike on Monday.MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images

Following the attack on the Sousi mosque, Palestinians worked to evacuate a body from the destruction.

Sousi mosque after an airstrike on October 9, 2023.Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian rescuers across Gaza have been scouring the rubble for injured people.

Smoke rises from the Jabalia refugee camp on Monday.Mahmud Hams/Getty Images

As the death toll continues to rise, Palestinians mourn the deaths of friends and family.

Palestinians mourn the death of their relatives following an Israeli airstrike on the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on October 9, 2023.Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians pray over the bodies of those they have lost in Gaza.

Bodies of people killed in Jabalia on October 9, 2023.Mahmud Hams / AFP via Getty

Plumes of black smoke covered the skies above Gaza on Monday.

Smoke rising during an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on Monday, October 9, 2023.MAHMUD HAMS/Getty Images

Airstrikes continued into the night amidst blackouts.

Smoke rises in the night sky after Israeli airstrikes on the center of Gaza.Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images


Photos: Israel declares war, bombards Gaza after Hamas attack

Times Photography Wire Services
Mon, October 9, 2023 

Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on Monday. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)

The Israeli government promised Monday to hunt down Hamas fighters and to punish the Gaza Strip after a surprise weekend attack killed more than 700 people in Israel, including at least 260 at a crowded music festival that became the scene of one of the country’s worst civilian massacres.

A day after formally declaring war, Israel's military was pursuing Hamas fighters who might remain in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of Gaza, where almost 500 people have died since Saturday's unprecedented incursion.

The militants blew through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier during a Jewish holiday. Israel struck back with airstrikes, including one that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices.

Israeli Tanks move into position as the military stage and guard its positions near Mavki'im, Israel. (Marcus Yam/Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

A ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City as people on a nearby rooftop watch, left, during an Israeli airstrike that hit the Palestine Tower building. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian boy walks past the Sousi mosque after it was leveled by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. (Majdi Fathi/Associated Press)

More rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a day after Hamas fighters carried out a multifront attack on Israel. (Fatima Shbair/Associated Press)

Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Ahmad Awawda, 19, who was killed in clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli troops near the city of Nablus. (Majdi Mohammed / Associated Press)

A plume of smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel relentlessly pounded the enclave. (Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)

A woman cries during the funeral of Israeli Col. Roi Levy at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem. Levy was killed in fighting with Hamas militants who stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Palestinians celebrate after an Israeli tank was destroyed in an attack by Hamas fighters at the Gaza Strip boundary east of Khan Younis on Saturday. (Hassan Eslaiah / Associated Press)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


Israel-Gaza conflict as seen in photos

Dylan Stableford and Yahoo News Photo Staff
Updated Mon, October 9, 2023 

Smoke and flames billow after Israeli forces struck a high-rise tower in Gaza City on Saturday. (Ashraf Amra/Reuters)

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise raid into Israel over the weekend, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands more in an attack that was likened to 9/11. The assault came one day after the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which a coalition of Arab states attacked Israel.

Live updates: Death toll reaches 1,400, including 9 U.S. citizens >>>

Israel declared a "state of war" with air retaliatory strikes and ordered a blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is located between Egypt and Israel and is home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Hamas launched the attack from Gaza, which it has governed since 2006.

Palestinian rescuers work at the site of Israeli strikes at a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday. "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."

More than 700 Israeli civilians, including over 250 people attending a music festival, and members of the military were killed by the Palestinian militant group, with an additional 2,150 wounded, as confirmed by Israeli officials Monday. Almost 600 people have been killed on the Gaza Strip from Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.

Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

At least nine U.S. citizens are among those killed, a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson confirmed Monday morning.

Tanks and drones were deployed to guard breaches in the border fence between Israel and Gaza to prevent new incursions, the Associated Press reported.

A rocket is fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City toward Israel on Saturday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

“Thousands of Israelis were evacuated from more than a dozen towns near Gaza, and the military summoned 300,000 reservists — a massive mobilization in a short time,” the AP said.

Reuters reported Monday that Israel's military sent phone messages warning Palestinians to leave some areas of Gaza after Saturday's deadly Hamas raid, but many did not know where to go.

"Where should we go? Where should we go?" Mohammad Brais, 55, told the news service.

Brais fled his home and sought shelter at his shop — only for that to get hit in one of the hundreds of air and artillery strikes already pounding Gaza.

A rescuer carries a wounded Palestinian boy following an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Monday. (Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

People react at the site of a rocket attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday. (Itai Ron/Reuters)

A view of the Al Garbi Mosque following an airstrike in western Gaza City on Monday. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Israelis inspect a residential building damaged by a rocket in Ashkelon, Israel, on Monday. (Erik Marmor/AP)

Emergency personnel secure the scene following a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel, on Monday. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians remove a dead body from the rubble of a building following an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ramez Mahmoud/AP )

People take cover inside a bomb shelter in Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

People mourn those killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. (Fatima Shbair/AP)

Damage in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi Mosque in Gaza City on Monday. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier patrols near a police station in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

A person is pulled alive from the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Palestinians evacuate the area following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi Mosque in Gaza City on Monday. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

People mourn those killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. (Fatima Shbair/AP)

Israelis leave an area near the site of a rocket attack in Ashkelon, Israel, on Monday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

People remove the body of a Palestinian killed in an airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

Relatives react as they attend a funeral in Gaza City on Monday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A woman cries during the funeral of Israeli Col. Roi Levy, who was killed by Hamas militants, at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on Monday. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

A man looks at destruction left by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on Monday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

A man sits on the rubble of a building in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

A body is removed from the rubble in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Mourners carry the bodies of twin Palestinian babies, who health officials said were killed along with their mother and three sisters in Israeli strikes, in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

First responders inspect the site of a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel, on Monday. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians mourn alongside the bodies of those killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

A man reacts as he works to remove bodies from under the rubble of a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Yassin Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City early Monday. (Adel Hana/AP)

Palestinians sit on a street in Gaza City near the Watan Tower, which was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)