Truth about 40 babies beheaded, infants burned alive in ovens, and sexual violence that made the genocide in Gaza possible

The truth about 40 babies beheaded, infants burned alive in ovens, and sexual violence that made the genocide in Gaza possible is yet to be established, the ICC could help.

Before examining the AP investigation of the reported atrocities of Oct. 7, some facts must be restated:

- On October 7, Hamas fighters, fighters of other factions, and unaffiliated Gazans crossed the “security fence” and attacked settlements and military posts. Hamas claimed that it did not have full control over others who crossed the breached fence, and that the intent of Hamas’ fighters was to detain high value Israelis to exchange them for the more than 8000 Palestinians held by Israel and to strike an agreement that will protect the status of Aqsa Mosque from settlers’ provocations. Israel claims that about 250 Israelis were taken, some dead and some alive, due the fire fight that took place.

- By the end of the day on October 7, Israeli security forces regained control over the border region after battling for hours with armed groups. Days after the attack, Israel reported that more than 1400 Israelis were killed by Hamas. Later, Israeli authorities lowered the number to under 1150 deaths; Israeli official explained that the rest of the dead bodies belonged to Hamas fighters killed by Israeli security forces. This means that not all the deaths that occurred on that day were at the hands of Hamas and other Palestinian armed persons; Israeli armed forces would have killed the more than 200 persons later determined to be Palestinians, and might have killed some of the estimated 1150 Israelis excluding those killed during the bombardment and direct fire in Gaza while in captivity or attempting to escape.

- Israelis who described the attack and the reaction to the attack reported heavy response from Israeli security forces who did not just use light weapons, but also used tanks and helicopters—heavy weapons that cause significant damage to structures and potentially cause mass killings as well. So far, Israeli authorities have not released any official data about how many its security forces have killed on that day. 

- Israeli armed forces dropped hundreds of 2000-pound bombs and flooded tunnels where Israelis would have been held according to Israel assessment; the powerful bombs and the sea waters used to flood the tunnels could not be used in a discriminating manner, possibly resulting in the death of both Palestinians and Israelis. 

In the light of the above known facts and the still missing facts, it is important to continue to investigate. Now that the ICC prosecution has determined that it has enough evidence that support indicting actors from both sides, the need for establishing the facts beyond reasonable doubt become imperative. 

The media reporting by the AP and other news outlets are helpful, but investigations by independent experts and the ICC investigators are necessary to know all these facts, which are needed for fair prosecution in cases involving criminal charges, like the one pursued by the ICC, or inter-state cases, like South Africa’s before the ICJ.

 The AP reporting:

Chaim Otmazgin had tended to dozens of shot, burned or mutilated bodies before he reached the home that would put him at the center of a global clash.

 Working in a kibbutz that was ravaged by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Otmazgin — a volunteer commander with ZAKA, an Israeli search and rescue organization — saw the body of a teenager, shot dead and separated from her family in a different room. Her pants had been pulled down below her waist. He thought that was evidence of sexual violence.

 He alerted journalists to what he’d seen. He tearfully recounted the details in a nationally televised appearance in the Israeli Parliament. In the frantic hours, days and weeks that followed the Hamas attack, his testimony ricocheted across the world.

 But it turns out that what Otmazgin thought had occurred in the home at the kibbutz hadn’t happened.

...

 “It’s not that I invented a story,” Otmazgin told The Associated Press in an interview, detailing the origins of his initial explosive claim — one of two by ZAKA volunteers about sexual violence that turned out to be unfounded.

 “I couldn’t think of any other option” other than the teen having been sexually assaulted, he said. “At the end, it turned out to be different, so I corrected myself.”

 But it was too late.

 ...

Nearly three months later, ZAKA found out his interpretation was wrong. After cross-checking with military contacts, ZAKA found that a group of soldiers had dragged the girl’s body across the room to make sure it wasn’t booby-trapped. During the procedure, her pants had come down.