An Israeli couple killed 7 Hamas militants at their home to save their twin babies but died in the attack, Israeli officials say

• Two Israeli parents were killed defending their home from Hamas militants, an Israeli official said.

• Israel's honorary consul in Ukraine said Hadar and Itay Berdychivsky, both 30, were army officers.

• The bodies of seven Hamas militants were found outside their home, the official added.

A young Israeli couple died defending their infant twins from Hamas militants in their home in southern Israel, Israeli diplomats said on Monday.

The Israeli Embassy in France said Hadar and Itay Berdychivsky were killed in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in Israel along the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.

Both Berdychivskys were 30, and the couple had a pair of 10-month-old twins, per the embassy.

Rotem Segev, Israel's ambassador to Cyprus, wrote on social media that the Berdychivskys hid their children in a bomb shelter before fighting to the death as Hamas militants launched a massive incursion into Israel from Gaza on Saturday.

"They were brutally murdered after fighting fiercely with the terrorists," the ambassador wrote.

Oleg Vyshniakov, Israel's honorary consul in Ukraine, wrote on Facebook that the Berdychivskys served in the Israeli army as officers and owned weapons in their home.

When relatives found the Berdychivskys' bodies, the bodies of seven militants were also found at their doorstep, Vyshniakov said. The honorary consul did not say how he obtained this information.

The Berdychivskys' twins were found alive and well later, when emergency services arrived on the scene about 14 hours after the attack, per the Israeli Embassy in France.

The embassy wrote that the parents had "fought until the last moment."

Israel's ambassador to Colombia, Gali Dagan, also paid tribute to the Berdychevskys in a Monday post on X.

Insider was unable to independently verify Segev's claim regarding the circumstances surrounding the couple's death.

Hamas' attacks on communities outside the Gaza Strip, combined with a barrage of rocket strikes, have killed about 1,200 people in Israel and injured another 3,000, per an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson.

CNN reported that Hamas set fire to and pillaged the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Israeli Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv told the outlet on Tuesday that his troops had spent about 48 hours fighting in the kibbutzim areas before securing them.

Israel declared war in response to Hamas' attacks and has bombarded the Gaza Strip in the following days. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 1,055 Palestinians have been killed.

Correction: October 12, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the country Colombia.

Read the original article on Business Insider