this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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The allegation of victims tied together and set on fire is absolutely true. I saw the images, and here is an article with it.
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/evidence-on-display-at-israels-forensic-pathology-center-confirms-hamas-atrocities/
This article is corroborated by The Guardian, who was at the same press conference, but chose not to post that picture, but a couple other ones.
I saw another image of this mother and child as seen at the scene of the crime too in an archive curated by first responders at the scene.
Many, many of the victims were burned alive.
Edit: Haaretz was probably at the press conference too.
I'm not so sure about that The Media Line link. I searched The Guardian and only only came up with this article, which describes an adult and child having died in a fire while holding each other with no mention of being restrained with steel wire:
The Media Line article interviews the same Dr. Chen Kugel, head of Israel's National Center for Forensic Medicine, but omits his above description and does not attribute the steel wire claim to any sources. It's also vague about whether the victims were directly set on fire or whether they died in burning buildings. In comparison, the Guardian article clearly states as follows:
The Media Line article even ends by quoting an obvious lie that "No one who was alive and encountered them [the Gazan attackers] remained alive. No one."
I've never heard of The Media Line before today and I don't know what they're usually like, but I have to question the agenda of an outlet that would publish these embellishments. What the attackers actually did to civilians was bad enough for reasonable people to understand an IDF response to hurt the capabilities of the Gazan armed resistance and maybe try to extract some of the hostages. However, embellishing what happened serves the purposes of distracting from the IDFs failures and further dehumanize Palestinians in order to manufacturer consent for something more drastic and ghastly than measured retaliation against Hamas et al.
Actually, it's not embellished at all, in fact, if you've seen the archives, most reports under-sell the atrocities. You have to wonder why both The Media Line and The Guardian were at the same press conference, yet The Media Line chose to show the picture with the metal wire.
It's because The Media Line clearly has an agenda to garner an emotional response from its audience?
That can certainly be true.
Another point of view is that sources like The Guardian are irresponsible for not showing the images when many people are accusing Israel of embellishment.
Yes there is a picture and there is a metal wire there and there are more, multitudes more.
There are trucks filled with burnt bodies, there's images of a burnt child running and falling. There's videos of smoke still rising from the bodies as first responders reach the scenes.
But you know, if you want more, here you go.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67165128
https://www.haaretz.com/0000018b-3313-dff1-a5eb-ffffee6f0000
Now you have BBC who corroborates the metal wire, and Haaretz that describes the beheaded babies as accurate, both well known and trusted sources.
If you actually want the archive with the first responder telegram that corroborates all this too I can PM it also.
Images of the steel wire are conspicuously missing from the media line report.
The Haaretz article doesn't corroborate the beheaded babies allegation. It just repeats the hearsay:
The BBC also just repeats a claim:
I wouldn't expect BBC or Haaretz to actually show photos like that, but neither mentions seeing photos or other evidence and verifying the claims. The organizations presumably have access to the Telegram archive and have the means to verify the worst alleged excesses of the attack, but so far they haven't.
Well look.
If this were any other country in Europe or the US, no one would be questioning the doctors, the first responders, and news outlets who report their claims. Because ultimately, that's what's going on here.
If you acknowledge that this is an unconventional response to such overwhelming proof, I will reserve my pure bewilderment.
And if you're still questioning the Metal wire, yes, it's in the Media Line report. Check the scanned image. It's literally right there, bottom right of the scan you can see the metal loop, and follow it around the bodies.
Do you want the Telegram archive? I have access to 2. One that shows live killings, as corroborated by the BBC, NYT, who were shown the same footage at a screening in Israel, and one that shows images and CCTV uploaded by first responders.
I'm not sure what you're getting at. There were some big allegations of mass rape and infant decapitations, which received a lot of attention and credulity and then turned out to be unsubstantiated. It's happened before in other conflicts where unsubstantiated claims of specific attrocities have been used to dehumanize enemies and build support for war. The Nayirah testimony comes to mind as an infamous example. So, when I hear wild stories of victims bound together with steel wire (of all things) and then directly set on fire, I am rightfully skeptical.
The image of the CT scan the The Media Line shows something next to the torsos, but we don't know what it is because there's no quote from Dr. Kugel or any other expert to tell us. This report also omits a detail that the Guardian report includes, which is that the remains were recovered from a safe room in a kibbutz. Therefore, a scenario where the two individuals were tied together (with steel wire) and directly set on fire, as opposed to being trapped in a room in a burning building, seems relatively farfetched.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood featured many confirmed atrocities. I've seen videos and read corroborating reports. I do not dispute that. What I take issue with are the uncorroborated rumors that seem designed to make people especially upset. The Israeli government, its supporters, and apologists were so quick and eager to run with the false allegations of mass rape and infant beheadings. If there was evidence that unequivocally confirmed that people were tied together and set on fire, a scene that might have come from a Saw sequel, they would absolutely be showcasing it. However, not even The Media Line report can produce a quote from a forensic expert (that isn't an obvious lie) to support the allegation.
You understand what you're saying right.
This was a big media press conference, and the presenter. The presenter, was Dr. Chen Kugel. This was a slide on his own presentation. Do you understand?
Boom:
https://youtu.be/SoTItPHa6mw?si=zPYvRhDoj1D-nwSB
Video of the actual press conference.
Please relent, it's giving me a headache.
He does address all the scans, the metal wire in the photo, right there, direct quotes from him too I should have led with this. Around minute 6 is when the images posted come up.
Please watch the video, please please I feel like I'm going insane. I should have led with it but I didn't know there was video of the whole press conference.
Thank you for finding the video. I wish the articles we have been referencing would have just linked to it. That said, the video does not substantiate the article from The Media Line.
Regarding the charred bodies, Dr. Kugel is clear that they were not directly set on fire. At about 24:24 he states that the bodies were in buildings that burned. Subsequently, he clarifies that carbon monoxide inhalation would have killed them before the fire itself, that they did not burn alive, as a small consolation to the surviving loved ones.
As for the steel wire, it is mentioned twice in the video:
At about 7:41, Dr. Kugel says that one of his colleagues "thinks" that an adult and child shown in one of the CT scans "might" have been bound together with steel wire and then burned. That is speculation, of course. I would speculate differently, but I think that would be an unnecessary digression.
At about 11:12, an unburned, or at least un-charred, body of an adult male is explained as having been "cuffed" with steel wire and then shot to death. Unlike the scan of the adult and child, a photograph of the steel wire from this case is actually presented.
So, from this press conference we have a confirmed case of steel wire being used to restrain a victim and multiple victims of arson. These findings are sad and horrifying, but, based on the facts we have, the allegation that people were ritualistically strapped together and burned alive (with the implication that it was a typical feature of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood), is not true. We need to be careful about fabrications and exaggerations for the reasons I mentioned previously.
At this point, I have also had enough of this discussion. It is an unpleasant topic and you have helped me get a better understanding for the basis and validity of the claim, which is what I originally sought.