naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
(text post)
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #1
This is a megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
We've had some questions on the reports of beheadings that have been going around.
Claims of beheadings have been emerging after a media tour of Kfar Aza on Tuesday when soldiers told reporters that children had been beheaded during Hamas' attack of the kibbutz.
An IDF spokesperson reacted shortly after by saying it could not confirm the claims.
CNN on Wednesday reported that Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that beheaded babies and toddlers had been found in Kfar Aza.
On the same day US President Joe Biden spoke to leaders of Jewish groups at the White House.
"I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children," he said.
The White House later clarified his claims by saying neither the president nor US officials had seen pictures or independently confirmed the alleged atrocities and that Mr Biden had based his comments on statements by the spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and media reports from Israel.
On Thursday IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Jonathan Conricus mentioned the claims while giving an update about the situation in Be'eri.
"We got very, very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded. And I admit it took us some time to really understand and to verify that report," he said on X.
"After eyewitnesses came forward and after a senior official in the Israeli coronary service, Zaka, came forward on record ... and said 'yes, I saw the bodies of beheaded babies', I think we can now say with relative confidence that this is unfortunately what happened in Be'eri ."
The allegations could not be independently confirmed, and authorities did not immediately offer further details or evidence.
I know some people have been waiting for more info before rushing to judgement, which is fair enough. Unfortunately, it seems like this particular horrific story is true.
Given terrorist attacks in the US and Europe the prior should be pretty high that they would commit atrocities like this. Even if they didn't, we know they slaughtered people at a music festival so they are committing war crimes regardless.
It’s true that it seems like the kind of thing Palestinian terrorists rampaging unopposed through a kibbutz might do, but it also seems like the kind of exaggerated rumor that would go around after such an event.
This sentence will get me put on a list, but Israel’s international credibility depends on releasing the dead baby pics.
They did release these (DON'T CLICK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE MURDERED BABIES), but as far as I can tell there's no decapitation in these pics. One might have his throat slit, they've censored it so it's hard to tell. The other two are burned to the point I can't discern what body part is which (I can however confirm from personal experience that's pretty much what an incompletely-burned baby looks like).
I don't think this release was intended to address that specific claim though.
EDIT: Ok, apparently these are the same photos that the Jerusalem Post is saying confirm the decapitation story. Which makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. They seem to do the opposite.
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Notes -
There's been some confusion over the beheaded babies claim. The ABC looks into it:
I know some people have been waiting for more info before rushing to judgement, which is fair enough. Unfortunately, it seems like this particular horrific story is true.
Given terrorist attacks in the US and Europe the prior should be pretty high that they would commit atrocities like this. Even if they didn't, we know they slaughtered people at a music festival so they are committing war crimes regardless.
It’s true that it seems like the kind of thing Palestinian terrorists rampaging unopposed through a kibbutz might do, but it also seems like the kind of exaggerated rumor that would go around after such an event.
This sentence will get me put on a list, but Israel’s international credibility depends on releasing the dead baby pics.
They did release these (DON'T CLICK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE MURDERED BABIES), but as far as I can tell there's no decapitation in these pics. One might have his throat slit, they've censored it so it's hard to tell. The other two are burned to the point I can't discern what body part is which (I can however confirm from personal experience that's pretty much what an incompletely-burned baby looks like).
I don't think this release was intended to address that specific claim though.
EDIT: Ok, apparently these are the same photos that the Jerusalem Post is saying confirm the decapitation story. Which makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. They seem to do the opposite.
Link appears to be dead. "Hmm...this page doesn’t exist. Try searching for something else."
Still works for me.
Odd. Do I need to have an account to view, maybe?
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