| Bearing Witness to the October 7th Massacre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Produced by | IDF Spokesperson's Unit |
| Edited by | Mattan Harel-Fisch and Yuval Horovitz[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 47 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
Bearing Witness to the October 7th Massacre[2] (also unofficially titledסרט הזוועות,lit. 'the atrocity film' or'the film of horrors' inHebrew) is an Israelidocumentary film, a compilation by theIDF Spokesperson's Unit ofraw footage from theOctober 7 attacks. The film includes footage captured frombody cameras worn byHamas-led Palestinianmilitants on 7 October 2023, and contains scenes of violence recorded during and after the attacks.[3]
Israeli officials have held screenings of the film for national and international journalists, foreign diplomats, and Hollywood executives to garner support[4][5] and to deflectcriticism of Israel's conduct during thewar in Gaza.[6][7] The film has generated controversy, with some criticizing plans to publicly release the footage over concerns it would be psychologically harmful.[7]
A series of coordinated attacks, conducted by thePalestinianIslamist militant group[a]Hamas, from theGaza Strip onto bordering areas inIsrael, commenced on 7 October 2023, initiating theGaza war. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood",[8] while they are referred to in Israel as "Black Saturday" (Hebrew:השבת השחורה)[9] or the "Simchat Torah Massacre" (Hebrew:הטבח בשמחת תורה).[10]
The attacks began in the early morning witha rocket barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel and vehicle-transported andpowered paraglider incursions into its territory.[11][12] Palestinian militants breached theGaza–Israel barrier, targeting civilians for killing in neighboring Israeli communities and attackingmilitary bases. In a single day, about 796 Israeli civilians and 379 Israeli soldiers and police were killed in nearby towns,kibbutzim, military bases and at amusic festival nearRe'im.[13][14] 251 Israeli civilians and soldiers weretaken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, of which the number of kidnapped children is estimated to be 30.[15][16][17]
At least 44 nations have condemned Hamas, labelling the attacks asterrorism.[3][18][19] The day was described by media outlets and politicians as the bloodiest inIsrael's history and "the deadliest forJews sincethe Holocaust" by US presidentJoe Biden.[20][21]
The 47-minute video was produced by theIDF Spokesperson's Unit from footage retrieved partly from the body cameras of Hamas militants who carried out the 7 October attacks on Israel.[7][22] The video shows images of the attack, including scenes of murder, and mutilation of the bodies of Israeli civilians and some foreign workers. The footage contains graphic content such as burned bodies, including a burnt baby, civilians shot in homes, cars and public spaces, the beheading of a body, bodies thrown in dumpsters, soldiers killed at military bases, and female hostages being pulled by the hair while being kidnapped.[6] Other footage was taken on mobile phones by civilians as they tried to escape, and by first responders after the attack.[6]
Some militants wore fatigues to resemble Israeli army uniforms or were dressed like police. Militants carried radios andzip ties to subdue and transport captives.[6]
The militants, according to the footage, moved through towns for hours without security forces present. In footage taken by civilians, the attackers are seen suddenly emerging at amusic festival, sending panicked revelers fleeing across fields amidst cries and moans of the injured. At one military base, militants killed desk staff before seizing their assault rifles.[6]
In one segment, security camera footage shows Hamas militants killing a man using a grenade. Following this act, the militants are seen retrieving beverages from a refrigerator while the man's children are screaming and crying.[23]
In another scene, young female soldiers are seen huddled as a militant entered and began firing. The assailants are seen stopping vehicles to drag out and execute occupants, and stealing cell phones and belongings from the dead and dying. Civilians reportedly in shock were filmed being pulled by their hair into militant trucks bound for Gaza.[6]
The militants also reportedly videotaped themselves pulling a dead soldier's body from a car which young men stomped on. A young woman was filmed being hauled from a car trunk and driven off while surrounded by a crowd.[6]
Israeli officials held private screenings of the graphic footage for influential audiences, requiring agreements to not publish or share any footage from the film and prohibiting recording devices. After the film was shown to members of the Knesset in Israel, the content deeply disturbed some attendees.[7][24] Screenings have been held for IsraeliKnesset members as well as foreign journalists and diplomats in Israel and at Israeli consulates worldwide.[25]
Screenings forHollywood figures was also arranged by Israeli-American filmmakerGuy Nattiv and Israeli actressGal Gadot, taking place in Los Angeles and New York.[22]
Forty members of theU.S. Senate, from both political parties, attended a screening of the film in theU.S. Capitol on 29 November 2023. As they exited, most attendees, who were visibly affected by what they saw, said nothing to reporters outside.[26]
Almost 200 people, including Harvard College DeanRakesh Khurana and hedge fund billionaireBill Ackman, attended a screening of the film atHarvard University on 4 December. The screening, organized by HarvardChabad rabbiHirschy Zarchi, was the first screening at a university campus.[27][28]
After facing controversy stemming from the2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism, MIT PresidentSally Kornbluth, MIT Corporation ChairmanMark Gorenberg and 40 others attended a 19 December screening hosted by theChabad House of MIT. According to Kornbluth, she faced pressure from some faculty and members of the school administration to cancel the screening. Kornbluth was to-date the highest-ranking official in American academia to attend a screening.[29]
On 17 May 2024, a private screening was to be held by sales agent WestEnd Films for a small group of Hollywood figures attending theCannes Film Festival. The invitation to the screening featured a warning about the graphic footage and stated that participants would receive the location of the screening only a few days prior for security reasons. However, an hour before the screening at the venue (later revealed to be the Exclusive Hotel Belle Plage), attendees were informed that the screening had been called off. The co-founders of WestEnd Films stated this was done after receiving an order from theIsrael Defence Forces, citing a security threat, although they were not given additional details about it.[30]
Within Israel, there was debate around publicly releasing the graphic footage. Proponents, such as Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, argued the brutal images would rally international backing for Israel's cause by offering incontrovertible evidence of Hamas' atrocities; they contend that it is vital for the world to witness these horrific crimes firsthand. However, mental health experts raised concerns about further traumatizing a population still reeling from the attacks and warned that the film's impact would quickly fade from the news cycle.[7]
Screenings of the film in Los Angeles were protected by local police.[31]
On Saturday, 7 October — a Jewish sabbath day, the end of the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot, and a day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War — Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Flood, a coordinated assault consisting of land and air attacks into multiple border areas of Israel.
At 06:30 on the morning of 7 October 2023, Hamas launched "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" with more than 5,000 rockets reportedly fired towards Israel from multiple locations in Gaza, as well as ground operation into Israel.
On Saturday, 7 October...Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Flood, a coordinated assault consisting of land and air attacks into multiple border areas of Israel.
International leaders condemned an unprecedented incursion by Palestinian militants into southern Israel, while governments across the Middle East called for restraint after an attack that shook the Israeli security establishment. [...] The US defence secretary,Lloyd Austin, said his organisation would send support to Israel. 'Over the coming days theDepartment of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism,' he said.
The most searing historical comparison predates Israel's founding. Not all of Hamas's victims were Israeli, and not all of the Israeli dead were Jewish. But under reasonable assumptions about the ethnic make-up of those killed in this and previous attacks, the last time before October 7th that this many Jews were murdered on a single day was during the Holocaust.
