These are the graphic photos Israel released of burned babies to reveal horror of Hamas attack
'The world is seeing new evidence of depravity and the inhumanity of Hamas — depravity and inhumanity directed at babies, at small children'
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Editor’s note: Warning, graphic descriptions and images
This story includes images of bodies and other disturbing elements. The National Post is publishing these photos in order to convey the immense horror of events in Israel of the last week, but reader discretion is advised.
Israel has released graphic images of dead and burned babies to reveal the horrors of the deadly Hamas terror attack that left more than 1,000 civilians dead.
The images were shared on Israel’s official Twitter account on Thursday and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also viewed some of them during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“For any human being to see this, it’s really beyond almost anything that we can comprehend and digest,” Blinken said. “The world is seeing new evidence of depravity and the inhumanity of Hamas — depravity and inhumanity directed at babies, at small children, at young adults, at elderly people, at people with disabilities.”
A spokesman for the prime minister’s office told The Times of Israel that the images were shared “so that the world will see just a fraction of the horrors that Hamas carried out.”
In a press briefing, Blinken described what he saw in photographs shown to him by Netanyahu.
“A baby — an infant — riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded, young people burnt alive in their cars,” he said. “Images are worth a thousand words. These images, they may be worth a million.”
Blinken said that the images were especially difficult to view as a father.
“It’s impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed – such as the mother, father, and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz – and not think of my own children,” Blinken said.
“This was just one of Hamas’ countless acts of terror – in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS. Babies slaughtered. Bodies desecrated. Young people burned alive. Women raped. Parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents.”
In a phone call with Biden earlier this week, Netanyahu said that Hamas should be treated the same way as ISIS.
“We were struck Saturday by an attack whose savagery we have not seen since the Holocaust,” he said. “We’ve never seen such savagery in the history of the State. They’re even worse than ISIS and we need to treat them as such.”
Reuven Azar, Israel’s ambassador to Romania, said Thursday that Israel must fight back against evil.
“We are now in a very difficult moment in our history. We’ve been attacked by one of the most ferocious, barbaric, savage forces in the world that is killing innocent civilians, families, babies, children, taking hostages, (and) burning people alive,” he said. “It’s a kind of savagery that we haven’t seen before.”
The war has claimed more than 2,800 lives since the initial attack on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists stormed through a border fence and killed Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.
“Six days later, the depth and depravity of the violence against Israeli civilians continues to come to light,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht of the Israel Defense Forces. “Terrorists masquerading as soldiers, civilians butchered or burnt — the world is outraged. The magnitude of the violence may be shocking but Hamas’ mission is no surprise. The organization aims to wipe Israel off the map and despite the global outrage, they aren’t stopping either.”
Reports of kidnappings, rapes, and torture continue to mount, with the video and photographic footage appearing to document both war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, reports The Times of Israel.
Among them are two widely circulated videos that have raised concerns about sexual assault against women. In one video, a woman is shown being hauled out of a jeep full of terrorists, the seat of her pants stained red with blood. In another video, a naked woman is lying face down in the back of a truck, her legs bent at unnatural angles, as terrorists celebrate around her body.
That woman is believed to be Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli citizen who had attended the Israeli music festival.
Louk’s mother, Ricarda Louk, told German news website Der Spiegel that the family has evidence that Shani is alive, but is in critical condition with a serious head injury.
“We have heard nothing. We are hoping for positive news,” said Tomasina Weintraub-Louk, Shani’s cousin. “She was at a music festival for peace. This is a nightmare for our family.”
“Hamas has committed a long list of crimes in this attack for which have been documented, including the killing of civilians, taking civilians captive, and abusing the bodies of civilians and soldiers,” Prof. Yuval Shany, an expert in international law and a lecturer at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told The Times of Israel.
In another reported incident, 10-year-old Dariya Karp watched as Hamas terrorists broke into her home and killed her father and his partner.
The girl managed to text her mother about what was happening but she was three hours away. Karp’s mother reached a friend from the village who was armed and promised to go get the kids.
“It was the worst Shabbat in my life,” Dariya said after being rescued. “I was afraid I would never see my mom again and that I wouldn’t see anyone again.”
Nearby, at Kibbutz Kfar Azza, Hamas terrorists allegedly murdered 40 babies, according to IDF soldiers.
Two days later, another report emerged from Be’eri, a settlement of a little more than 1,000 people, and one of more than 20 towns and villages ambushed early Saturday.
As the Israeli military led a group of journalists on a tour of the village, just kilometres from the fortified border with Gaza, they stopped in front of one destroyed home.
“Children in the same room and someone came and killed them all. Fifteen girls and teenagers, they put (them) in the same room, threw in a hand grenade and it’s over,” said Major Gen. Itai Veruv.
“This is a massacre,” he continued, before recalling the brutal attacks on Jews in eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th century. “It’s a pogrom.”
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