"Hamas beheaded 40 children". We're analyzing media reports about the Israeli kibbutz massacre

fakenews.pl 1 year ago

In the first weeks after the terrorist attack on Israel, news circulated that Hamas had beheaded 40 children. It caused quite a few emotion, but it shortly came to voices that these messages might not be full true. Almost 2 months have passed since these events. Therefore, we decided to take a closer look at this issue erstwhile the emotions had partially subsided. We analysed where this communicative came from and whether we can find to what degree it is consistent with reality.

Our evaluation:

Analysis

More about our evaluation system:

WARNING: The content of this article contains descriptions of murders and mutilations and links to drastic content. We ask our Readers to consider and make a conscious decision to read this text.

At the same time, we emphasize that the article is simply a case survey and should be treated as such. It is intended to show how chaotic the information circulating in the media can be, especially in the case of specified traumatic and utmost emotions of events. We leave the assessment of the situation to our Readers.

The article was created on the basis of excellent work of the editorial portals of fact-checking Tjekdet and PolitiFact.

Hamas massacres kibbutz

On October 7, 2023, there was a violent attack by Hamas fighters on Israeli border territories. In addition to the music festival, the objectives were kibbuce (cooperative farms). usually there are respective 100 people surviving there and they are a small, to any degree closed community. It was in 1 of them, Kfar Az, that the civilian population was massacred.

Local imagination in Kfar Aza

Three days after the attack, media representatives were invited to the scene on October 10. The portals indicate PolitiFact and TjekdetThat's erstwhile the news of the decapitated children in Kfar Aza first appeared on the Israeli news channel i24 News. They were given by writer Nicole Zedeck, who obtained them from Israeli soldiers. During his second live air entry on October 10 informedThat kids with their heads cut off were found in the kibbutz. On the another hand, during the last entry saidThat 40 children were found. any people may have mistakenly linked the 2 statements of the journalist, and the communicative in question began from overinterpretation.

The manipulated words of Nicole Zedeck

At the same time, however, Nicole Zedeck's words were being manipulated. It remained presented during the American radio show The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, during which a conversation with a writer was conducted. She was asked to mention to the viral recording, in which the presenter's words about decapitated youngest victims are questioned. The passage on this case begins in 4:50. Nicole Zedeck replied that it is “disgusting” to request evidence in the form of photographs and recordings of dead children. At the same time adding that it should mention to the whole, alternatively than fragments of her material from Kfar Az.

Indeed, Nicole Zedeck's words, which fell during the video presented, were cut and merged to change their context. You can hear them in 5:30. They were designed in specified a way as to propose that the writer stated that she had seen children without heads. However, erstwhile we look at the first reports from Kfar Az, it turns out that it was not. 2 sentences from Nicole Zedeck's second antenna entry were utilized to make a manipulated recording. It is found Here. (below the tweeted article). utilized to manipulate the conviction can be heard in 0:17 and 1:36. In fact, the reporter twice emphasized that she received information about decapitated youngest victims from Israeli soldiers, not erstwhile claiming that she had seen them with her own eyes.

Reports from another journalists

French Channel writer LCI Margot Haddad confirmed Nicole Zedeck reports, stating that he has photos and recordings of decapitated children, but will never make them available due to their brutality. At the same time, she stressed that the full number of victims is unknown and incapable to confirm how many children were killed.

Information about persons with heads cut off

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besides from the mouth of Nic Robertson, a CNN journalist, although he did not state that this was specifically the case for the youngest victims. akin statements There's been Reuters' article and here besides did not specify which decapitated people were found killed.

Where did the communicative come from?

This information then went to the another media, both Foreignand Polish. Kfar Aza called "Israeli Buczcha". diary Facts in the heading of your article unambiguously statedthat ‘the infants were beheaded’. Belarusian opposition news portal Nexta on its X profile reportedThat all 40 murdered children were beheaded. Same number

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American judaic actor Noah Schnapp, showed she besides went to TikTok. That's the number most common. circulation on the Internet.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, besides spoke on this subject, causing the case to become virtually global. During a press conference stated:

I never truly thought I'd see confirmed pictures of terrorists cutting off children's heads.

Because of specified claims, social media exploded hot discussions about these events, generating utmost emotions.

Hamas beheaded 40 children? Conflicting Reports

However, the next day, October 11th, the White home published correction concerning Joe Biden's words. As the U.S. President's administration stated, he did not actually see the photographs he mentioned, and he referred only to media reports. And writer Oren Ziv from Israeli +972 Magazine reportedThat during his visit to Kfar Aza he saw no evidence of head-cutting to children. besides Israeli soldiers and commanders did not give him specified information. Samuel Forey, French writer Le Monde and Le Soir, besides was not is able to confirm reports circulating in the network. Based on information from the Israel Defence Force (IDF) press spokesman, Turkish portal Anadol transmittedThat the Israeli army besides cannot certify that specified a situation occurred.

