Israel releases unedited bodycam footage of Hamas attacks to prove ‘magnitude of atrocities committed’
23 October 2023, 21:12 | Updated: 23 October 2023, 21:15
The IDF screened a 40-minute compilation of Hamas' attacks on Israel to show the extent of the group's atrocities - but most of it is too graphic to release.
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The 40-minute compilation drew from bodycams, CCTV footage, phone recordings and dashcams and was shown to a group of reporters at a military base in Tel Aviv on Monday morning.
Seasoned war reporters who viewed the footage were reportedly left sobbing and feeling sick after they viewed the graphic footage.
Government spokesman Eylon Levy announced it was being released on Monday in a bid to counter what he described as a “Holocaust denial-like phenomenon” amid Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip.
One of the clips captured on bodycam shows a Hamas gunman throwing a grenade at a father and his two sons, who were shown wearing bloodied pyjamas, while in their own home. The father is killed by the grenade in the video.
Other unedited clips taken from Hamas bodycams shows one gunman brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle on a car in the street, ordering those in the vehicle to stop.
The gunman opens fire almost immediately as the vehicle continues to move, shattering its windscreen and windows.
Other footage showed civilians being shot, tortured and burned.
Journalists said they also saw videos of civilians fleeing the Nova music festival, where more than 250 people were massacred by Hamas on October 7.
Those fleeing the festival attempted to hide, including in portaloos and skips, but were either killed or taken hostage by the Hamas gunmen.
A significant amount of the footage shown to foreign reporters was already released by Hamas.
One of the most atrocious moments that was shown during the journalist viewing heard a Hamas gunman brag in a phone call to his father about killing jews.
In the call, which was intercepted call by Israel, he says: “Dad, I am in Mefalsim, your son killed Jews.”
He then goes on to brag about the number of Jewish people he had murdered.
“The IDF has been collecting footage from bodycams taken by Hamas death squads as they rampaged through the communities in southern Israel, butchering everyone in sight,” Mr Levy said on Sunday evening.
“I can't believe I'm saying this... As we work to defeat the terror organisation we are witnessing a Holocaust denial-like phenomenon evolving in real time as people are casting doubt on the magnitude of the atrocities Hamas committed against our people and in fact recorded in order to glorify this violence.”
The clips will only be released if the family members of those shown in the clips view it and give their permission, meaning it is unlikely they will to be released to the public.
It comes after pro-Palestinian marches were held all over the world on the weekend, which saw thousands call for a ceasefire of the bombings on Gaza by Israel.
Around 100,000 people took to the streets of central London on Saturday to call for an end to the bombings.
“We will not let the world forget about who we are fighting,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at the screening.
“We are not talking about the Palestinians. We are talking about Hamas.”
Major General Mickey Edelstein said the choice to share the footage was not an every day decision, but added "what we showed you, you should know".
