Be'eri

On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip. Around 70 Hamas militants had attacked the kibbutz and at least 130 people were killed in the attack, including women (such as peace activist Vivian Silver), children, toddlers, and one infant, claiming the lives of 10% of the farming community's residents. Dozens of homes were also burned down. This incident occurred concurrently with a series of other massacres and military engagements in multiple neighbouring Israeli communities, including Netiv haAsara, Kfar Aza, and the Rei'm music festival massacre. Several newspapers described the massacre as an act of terrorism. A few early claims regarding the attack were later found to be false.Hostages were taken, leading to a stand-off with the Israel Defense Forces. Relatives of some of those killed have demanded a probe into potential deaths of some of these hostages from friendly fire, including one incident in which an Israeli tank fired at a house full of hostages.

The Be'eri Forest (Hebrew: יער בארי) of area about 11,000 dunams is located in the western Negev, within the Eshkol Regional Council area. It was planted by the pioneers of the kibbutz Be'eri.The forest has a diverse array of tree types, encompassing conifers, fruit-bearing trees, and deciduous broad-leaved trees. During winter and spring time it is covered with clusters of anemones, orchids, tulips, asphodels and many other flowers. On May 2, 2018, the forest was severely damaged by a forest fire that was ignited by an incendiary kite sent by Hamas from Gaza.

On 7 October 2023, the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas initiated a surprise invasion of Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part of the attack, 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded by Hamas at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival during the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret near kibbutz Re'im. At least 40 hostages were also taken. This mass killing had the largest number of casualties out of a number of massacres targeting Israeli civilians in villages adjacent to the Gaza Strip, that occurred as part of the 7 October invasion, alongside those at the moshavim of Netiv HaAsara, Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz and Holit.At 6:30 am around sunrise, rockets were noticed in the sky. Around 7:00 am, a siren warned of an incoming rocket attack, prompting festivalgoers to flee. Subsequently, armed militants, dressed in military attire and using motorcycles, trucks and powered paragliders, surrounded the festival grounds and indiscriminately fired on individuals attempting to escape. Attendees seeking refuge in nearby locations, such as bomb shelters, bushes, and orchards, were killed while in hiding. Those who reached the road and parking were trapped in a traffic jam as militants fired at vehicles. The militants executed some wounded individuals at point-blank range as they crouched on the ground.The details of the whereabouts and condition of the hostages are not publicly known. The massacre at the festival was the largest terror attack in Israel's history, and the worst Israeli civilian massacre ever.

Psyduck was a small trance music festival that took place in the open fields between kibbutz Nir Oz and kibbutz Nirim, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the border of Gaza. The rave hosted about 100 participants. On 7 October 2023 morning, as part of the surprise attack on Israel, the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas attacked the Psyduck festival, killing 17 Israeli partygoers.

Shokeda (Hebrew: שׁוֹקֵדָה) is a religious moshav in southern Israel. Located approximately six kilometres west of Netivot and covering 6,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 635.

On 7 October 2023, dozens of Hamas militants attacked Alumim, a kibbutz close to the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of a surprise attack on Israel. There were 41 Thai and Nepalese foreigners working at the kibbutz. The militants killed between 16 and 17 of these workers and kidnapped between five and eight of them. The kibbutz's security team were too far away and unable save the employees. The militants did severe structural damage to the Kibbutz’s dairy farming operation. After heavy fighting, the security team were able to push the militants back with the help of the Israeli Defense Forces. No deaths among the remaining civilian population of the kibbutz were reported. At least two Israeli soldiers were killed by militants, while a significant number of Hamas militants were killed.

Alumim (Hebrew: עֲלוּמִים, lit. 'Youth') is a kibbutz located in the northwestern Negev desert in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip. It falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 531.

The Anzac Memorial (Hebrew: יד אנזא"ק, romanized: Yad ANZAC – The Be'er Sheva Anzac Memorial Center) is a monument in Be'eri Forest, Negev, Israel, to the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand armies who were killed in Palestine during the First Battle of Gaza and Second Battle of Gaza of World War I.

The Battle of Be'erot Yitzhak was a military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces and Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was fought on July 15, 1948, in the ten-day period between the first and second truces of the war. The Egyptian army, after unsuccessful attacks on Negba on July 12 and Gal On on July 14, assaulted the lightly defended outlying Negev village Be'erot Yitzhak. They managed to penetrate the village perimeter, but the Israelis concentrated in an inner position in the village, and fought off the Egyptian advance until reinforcements arrived and drove out the attackers.

Kfar Maimon (Hebrew: כְּפַר מַיְמוֹן, lit. 'Maimon Village') is a religious moshav in southern Israel. Located near Netivot and covering 5,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 427.

Re'im (Hebrew: רֵעִים, lit. 'Friends') is a secular kibbutz in southern Israel, and one of the Gaza vicinity villages. Located at the confluence of Besor Stream and Gerar Stream in the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 433.Re'im was founded in 1949 by members of the Israel Boy and Girl Scouts Federation who were demobilized from the Palmach. The kibbutz was designed by the architect Hanan Havron. The building, which was used by the Havron for decades as his office, is today the kibbutz's heritage building, with a display of the history of the place.An outdoor music festival near Re'im was attacked by Hamas on 7 October 2023, as part of a larger invasion of Israel. Several hundred people were killed and many bodies and cars were set on fire.

Nahal Oz (Hebrew: נחל עוז, lit. "Mighty Stream") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 471. A nearby IDF military base is known by the same name.