The Israeli government has said it will release unseen footage of the carnage wrought by Hamas terrorists on October 7, in which more than 1,400 Israeli citizens were killed. The move attempts to counter what the government describes as a “Holocaust denial-like phenomenon evolving in real-time,” with individuals casting doubt on the magnitude of the atrocities committed by Hamas. Israel Defence Forces spokesman Eylon Levy told X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday that the IDF will on Monday screen “gruesome” unseen footage of Hamas death squads rampaging through residential communities in southern Israel, butchering people and taking hostages.
He said the IDF was also collecting video from body cameras worn by Hamas fighters tasked with infiltrating Israel. In one clip, a Hamas gunman can be seen approaching the gates of a house in the Israeli town of Kibbutz Sufa and then shooting it.
Other videos have shown twisted Hamas fighters parading mutilated corpses through streets of Gaza and dragging a dead Israeli woman along the ground while crowds cheer. The Post could not independently verify these clips, which have received over 2 million views on the social media platform X.
The gruesome images have been compared to ISIS propaganda of beheadings. The IDF has accused Hamas of following ISIS’ playbook, arguing that the terrorist group is using these graphic images to encourage extremists to join its ranks and use psychological warfare against its targets.
The IDF has also accused Hamas of stealing the victims’ bodies and staging elaborate parades to distract the international community from the reality on the ground. It has warned that Hamas is worse than ISIS and called on the exact mechanisms being used to fight Daesh to be applied against it.
Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist movement that first emerged in Egypt. It was formed in 1987 at the start of the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, against Israel and wanted to establish a Palestinian state. The Israeli military says it is the most organized of the militant jihadist groups in the Gaza Strip.
The surprise Hamas incursion on October 7 was a significant setback for the Israeli government, bringing its policies and tactics into sharper focus. Hamas, which has not signed a peace deal with Israel and considers itself the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians, has vowed to continue the struggle until it achieves its goals.
The surprise attack, launched on the joyous Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, revived memories of the 1973 Mideast war practically 50 years ago to the day — when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The Israeli army responded by launching Operation Cast Lead, a massive ground offensive still underway. Israel has argued that its offensive is necessary to defend its territory and to halt the infiltration of weapons, money, and terrorists into the country.
