Israel screens images of Hamas attack worldwide to 'get message across'

ADVERTISEMENT

dpo-dps-seal
Welcome, Kapamilya! We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Continuing to use this site means you agree to our use of cookies. Tell me more!

Israel screens images of Hamas attack worldwide to 'get message across'

Joris Fioriti,

Agence France-Presse

Clipboard

A photograph taken during an Israeli army media tour shows blood stains on a child
A photograph taken during an Israeli army media tour shows blood stains on a child's bed following the Hamas attack on 07 October, in the kibbutz of Nir Oz, near the border with Gaza, Israel, 19 October 2023. (Issued 07 November 2023). 07 November 2023, marks one month since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, which was followed by Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank. More than 10,000 Palestinians and at least 1,400 Israelis have been killed and more than 200 others were taken hostage by Hamas militants, according to the Palestinian health authority and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK


PARIS, France - Israel is organizing showings for media around the world of a film depicting Hamas' October 7 massacre of hundreds of Israeli citizens, assembling raw footage sourced from victims and perpetrators alike.

The harrowing 44-minute montage has already been shown at the UN in New York and Geneva, in Washington, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid and Chilean capital Santiago, with a further screening in Paris for the press on Tuesday.

"We've screened this film in about 30 countries. We think it's important that people... know what happened on October 7," said Hen Feder, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in France.

Watch more News on iWantTFC

The shock attack by the Palestinian militant group on Israel on October 7 left 1,400 dead and some 240 taken hostage, in the worst attack on Israel since its 1948 founding.

ADVERTISEMENT

Watch more News on iWantTFC

Israel has vowed to destroy the Islamist militants, launching a campaign in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 10,300, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The deeply shocking film screened by Israel is not available to the general public. In Paris it was seen by around 50 invited journalists, while it has been seen by a mixed audience of journalists and diplomats in other cities.

Watch more News on iWantTFC

'Get message through'

While some voices, particularly in the Arab world, have made baseless claims of doubt on whether civilians were really massacred by Hamas, Israel "is trying to get the message across through the media" that the killings did indeed happen, Feder added.

One sobbing guest left the Paris showing before the film ended, while others sat silently through the session.

The screen showed a series of bloodied, burned and tormented bodies of men, women and children.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lying in bushes, living rooms and bathrooms, many no longer resembled human forms.

One clip showed a metres-long trail of blood across brightly-coloured floor tiles.

The Israeli government says it has gathered hundreds of hours of footage of the Hamas attack.

The images are compiled from bodycam and smartphone footage shot by slain or captured Hamas fighters, the militant group's social media posts and the phones of victims and first responders, Israeli diplomats said.

Among them are clips of armed men killing civilians, including in kibbutz Beeri, where 85 were killed, 26 taken hostage and four are missing, or mowing down young people fleeing a music festival, where 270 lost their lives.

ADVERTISEMENT

"The most difficult thing is, you see images of domestic life. Parents with children in pyjamas, in their underwear. And all of a sudden, really, really violent things happening to them," an AFP journalist who viewed the film in Israel said.

One clip shows a father being killed in front of his two young sons.

A nanny cam still running in one room captures one of the boys screaming "why am I still alive?".

'Destroy Hamas'

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said in a statement on Friday that his country wanted to "to show and remind the world that we are dealing with a terrorist organisation whose goal is the destruction of Israel."

"Israel will not stop and there will be no ceasefire until we meet the goals we have set: destroying Hamas and bringing our hostages home," Erdan added after the film was shown to dozens of diplomats in New York.

ADVERTISEMENT

Israel's efforts to circulate the film come amid growing criticism from rights groups and even unease among Israel's Western allies over the scale of its bombing campaign in Gaza since the October 7 attacks.

Hamas authorities -- who have governed the enclave since 2007 -- said Monday that more than 10,000 Gazans had been killed, mostly civilians and including 4,000 children.

Showing the film comes as Israel "is losing on the communication front", said Jerome Bourdon, a communications expert at the University of Tel Aviv.

Paris embassy spokesman Feder said there was no link between the showing of the film and the reaction to the bombardment of Gaza.

Arnaud Mercier, a communications professor in Paris, said the film was a bid by Israel to make up ground in the parallel "war of images" it is fighting against Hamas.

ADVERTISEMENT

But he warned: "Showing the harshness of the horrors on the Israeli side won't erase the harshness of the horrors" continuing in Gaza.

jf/tgb/sjw/rox

© Agence France-Presse

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

It looks like you’re using an ad blocker

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.