OPINION | HAND IN GLOVE: HAMAS, ISIS, AL QAEDA AND HEZBOLLAH

Israeli army on Monday showed to members of the foreign press, nearly 43 minutes of horrific footage of massacre, torture and decapitation of human bodies carried out by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel on October 7. Over 1,400 Israelis and others were killed in the blitz carried out by Hamas terrorists. Most of the videos were shot by terrorists themselves with their bodycams. An Israeli defense spokesperson said, this footage is being distributed to dispel doubts being raised about some of the most horrific atrocities committed by Hamas on that fateful day. The spokesperson said, the footage was collected from call recordings, security cameras, body cameras used by Hamas terrorists, dashboard cameras from the cars of victims, social media accounts and cellphone videos taken by the murderers, first responders and some victims. On that day, more than 1,000 civilians were slaughtered and more than 224 people were abducted by Hamas.

The footage showed, Hamas terrorists dressed in Israeli army uniforms, stopping passing vehicles and shooting the occupants. In the footage, dead bodies were shown dragged out of vehicles, left on the road after the murderers went through their belongings and then the killers took away the blood-soaked, bullet-ridden vehicles. One of the videos shows an arrested Hamas terrorist, admitting during interrogation that they had orders to kill everyone they saw, and these included beheading of victims and cutting off their legs.
He said, they were also ordered to even rape the corpse of a girl. Israeli Defense Force spokesperson claimed that Hamas is working in tandem with ISIS, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. On October 7, he said, the terrorists had brought chemical weapons with them to carry out attacks. Hamas terrorists entered Israel through 30 points on Gaza border simultaneously and started attacking vehicles and kibbutz. The terrorists set fire to people sitting inside vehicles, and then entered residential areas near Gaza border. Since that day was a Jewish holiday, people were hardly awake in the morning when the murderers forcibly entered their homes. They were armed with rocket launchers, automatic rifles and hand grenades. They first broke cctv cameras, doors and windows, and went on a murderous spree. They blew up the homes with rockets.
The Israeli army spokesperson said the simultaneous attack was not by a handful of terrorists, it was a military attack by land, sea and air (through gliders) by well-trained terrorists. The Israeli army, he said, is now responding to the murderous attacks with the same intensity and it will not stop until Hamas is decimated. Till now, more than 300 air strikes have been carried out by Israel on Hamas' positions and a ground attack can take place any time in Gaza. In the last 24 hours, Israeli forces fired missiles at Hezbollah positions inside Syria and Lebanon. Several countries, including India, US, Russia, China, Gulf countries and European Union have sent tonnes of relief material for the Palestinians living in Gaza, but Israel has opposed sending of relief material saying that Hamas will not allow these to reach the ordinary Palestinians. The other important disclosure made by the Israeli army is that the quantity of weapons seized from Hamas clearly show that ISIS terrorists took part in the Hamas' raids. Manuals on how to carry out sudden raids and ISIS flags were seized from dead or arrested Hamas terrorists. The attackers had divided their operation into three stages. The terrorists were asked to keep sufficient amount of food and water with them, keep the hostages in secure locations and shoot them, if required. They were instructed not to speak on wireless for fear of intercepts, and leave the bargaining for release of hostages to the political leadership.
The entire modus operandi, Israeli Defense Force said, was modelled on ISIS one. While US and Western countries have lent their full support to Israel, there have been protests in India and several Islamic countries in support of Hamas. Those supporting Hamas in India should watch what former Saudi intelligence chief Turki Al Faisal Al Saud has said. The Saudi prince, a senior diplomat has condemned the massacres carried out by Hamas and pointed out that it was because of the attacks by Hamas that lakhs of Palestinians in Gaza are now suffering. As far as the fight for freedom of Palestine is concerned, he said, Hamas should learn from India, which forced the British colonial rulers to leave by using the weapon of non-violence. The Saudi prince is right when he says that the murderous attacks by Hamas on October 7 gave Israel a valid excuse to carry out an all-out attack on Gaza.
The entire world once used to praise the daring capability of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and the valor of its armed forces, but the Hamas attacks have dented this image. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is worried. He is trying his best to shore up the morale of his troops. Lakhs of common Palestinians living in Gaza are now facing the brunt of daily missile attacks. India has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. Most of the Muslims in India normally support the Palestine cause, but after the Hamas' terrorist attacks, they have realized why India has supported Israeli action against the terrorists.
Indian government has also sent several tonnes of relief material for Palestinians living in Gaza. The common Indian Muslims have not opposed Indian government's stand, but there are organizations in our country which are trying to mislead the Indian Muslims. They have narrow political objectives, but they have not been able to achieve success in their aims. Time has come for all right-thinking forces to join hands to crush the terror outfits, whether they belong to Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda or Hezbollah.