U.S. and international media outlets are repeating unsubstantiated claims that Palestinian fighters "beheaded" babies. These unverified assertions aren't just sloppy journalism — they are being used to justify a massacre.
One story has been dominating the U.S. and international media cycle for the past 24 hours. It has been repeated by pro-Israel activists, Israeli government officials, reporters, and anchors throughout the U.S. media and even alluded to by the President. The thing is — this story has not been confirmed in any way. It appears to come from a single source with a history of espousing calls for genocidal violence against Palestinians.
You have probably heard the story that Hamas fighters beheaded 40 Israeli children in the Kfar Aza community near Gaza. This story can be traced back to an article by Bel Trew, a reporter for The Independent. Trew entered Kfar Aza on October 10, soon after the Israeli army, and reported on Twitter that gunfire erupted just as they arrived. She is told by a member of the Israeli military that children were beheaded, but the article notes, “The Independent did not see evidence of this.”
The military source of this claim is Major David Ben Zion. According to his Twitter bio, he is the Deputy Head of the settler leadership organization, the Samaria Regional Council, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Fund for Israel, a quasi-governmental agency used to acquire land in Palestine that is then made available exclusively for use by the Israeli state.
In this video clip, Ben Zion speaks directly to the camera. He says the soldiers found children with their heads cut off. He is incorrectly named on-screen in the video but is correctly named in the description below the video on YouTube.
In addition to his role in settler leadership, Ben Zion has a history of calls to genocidal violence.
Earlier this year, Israeli settlers carried out a so-called “reprisal attack” on the Palestinian village of Huwwara after an unknown Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli settlers. As we reported at the time, Israeli settlers launched a ‘pogrom’ on the night of February 26, attacking Palestinian homes and property in Huwwara, Burin, and across the Nablus area, burning houses, cars, vandalizing property, and assaulting Palestinians.
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I don't understand why it makes such a difference whether the killed babies were beheaded. Isn't killing innocent babies bad enough?
I think it matters a lot if a group of people summarily executed 40 babies intentionally, there is a huge difference between civilian casualties in an attack and the intentional targeting of children in an attack and I think you would have to be pretty naive not to know there is a big difference between those two things, civilian deaths are inherently bad, but intentionally targeting children attaches an indescribable evil to the actions, which I'm guessing is the point of why this story circulated, and I would be very surprised if anything remotely similar to Hamas beheaded 40 children turns out to be the truth
Intentional killing of civilians, including children, seems to be a well-established fact at this stage.
We are on marxist-leninist lemmy at the moment, facts are secondary
Then why lie about beheadings?
I think it is important that we separate fact from fiction. That being said, I do agree that just the fact that children were murdered in any manner is abhorrent. That goes for both Israeli and Palestinian children. Innocent blood is on the hands of multiple people/groups/nations... and it is unacceptable. We have to mentally separate groups like Hamas from the populations they live amongst because they are not the same. After all, not all Americans are Proud Boys or Oath Keepers and not all citizens support the actions of the governments they live under.
If your question is genuine. Then the answer is pretty obvious to me at least, and I'm glad i can help you out here. The point of these kind of lies is to dehumanise your enemy. When Israel then goes ahead and kills a much larger number of babies, it's easier to sell why they "had to do this".
"Wtf are you talking about you piece of shit, Israel has done no such thing", I imagine some thinking. Well..... Historically they've killed Palestinian children at a rate of 20:1. But, what about these 40 cases who are still without any proof (smell test: there is likely none, or it would've surfaced day 1). Aaaannnnd, how many are estimated dead in Gaza bombings the past days? 1400 Palestinians, in a defacto prison where half are children.
"Yeah... But they had it coming. Because I'm emotionally riled up by the animalistic brutal acts done by beheadi.... Hmm... Ah, I see"
Clears it up for you?