Atrocities Israel screens footage of Hamas attack

Israeli authorities have screened harrowing footage of killings and mutilations during the Hamas rampage in southern Israel on 7 October.

- Rory Carroll

The government showed the 43-minute compilation in a private screening for dozens of foreign journalists at a military base in Tel Aviv yesterday to rebut what it said were attempts to deny or downplay the extent of atrocities.

The footage, which drew from security cameras, body cameras worn by the Hamas attackers, vehicle dashboard cameras, social media accounts and mobile phone videos, left some reporters in tears. The material included the slaughter of children and decapitation of victims.

The audience was not allowed to record the compilation but one excerpt, approximately a minute long, was publicly released. It showed Hamas militants flagging down a car as it drove along a rural road. The gunmen fired at the vehicle, which swerved and halted, revealing two people slumped in the front seats.