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Israeli airstrikes continue to rain down on Hamas positions in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Israel Defense Forces said this morning that it struck more than 400 terrorist targets in the past 24 hours. One target of note was a tunnel system that led Hamas fighters into Israel by sea. The IDF also said it killed dozens of Hamas fighters including three deputy commanders. Other targets included Hamas command centers found inside mosques.
Gaza’s health ministry later said that over 700 Palestinians were killed as a result of those strikes. In addition, the health ministry said 12 hospitals and 32 health centers were out of commission due to a combination of the strikes and a lack of fuel.
All of these reports were not independently verified as of this morning. Regardless, the Israeli military is firm in its commitment to destroy Hamas.
In a video released on Monday, the IDF Chief of the General Staff reaffirmed to fellow members of his military that their goal is to “bring Hamas to a state of full dismantling.”
As if to remind the world of why the destruction of Hama is the IDF’s goal, the military also shared a harrowing video of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The 43-minute-long raw footage was shown to journalists from various media outlets at a military base operated by the IDF on Monday. The footage was made of various video and audio recordings taken from the perspectives of both the victimized citizens and Hamas aggressors.
While we do not have public access to the footage, we do have eyewitness accounts from some of the journalists who happened to see it.
The footage was meant to show the ruthlessness of Hamas’ attack, as eyewitnesses describe it as showing the group killing, torturing, and terrorizing Israeli citizens. Reports from outlets such as Breitbart News and The New York Post describe harrowing scenes of death, destruction, and mutilation.
Perhaps the most sickening detail comes from the testimony of a member of Hamas. According to a video published by Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, this member said that the group of terrorists “became animals” in carrying out their orders.
The operative said that although Islam forbids the killing of women and children, Hamas soldiers are told to massacre everyone in sight. He said Hamas members did as they were instructed and sometimes took it a disturbing step further.
Maj. Gen. Micheal Edelstein, a former IDF Gaza division commander, said these images should clarify Israel’s need to completely wipe out Hamas despite ongoing criticism.