The murder of an elderly woman spread on Facebook, armed fighters announcing by telephone to Israelis the death of their loved ones, humiliating videos of hostages in Gaza, are examples of the massive Hamas propaganda that seeks to paralyze Israel using terror, according to experts.
On Saturday, Mor Bayder said she did not receive the usual message from her grandmother: “Mori, my love, are you awake?” Instead, the young Israeli said that she discovered on social networks “brutal” images of the murder of his grandmother, during the offensive launched by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in a village bordering the Gaza Strip.
“A terrorist broke into her house, murdered her, took her phone, photographed the horror and posted it on her Facebook wall. This is how we found out,” she detailed in a chilling testimony published on the social network that was shared by several members. of his family.
On the Israeli television network Channel 13, Mor Bayder tearfully said that the murderer called her aunt to force her to see the images of the old woman “lying down.” in a bloodbath” in his home in Nir Oz, a kibbutz located two kilometers from the Gaza Strip, where several Israelis have been missing since the Hamas attack.
(Also read: Foreigners held hostage by Hamas: what nationalities and how many people are they?)
Why were the videos released?
Since Saturday, Hamas has spread numerous acts of violence through photos and videos.
“It’s intentional: the goal is to generate a feeling of helplessness, paralysis and humiliation,” explains Michael Horowitz, security analyst for the consulting firm Le Beck International.
In a video that has gone viral, a naked young woman appears, apparently unconscious, in the back of a truck amid the screams of armed men.
(You can read: ‘They destroyed her’: family of Ivonne Rubio, murdered by Hamas, denounces at her funeral)
Her mother identified her as Shani Louk, a young Israeli and German woman in her 20s who was participating in the rave party. which turned into a massacre in the desert on Saturday. According to an Israeli NGO, Hamas massacred about 250 participants there.
The objective is to generate a feeling of helplessness, paralysis and humiliation
Other images of a family lying on the ground went around the world. A six or seven year old boy cries and refuses to believe that his sister has died.
He asks his mother if she is going to come back and she answers: “No” and throws herself on her son to protect him just at the moment when the legs that appear to be those of a kidnapper pass in front of the camera.
(Also: Israel officially denounces beheadings of babies during Hamas attack)
These propaganda methods are not new for Hamas, says researcher Ruslan Trad, from the Atlantic Council’s digital analysis laboratory (DFRLab). But They are “much more sophisticated”, and “unprecedented on this scale” due to the large number of Israeli victims, something equally unprecedented.
In the surprise and massive offensive launched by the Palestinian Islamist movement, compared by Israel to September 11, 2001 in the United States, more than 1,300 Israelis have died and more than 3,268 are injured, according to the latest government balance sheet.
On the Palestinian side, at least 1,537 people were killed in the Gaza Strip and more than 6,600 were wounded, according to local authorities.
(You may be interested: Colombian in Israel asks for the release of her husband, who is being held by Hamas)
Iranian and Russian trolls
These stories also find a strong echo because they are “systematically transmitted by trolls -people with unknown identity who publish provocative messages- Iranian and Russian, and amplified by state media,” added David Colon, professor at Sciences Po Paris.
Added to this, according to him, “China’s ambiguous attitude towards the platform like TikTok that misses a lot of shocking content.” As for .
(In other news: She was Ivonne Rubio, the young Colombian who was murdered by Hamas in Israel)
At least 53 Israeli citizens kidnapped during fighting
Hamas militants have kidnapped Israeli citizens during fighting. At least 53 people taken hostage amid ongoing Hamas attack pic.twitter.com/LoyTKtcln0
— RT in Spanish (@ActualidadRT) October 7, 2023
“Hamas and the Palestinian media, whether associated or not, provide evidence of war crimes,” said Michael Horowitz, referring to this Islamist movement that has already been classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union after a series of suicide attacks in the 1990s and 2000s.
(Also: ‘We hid for 16 hours’: Colombian who managed to escape from Hamas at a music festival)
“Hamas and its allies do not fear being accused of having committed war crimes and massacres; They consider global institutions to be useless and supported by the West,” he stressed.
AFP
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