The next day, October 12th, CNN reportedthat representatives of the Israeli government are incapable to confirm information about kid decapitation. At the same time, CNN besides stressed that its journalists on the place did not see evidence of these claims. On the same day, however, Jerusalem Post stated information ‘based on verified photographs’ that the heads of children have been cut off. The paper referred to photos on X shared (Note, drastic!) through the authoritative account of the Prime Minister of Israel. However, we see burnt remains of infants on them, and it is impossible to confirm that they were cut off.

As you can see, in just 3 days, conflicting information began to circulate online. The information chaos around the events in Kfar Az's kibbutz was significant. The situation did not improve the emotional discussions on social media.

IDF representatives in the media

October 11, Jonathan Conricus, IDF spokesman, during transmission in service X stated “with comparative certainty” that the children were decapitated in the kibbutz of Be’eri, respective kilometres southwest of Kfar Az. On the another hand, Yossi Landau, head of the ZAKA organization (which brings together civilian volunteer crisis consequence teams) to confederate Israel, presented his experience of the events in a fewer days.

11 October He saidThat he personally saw decapitated children in Kfar Aza. October 13 on Indian tv Republic planet unequivocally statedThat Hamas cut off the heads of the youngest. On October 17 in an interview with CNN reportedThat he was watching a teenager's body without a head. The same day on Fox News described "extreme violence", including towards the youngest, but not to mention decapitation. During an interview on Israeli tv Now 14 of October 24 Landau He saidThat he personally carried the bodies of murdered children and infants without heads.

At the same time, respective days after the local imagination in Kfar Aza, many another Israeli military representatives reported the decapitations of the youngest civilians. Among them were: IDF spokesperson — Libby Weiss, Head of IDF Search and Rescue Unit — Golan Vach, Chief Rabbi IDF — Haim Weisberg and anonymous person from the IDF press office to North America.

Israeli and American authorities comment on events

As already mentioned, U.S. president Joe Biden commented on the events in Kfar Aza on October 10. However, the meaning of his statements had to be clarified by the White home press office. 15 October at the conference again statedThat Hamas cut off children's heads. 3 days later, too. touched the issue. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 12 October told Israel’s representatives showed him photos of violently murdered children, but did not confirm that they had been stripped of their heads. He saw only the decapitated bodies of Israeli soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 11 October said about the decapitated youngest victims in Kfar Aza. The next day, anonymous. representative Israeli authorities, as well (as already mentioned) IDF was incapable to confirm reports of head-cutting in the kibbutz. nevertheless Netanjahu both during the visit Bidenaand Blinkena He was speaking straight of specified events. The same as the military forces mentioned earlier. This means that only October 11th in the evening and the following day the Israeli authorities reported that there was no information circulating, but they did so with anonymous representatives. However, both the day before and the day later, Israel’s communicative was clear: Hamas allowed children to be cut off. However, the exact number of youngest victims with specified injuries was never given, or whether they were found in Kfar Az's territory, as the relation was not conclusive.

On October 20, the National Center for Judicial medicine of Israel invited journalists to look at the bodies of Hamas victims. Press Agency The Media Line confirmed (Note, drastic!) that her representatives saw during the visit the body of the headless children.

Finally, Hamas clearly He denied Reports of kid decapitation, calling them lies.

Summary

Did Hamas in Kfar Aza's kibbutz beheaded 40 children? The number included in this question comes from a combination of 2 statements by an Israeli writer who died during her coverage of Kfar Az. The authoritative communications of the Israeli side never stated precisely how many children were decapitated. Media and net users gave this number without verifying where it came from. At the same time, the chaos of information around this case made it very hard to realize what is actual and what is not. In the above article, we presented the facts we were able to gather in connection with the massacre in Kfar Aza. Many of them contain contradictory reports and cannot be clearly stated at this point, which can be considered to be full reliable. Therefore, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn on the basis of the information submitted.

Sources

Tjekdet: https://www.tjekdet.dk/factatjek/har-hamas-halshugget-40-babyer-i-israelsk-kibbutz

PolitiFact: https://www.politact.com/article/2023/nov/21/israel-hamas-war-what-we-know-about-beheaded-babie/

Anadol: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-army-says-it-does-not-have-confirmation-about-callations-that-hamas-beheaded-babies-3014787

CNN:

NBC News:

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1206601854/israel-turns-to-dna-and-dental-imprints-to-identify-unrecognizable-body

The fresh York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/world/middleeast/hamas-israel-mood-distrust.html

CBS News:

Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6339345751112

White home Administration:

U.S. State Department: