Hamas' Response to Israeli/US Video of Captured Female Soldiers

 

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired
HEO/GED
5-22-24

The first thing I need to point out is that the woman journalist in this CBS video, Iris Makler, is an Israeli journalist based in Jerusalem. She talks of the women captured and held by Hamas, as bleeding although there is not much evidence of that from what we see in the video. This CBS video does at least refer to these women as IDF members although that in itself is a little misleading.

The women in question are soldiers of the Israeli military who were "spotters", personnel whose role was to keep an eye out to make sure that none of the prisoners in the Gaza concentration camp were making efforts to escape so that if any of them did make an attempt, their IDF comrades could come and kill them.

When it comes to the comments by this Israeli journalist that the Palestinian fighters said to one of the girl soldier that "you're beautiful" and that, "these are the women that we can get pregnant", I take that with a pinch of salt as we have learned over these past 7 months that when it comes to the truth, the IDF or Israeli government sources have no credibility at all. To be blunt, I don't believe Ms Makler.

Then further in to this CBS clip, these female prisoners of war are again referred to as "hostages". But, I ask, why are they hostages and not prisoners of war? The western mass media refers to this conflict as a "war" I don't agree with that reference but, well, you can see what we're up against.

I do not speak Arabic or Hebrew, though I do know a word or two of Yiddish but the Zionists despise that language, so I can't speak to the translation the Israeli news media gives that the Hamas response takes up.

I hope that these young women and any others taken prisoner by the Palestinians are safe, haven't been killed by Zionist/US bombs and will return to their families.

I am sharing this official response from Hamas to the Israeli and its western backers version of events not because I support this political group we know as Hamas, I am in complete disagreement with their political views,  but because the coverage of this genocide and the entire history that led up to this present situation by the western mass media, I mean by that the BBC, CNBC, CBS CNN and the European equivalents, is completely biased. I  believe that working people have the right to hear both sides of any situation that involves us as a nation and also involves out tax money. We can make the right decisions, for our own interests, if we are presented with the truth which is a rarity.

Here is the official Hamas response to the Zionists and CBS version of events in the video above.

“In light of the Zionist occupation's release of a video clip about the capture of female soldiers during the events of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle on October 7th, we affirm the following:

The video clip being circulated in the Hebrew media is a manipulated and partial clip, and its authenticity cannot be confirmed.

The circulation of this clip at this time comes as part of the occupation's failed attempts to tarnish the image of our valiant resistance by spreading fabricated narratives that have been proven false by multiple forums and media investigations.

The scenes show images of female soldiers at a military site who were captured while working in the Gaza Division command. They appear in civilian clothing because they were on break, especially since the attack occurred early on the morning of Saturday, October 7th, which is their day off.

There is deliberate cutting and editing in the footage, with selective images and clips chosen to support the occupation’s claims and lies about assaults on the female soldiers.

The clips show deliberate distortions and manipulations in the English translation, fabricating words in the English subtitles that were not spoken by any of the fighters appearing in the video, whether in Arabic or English. This falsification and manipulation in translation prove the falsehood of the Zionist narrative from the outset.

The presence of minor bloodstains or slight injuries on some of the female soldiers is expected in such operations, which can involve jostling. The scenes did not show any physical assault on any of them but rather depicted dialogue between the fighters and the female soldiers without any assault or abuse.

The female soldiers were treated according to the ethical standards of our resistance, and there has been no evidence of mistreatment towards the female soldiers in this unit, despite their involvement in harming our people and causing the deaths of hundreds of peaceful protesters on the Gaza borders.

All the images and scenes from the recent exchange operation confirmed the good treatment they received under the resistance in Gaza, in contrast to what our prisoners face in the occupation’s prisons, where they endure oppression, abuse, and killing.”