ISRAEL is facing the horrific task of identifying the bodies of burned babies weeks after Hamas terrorists carried out their sickening rampage.
Experts are overwhelmed by scores of mutilated bodies including babies who cannot be identified because they have no teeth.
Hamas fanatics stormed the Israeli border in a brutal ambush on October 7, murdering and kidnapping hundreds of men, women and children.
The terror group also killed babies and burned entire families alive in several villages, including Kfar Aza and Be'eri where some infants were reportedly found beheaded.
More than two weeks on, a makeshift mortuary set up at a military base sees an army of forensic and dental experts and medics, working around the clock to identify the dead.
The team has identified almost 800 bodies so far, with 688 released to families for burial.
But hundreds remain, with some reportedly burned or mutilated beyond recognition.
Over a dozen refrigerated containers are used to store the bodies, which Senior Israeli police officer Gilad Bahat calls "the gates of hell".
"I’ve been in the police service for more than 27 years. I have been to a lot of terror attack scenes. I’ve seen a lot in my life, many bodies, but never have I seen such sights," Mr Bahat told .
In a chilling statement, Mr Bahat warned that it could take Israel years to identify the hundreds of bodies.
While descriptions from loved ones, photographs and dental records help, one volunteer dentist said she cannot identify the babies by their teeth as they do not have any.
Dr Ilana Engel, a volunteer with the police forensic service for 10 years, said "The horror of what I saw will be etched in my mind forever".
Experienced forensic experts have described the horrific task as "beyond words".
Dr Michal Levin Elad, head of Israeli police’s national forensic investigation institute said: "All of the forensic investigators are used to seeing sights of people being shot, people who have killed themselves.
"So we thought we were prepared for something like this as well. But what I have seen is beyond words."
And Sergeant Major Katz, working on body collection, said the constant flow of bodies is overwhelming.
He said: “You never know what you are going to get when you open the bag up. It can be a full body, half a body, a burnt body.”
Around 1,400 Israelis died in the attacks two weeks ago, as IDF forces continue to blitz the Gaza Strip ahead of their expected ground invasion.
According to Hamas' figures from inside Gaza, over 5,000 Palestinians have died in the retaliatory attacks.
Some Palestinian children are reportedly writing their names on their arms so their bodies can be identified if they die during Israeli airstrikes.
One clip, shared on X, formerly Twitter, by an American university professor shows a in pen.
It comes as a top Hamas commander who was behind the sickening massacre in Israel’s Be’eri Kibbutz was killed on Tuesday.
Abed Alrahman, the deputy commander of the Nuseirat Battalion, was wiped out in an airstrike on Tuesday, the Israeli Defence Force claimed.
In the past 24 hours, the IDF claims to have hit 400 targets, including several Hamas commanders, while their tanks and troops swarm close to the border.
