Dead silence interrupted by anguished howls.
That was the reaction on October 23 among the 200 foreign journalists present at an IDF briefing at a military base in the center of the country who were shown a harrowing 43-minute compilation of Hamas bodycam videos and other raw footage documenting the October 7 murder spree in southern Israel. Overwhelmed with grief, some journalists stepped out of the auditorium early.
The grisly documentation of decapitations and torture was released to dispel what Israel government spokesperson Eylon Levy characterized as “a Holocaust-denial-like phenomenon happening in real-time,” questioning the veracity of the jihadi terrorists’ atrocities. More than 1,400 civilians of Israel, the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, Thailand, Nepal, the Philippines, and Argentina were massacred – many shot in cold blood at a music festival or murdered in their home.
Unedited and extremely graphic, the footage was collected from terrorists’ body cameras, kibbutz security cameras, victim car dashboard cameras, Hamas and victims’ social media accounts, and cellphone videos filmed by terrorists, victims, and first responders.
The IDF grappled with whether to release the horrific videos, given sensitivity to the dead and their families. In the end, it was determined that since some of the material was already circulating on social media, the footage should be screened to the media to counter Hamas’ propaganda downplaying or denying the atrocities. Journalists were required to surrender their cellphones and other recording equipment before entering the hall at the IDF base. A heavily censored clip was subsequently released.
In one segment, captured through a call recording application on a murdered woman’s cellphone, a jubilant terrorist brags to his father in Gaza City: “Dad, I killed 10 with my bare hands. Their blood is on my hands. Please be proud of me.”
Identified by his father as Mahmoud, he urges his family to look at his WhatsApp messages for further evidence.
In another video, Hamas terrorists disguised in IDF uniforms flag down a passing car and execute its two occupants. The blood-soaked corpses are dragged out of the vehicle and dumped in the middle of the road. Some of the bullet-ridden cars are stolen.
Another video shows first responders pouring water over still-smoldering charred bodies to quench the smoking embers.
In another, a bleeding man – seemingly an agricultural laborer from Thailand – writhes in pain on the ground while a terrorist repeatedly tries to sever his head with a farming hoe.
Yet another clip captures an Israeli woman attempting to determine if a partially burned and mutilated corpse is that of a family member. The victim’s dress is in disarray, and her underpants have been removed.
Maj.-Gen. Mickey Edelstein, who briefed reporters after the screening, said that “we have evidence” of rape but “we cannot share it.” He declined to elaborate.
Home security footage recorded in a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip border shows a father racing with his two sons aged approximately seven and nine to a nearby bomb shelter. The three are in their underwear. Moments later, a terrorist lobs a grenade into the door-less shelter. The father falls dead, and his traumatized sons exit spattered with his blood.
“Dad’s dead, it wasn’t a prank,” one says after they run back into their home. “I know, I saw it,” responds his brother, later screaming, “Why am I alive?”
The IDF also selected footage from the Gaza Strip that was uploaded to social media on the Black Sabbath in celebration of the attack. One video showed a blood-soaked IDF soldier being pulled from a car and kicked and beaten by a Palestinian crowd. From the video, it is unclear whether he is still alive.
Another clip showed a terrorist repeatedly firing at a pet dog.
“When we say Hamas is ISIS, it’s not a branding effort,” IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters after the screening.
Following the press conference, the IDF released for publication this short video from the compilation: https://bit.ly/3QfCLRU.
It also released manuals found on the bodies of Hamas terrorists killed after the massacre, detailing the surprise attack’s offensive plans (https://bit.ly/3QrNUQB) and the handling of hostages. (https://bit.ly/3tEBsE9). ■