Wikibooks

October 7th Massacre/Preface

< October 7th Massacre

On Saturday, October 7th, 2023, Hamas together with other terrorist organizations launched a surprise attack from Gaza. The attack started with the launch of at least 3,000 rockets to Israel, as well as incursions[1]. Hamas breached the Gaza-Israel barrier and massacred 1,139 people[2][3]: 695 Israeli civilians (including 36 children), 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces[4]. 250 Israeli civilians and hostages were taken, including women and children.[5][6] There is also evidence of sexual assaults.[7][8]

Bloodstains on a house in Be'eri after the October 7th Massacre
A burnt residential building in Be’eri after the Massacre

The day, which was labeled as the Black Saturday (Hebrew: השבת השחורה) [9]or the Simchat Torah Massacre (הטבח בשמחת תורה)[10], was labeled as the bloodiest in Israeli history, and the deadliest for the Jews since the Holocaust.[11]

According to several international law and genocide studies experts, Hamas's assault amounted to genocide.[12][13][14] Legal and genocide experts have condemned the attack,[15][16] saying it represents a serious violation of international law. They argue that Hamas carried out these actions with the intent to destroy the Israeli national group.[14][13][17][12] Some commentators point to Hamas's founding charter, which advocates for the destruction of Israel, contains antisemitic language, and, according to certain researchers, implies a call for the genocide of Jews. This has led to suggestions that the 7 October attacks were an effort to fulfill this agenda.[18][19][20][21]

This wikibook is intended to summarize the events that happened during the Black Friday in the communities impacted by this attack.

Sources

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  1. ↑ "מתקפת הפתע על ישראל: לפחות 250 נרצחים, עשרות חטופים ובני ערובה". גלובס (in Hebrew). 2023-10-08. Archived from the original on 2024-05-04. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  2. ↑ "Israel revises death toll from Oct. 7 Hamas assault, dropping it from 1,400 to 1,200". Times of Israel. 11 November 2023. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-revises-death-toll-from-oct-7-hamas-assault-dropping-it-from-1400-to-1200/. 
  3. ↑ "Israel revises Hamas attack death toll to 'around 1,200'". Reuters. 10 November 2023. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-revises-death-toll-oct-7-hamas-attack-around-1200-2023-11-10/. 
  4. ↑ "Israel social security data reveals true picture of Oct 7 deaths". France 24. 15 December 2023. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231215-israel-social-security-data-reveals-true-picture-of-oct-7-deaths. 
  5. ↑ "Hamas says it has enough Israeli captives to free all Palestinian prisoners". Al-Jazeera. 7 Oct 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/7/hamas-says-it-has-enough-israeli-captives-to-free-all-palestinian-prisoners. 
  6. ↑ Yonah, Jeremy (19 October 2023). "IDF working on rescue ops for over 200 Israeli hostages in Gaza". Jerusalem Post. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-769274. 
  7. ↑ "Evidence points to systematic use of rape and sexual violence by Hamas in 7 October attacks | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-04. By cross-referencing testimonies given to police, published interviews with witnesses, and photo and video footage taken by survivors and first responders, the Guardian is aware of at least six sexual assaults for which multiple corroborating pieces of evidence exist. Two of those victims, who were murdered, were aged under 18.
    At least seven women who were killed were also raped in the attack, according to Prof Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a legal scholar and international women's rights advocate, from her examination of evidence so far. The New York Times and NBC have both identified more than 30 killed women and girls whose bodies bear signs of abuse, such as bloodied genitals and missing clothes, and according to the Israeli welfare ministry, five women and one man have come forward seeking help for sexual abuse over the past few months.
  8. ↑ "New signs emerge of 'widespread' sexual crimes by Hamas, as Netanyahu alleges global indifference". AP News. 2023-12-05. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-04. Such accounts given to The Associated Press, along with first assessments by an Israeli rights group, show that sexual assault was part of an atrocities-filled rampage by Hamas and other Gaza militants who killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages that day.
  9. ↑ Waghorn, Dominic (23 October 2023). "This is a dangerous moment in Israel-Hamas war – and the rest of the world is holding its breath". Sky News. https://news.sky.com/story/this-is-a-dangerous-moment-in-israel-hamas-war-and-the-rest-of-the-world-is-holding-its-breath-12983870. 
  10. ↑ Herzl, Tova (20 October 2023). "אל תשתמשו במילה "שואה" בקשר לטבח" (in Hebrew). Ynet. https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/b1h48wc11t. 
  11. ↑ "Was Hamas' attack the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust?". JTA. 8 October 2023. https://www.jta.org/2023/10/08/israel/was-hamas-attack-the-bloodiest-day-for-jews-since-the-holocaust. 
  12. ↑ a b Watch, Genocide (2023-10-19). "Genocide Emergency Alert: Israel and Gaza". genocidewatch. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  13. ↑ a b WINER, STUART (15 October 2023). "Hamas actions are war crimes, could constitute genocide – international law experts". Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-actions-are-war-crimes-could-constitute-genocide-international-law-experts/. 
  14. ↑ a b "Deadly Hamas Rampage Constitutes 'International Crime of Genocide,' Hundreds of Legal Experts Say" (in en). Haaretz. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-16/ty-article/hamas-deadly-rampage-constitutes-crime-of-genocide-hundreds-of-legal-experts-say/0000018b-37d1-d450-a3af-7fddda070000. 
  15. ↑ Gettleman, Jeffrey; Schwartz, Anat; Sella, Adam (2023-12-04). "What We Know About Sexual Violence During the Oct. 7 Attacks on Israel" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/04/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-israel-hamas-sexual-violence.html. 
  16. ↑ "Israel investigates an elusive, horrific enemy: Rape as a weapon of war" (in en). Washington Post. 2023-11-25. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/25/israel-hamas-rape-sexual-violence/. 
  17. ↑ Watch, Genocide (2023-10-18). "Legal Experts: Hamas committed War Crimes, Genocide". genocidewatch. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  18. ↑ "How the term "genocide" is misused in the Israel-Hamas war". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/11/10/how-the-term-genocide-is-misused-in-the-israel-hamas-war. 
  19. ↑ Bayefsky, Anne F.; Blank, Laurie R. (March 22, 2018). Incitement to Terrorism. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-35982-6. The governing charter of Hamas, "The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement," openly dedicates Hamas to genocide against the Jewish people.
  20. ↑ Breedon, Jennifer R. (2015–2016). "Why the Combination of Universal Jurisdiction and Polical Lawfare Will Destroy the Sacred Sovereignty of States". Journal of Global Justice and Public Policy. 2: 389. The Hamas Charter not only calls for the militant, perhaps genocidal, liberation of Palestine (e.g., "raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine"), but also demonstrates anti-Semitic, murderous intent.
  21. ↑ Tsesis, Alexander (2014–2015). "Antisemitism and Hate Speech Studies". Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion. 16: 352. For Jews, the Holocaust remains a real concern in an age when Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, continues to advocate genocide in its core Charter.
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