Denial of atrocities during the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel

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Hamas, other groups, and individuals have stated various levels of denial of atrocities during the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. In particular, they have claimed that Hamas did not intend to systematically kill Israelis, primarily Jewish civilians, and they have attempted to minimize the scale and severity of the October 7 massacres by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

By Hamas[edit]

Denial of killing civilians including children[edit]

In the days following October 7, 2023, Hamas denied that it had killed any civilians, including children, in its attacks on Israel.^[1][2] Hamas official announcement referring to the event, rejected the "falsehood of the fabricated allegations"^[3] promoted by some Western media outlets, which unprofessionally adopt the "Zionist narrative full of lies and slander against our Palestinian people and their resistance, the latest of which was the claim of killing children, beheading them, and targeting civilians”.^[1]

Denial of planning to kill civilians[edit]

On October 10, Moussa Abu Marzouk in his interview with the Economist refused to admit his group planned to kill civilians.^[4]

On October 27, Ghazi Hamad, a spokesperson for the militant organization, was frustrated by BBC Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega, who pressed him on Hamas' denial of atrocities during the attacks. The correspondent asked "You say this was a military operation but the result of it was that hundreds of civilians were killed.", for which Hamas replied "Yes, because that area is very wide, and there are many people there, and there was clashes and confrontation". Bachega pointed out to the Hamas spokesperson, "It’s not confrontation, you invaded houses.", but was replied that "I don’t have details what happened inside. But I can tell you we didn’t have any intention or decision to kill the civilians,".^[5]

By others[edit]

Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran said that the residents of Israeli settlements who were killed were not civilians and were armed.^[6]

Iman Khatib-Yassin, the Arab Israeli member of the Israeli parliament on behalf of the Arab Islamic party Ra'am (United Arab List) requested to resign by own party after questioning Hamas atrocities.^[7] Khatib-Yassin told the media, "they didn't slaughter babies, at least from what we saw in the footage, and they didn't rape women." However, she added, "if this happened, it is shameful." She said that according to the footage presented in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit's documentary, no babies were slaughtered during the attack, and no women were raped, though she admitted that didn't had the opportunity to watch the footage by herself. The announcement of Khatib-Yassin led her Islamist party to promptly ask her to resign, with the head of the party.

On October 28, Piers Corbyn denied that Hamas had committed atrocities: "It was a lie, a lie, a lie – and the Israeli government admits it was a lie. ... There's no evidence of this stuff. The whole thing was a set up from start to finish to justify an invasion and take the oil. And destroy Palestine and make an Israeli superstate."^[8][9]

Roger Waters, co-founder of the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist, and a notorious critic of Israel, spoke on a podcast about the conflict and "appeared to deny" the massacres that took place during the attack.^[10]

The Yale campus newspaper Yale News reportedly censored a pro-Israel writer's column on Hamas raping women and beheading men, by removing what it called "unsubstantiated claims that Hamas raped women and beheaded men."^[11]

Response[edit]

Israeli government[edit]

Israeli officials responded to denial claims by an organized screening of Bearing Witness, compiled video materials from security cameras, mobile phones and body cameras screened to journalists at a military base near Tel Aviv on October 23, 2023.^[12] The audience was not allowed to record the 43 minute compilation but one excerpt, approximately one minute long, which was later released to the public.^[12] Released still images showed a decapitated soldier, charred human remains (including those of young children), and Islamic State flags found among the militants.^[12] Fox News reported that an Israeli government spokesperson said that the screening was intended to counter a "Holocaust denial-like phenomenon evolving in real time."^[13] The compilation was later screened also to 70 foreign ambassadors in Israel,^[14] and later on November 1 to the Israeli Members of the Parliament.^[15]

The Israeli officials continued the effort to show the evidence from October 7 massacre, inviting Canadian media to a November 2nd screening of some of the most sensitive footage collected from the attack on southern Israel, compiled into a 43-minute video that shows the killing or remains of 138 of the more than 1,400 Israelis and foregners killed that day.^[16]

US House of Representatives[edit]

Michael McCaul, Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said that Hamas' "atrocities cannot be justified, ignored, or denied. Hamas' acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes included".^{[17][non-primary source needed]}

Analysis[edit]

According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz publication on November 7, one month after the massacre, the phenomenon of denial of October 7 massacre by Hamas has gained pace on social media.^[18]

See also[edit]

• Antisemitism during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• Disinformation in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• Holocaust denial
• International reactions to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• War crimes in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Denial of Oct. 7 atrocities spreads on social media