THE ISRAELI EMBASSY in Dublin screened some of the most graphic footage of the 7 October Hamas attacks at an event for Irish media this afternoon, including video taken from body cameras worn by the attackers.
The screening comprised 43 minutes of raw footage and still images. Some has already been circulated on social media. Other footage has not been shared widely out of respect for family members of those killed.
Similar events have also taken place in other countries. Speaking at the embassy this afternoon Dana Elrich, the Israeli Ambassador, said the events were being organised to counter what she described as a Holocaust denial-like campaign to discredit reports of the atrocities.
The footage was “historically important”, Elrich said – adding that she also hoped to organise screenings for politicians in Leinster House.
Today’s media event in Dublin took place as Israel marked one month since 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the worst attack on the country since its founding in 1948. A further 240 people have been taken hostage.
In response to the attacks, Israel has launched a war to eliminate Hamas in Gaza.
Its strikes on the densely-population coastal strip have killed over 10,000 people, Gaza’s health ministry has said. The majority of those killed in the bombardment have been civilians.
In the latest developments today, Israel said its forces were operating “in the heart of Gaza City” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that there would be no ceasefire until all hostages had been freed.
In Geneva, a World Health Organisation spokesperson said an average of 160 children are being killed every day in Gaza as the war continues.
In Israel, a day of commemoration saw memorial ceremonies take place and candles lit in memory of those killed a month ago.
The attacks began just before dawn on 7 October as hundreds of Hamas gunmen poured across the border into Israel.
Israeli officials say the operation had been planned for over a year – with knowledge of the specifics kept only to high level figures in the organisation, which is designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the EU, the US and other countries.
Hundreds of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip as the attackers raced across fields within Israel.
From just before 7am the attackers started forcing their way into several farming communities and also stormed a festival where hundreds of young people had been dancing all night.
Israel says 25 farming communities and towns near the Gaza border were methodically attacked, among them Sderot, Ofakim and Netivot.
Babies, children, teenagers, elderly people and entire families were shot dead, stabbed with knives or mutilated with axes, survivors have said.
Their accounts are backed up by testimonies from first responders, soldiers and volunteers from Zaka, who recover human remains in accordance with Jewish religious law to afford them a proper burial.
By 8.30am Hamas militants had stormed six military bases.
At the Supernova music festival, which was taking place in a field close to the border with central Gaza, militants reach the site using motorised paragliders and in pickup trucks.
Festivalgoers initially filmed them on their smartphones – with panic then spreading as gunfire started and crowds fleeing in all directions. According to an Israeli count, 270 people were killed at the scene.
In addition to the bodycam footage taken from cameras worn by Hamas gunmen, the footage shown to media today also included videos and stills from victims’ social media accounts, phone and dashcam footage recovered in the aftermath of the attacks, as well as CCTV and clips and images taken by first responders.
The 43 minute package was divided into three distinct sections – showing the initial attacks on motorists and their passengers near the border early in the morning of 7 October, the sustained attacks on nearby farming communities, and the killings at the music festival.
Each section began with a sequence of footage taken mostly from bodycam, dashcam and CCTV, showing the attacks and killings taking place. That was followed by videos from later in the day, taken by the first responders. Each of the three sections concluded with a silent montage of still images of dead bodies.
The footage was extreme and harrowing. It showed multiple people being shot at close range or stabbed. One clip showed a man being beheaded, another showed a father being killed in front of his two young sons.
Text at the end of the screening said the footage depicted the killings or bodies of 138 people who lost their lives on 7 October.
Amassador Elrich said that the Israeli government had agreed with the families that the footage could only be shown at closed events with no recording devices present, out of respect for the dead.
The footage has now been screened in around 30 countries. ”The families wish for the world to see it,” she added.
Authorities believe Emily Hand, a young Irish-Israeli girl initially thought to have died in an attack at a kibbutz, is being held as a hostage in Gaza. 22-year-old Irish-Israeli woman Kim Damti was among those killed at the music festival.
Speaking to reporters following the screening Ambassador Elrich said she was glad Irish leaders had made such strong statements condemning the Hamas attacks in their immediate aftermath.
Asked about the recent comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that Israel’s response to the 7 October attacks is now becoming “something more approaching revenge”, she did not engage directly with the question, saying only, “I don’t know why he said it”, before insisting Israel’s actions within Gaza were in line with international law.
Asked whether the violence shown in the video provided a justification for the assault on Gaza and the deaths of thousands of Palestinians she said it was “not an equation”. She insisted that Israel’s priorities were to “try and bring our people back” and eliminate the threat from Hamas.
An international humanitarian conference for the civilian population of Gaza is set to take place in Paris on Thursday of this week.
In his latest comments on the conflict, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned yesterday that the Gaza Strip is becoming a “graveyard for children,” and again urged an immediate ceasefire.
He added: “The parties to the conflict – and, indeed, the international community – face an immediate and fundamental responsibility: to stop this inhuman collective suffering and dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
- Includes reporting from AFP in Israel and Gaza
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