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WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT
My name’s Lee Kern. I’m 45 years old. I’m a writer from London. Having seen footage of some of the crimes commited by Hamas against Israeli civilians on October 7th, 2023, I flew to Israel and requested permission to join a press screening that included footage families have asked not to be released to the general public. This is not what I want to do with my life. I’m a civilian. I’m an artist. I have mental health to protect. But it became clear we’re experiencing Holocaust denial in live time. Those who wish to destroy Israel and hold ill feeling towards Jews are not my audience. They’ve embraced an anti-intellectuallism in pursuit of mendacious goals. But I still believe the civilised world holds an edge over those debilitated by hate and conspiracism. It’s for those that I write this, and also for the victims.
Below are the notes I made during the screening, which lasted forty five minutes. It starts off extreme and gets more extreme. I am remaining in Israel so I can interview survivors and those affected by the massacres. If you are able to support my trip and my work, please subscribe.
DESCRIPTIONS OF OCTOBER 7th MASSACRE
The following are descriptions of footage shot by Hamas terrorists on their bodycams and mobile phones. It also includes footage filmed on dash-cams, CCTV cameras and by the victims with their mobile phones.
The footage starts with Hamas breaking into Israel. They are on trucks and motorcycles. They shout Allahu Akbar. Over and over again. Allahu Akbar. Their faces are beaming with joy. They’re so happy.
We see terrorists standing in a road in Israel. A civilian car drives towards them. They begin firing. There are masses of them standing in the road. A long line of men with rifles all shooting at one car. The damaged car continues to move, but slowly now. A terrorist gestures his hand at the vehicle - almost as if he’s pretending to be their friend - kindly asking them to slow down even more so he can shoot them. He fires more bullets at them. The occupants of the car - a man and woman - are dead. Their bodies are pulled out of the vehicle and dropped lifelessly into the road.
Footage of terrorists shooting at a body on the ground. It’s trousers are down, exposing its buttocks.
There’s no doubt this is a war against civilians. There is no Israeli military presence. Those being killed aren’t tragically caught in crossfire. Nor are they collateral damage of a legally acceptible military objective. Murdering civilians is clearly the objective. This can’t be described as warfare. It’s mass murder. We are watching a criminal gang of murderers going on a rampage - like a super squad of Columbine High School shooters - and they’re totting up as much death as possible.
The terrorists have RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and fire at a civilian vehicle. It’s not a direct hit. The vehicle tries desperately to reverse but it doesn’t have a chance. The occupants die in utter confusion. There are shouts of Allahu Akbar.
Terrorists cheer over a dead man and woman full of bullet holes in the road. It’s like Spring Break for them. They are having so much fun.
A roundabout. An approaching vehicle clearly doesn’t understand what it’s driving towards. It sees these men in the road and slows down. Realising something is amiss it speeds up to try and escape. Hamas chases them down like they’re hunting game - shooting wildly at the vehicle. The civilians are killed. Hamas pull their hunted trophies out of the car to see what they’ve caught.
Hamas keep pulling people they’ve murdered out of the vehicles and dumping their lifeless bodies into the road. So many civilians lay dead by their cars. There is no purpose to pulling a body out of a car other than to make it more visible. They want people to see their achievements. They are proud and they want the world to know what they do. They see this as their finest work and don’t want to hide it.
Shot of a man and woman dead in the front seats. The man is slumped over the steering wheel. The woman’s face is harrowed and grotesque and a hideous colour.
Footage of terrorists at the gate of a kibbutz. They are crawling into positions and using all their military stealth to sneak into a community of families. One of them hides in a bush. A civilian car arrives at the gate. The terrorist in the bush emerges and fires his assault rifle several times through the side window. The man doesn’t die instantly. He appears to look at himself in confusion and then struggles with the bullets inside his chest. He turns towards his door, trying to move away from the source of bullets, but he’s finished off with more gunshots. The terrorists now break into the kibbutz.
The terrorists are stalking past family homes. They see an ambulance parked up. They shoot out its tires to prevent it from being used in the service of saving lives. This is an incredibly focused attention to detail in the pursuit of taking as many lives as possible. It’s almost mathematical - wanting to boost their death toll by every possible unit they can.
Terrorists stalk past family homes. A pet dog in a garden starts walking towards them. A terrorist fires a bullet into the dog. The dog’s walk has now become confused but it still walks towards the terrorists. He shoots it again and it falls over. The dog knows nothing about flags or countries. It was just a dog.
Terrorists sneak past childrens swings. They are in a garden. We cannot see in the footage but they have spotted someone inside the house through an open door. A terrorist fires a shot. We hear an awful groan of confusion. You can tell it is an elderly person.
Hamas are sneaking through a garden past children’s toys and bicycles. They are hunting families in their homes.
A terrorist begins setting fire to a family home. Another is trying to peek through the windows to see if anyone is inside the house they’re setting fire to. We see movement within. Someone is inside.
NOTE WRITTEN TO SELF: WE HAVE TO FIGHT
CONTINUED…
These aren’t battle zones. They’re family homes.
Hamas stalk a house where music is playing. It means someone is inside. Hamas enter the home. Hamas move in slowly, using military stealth inside a family kitchen. They get closer to the source of the music. They walk through the kitchen with their rifles, moving towards the source of the music.
A father is in a panic inside his home. He has two boys - aged approximately seven and ten. He is carrying one of them. It’s early morning and they are all wearing underwear. They rush into the garden and head into their bomb shelter. They believe there is a rocket attack and so are seeking cover there. They are now out of view in the shelter. Hamas terrorists appear slowly into shot. They approach the bomb shelter. They toss in a grenade. After a couple of seconds there is an explosion. The father is tossed out of the shelter and thuds against a wall. He is dead from the explosion or the impact or both. After a few seconds one of the boys emerges covered in blood in his underwear. He stands next to his dead father. The other boy also emerges in his underwear, covered in blood. One of the terrorists leads the boys back into their home. They are made to sit on their sofas. They boys are screaming and crying. “Aba! Aba!” meaning “Daddy, daddy!” Their universe is the worst universe that has been specially designed for them. The terrorist leaves them momentarily. One of the boys cries: “They killed daddy. It’s not a prank!” The other replies: “I know I saw!” The terrorist comes back in and opens their fridge. He is a psychopath and offers them water. “I want my mom!” cries the boy. The terrorist has a dead eyed expression and shrugs and drinks from the bottle himself. He’s refreshing himself from their dad’s fridge after having killed him. The terrorist exits. The boys are alone in what was a home two minutes ago, but has now been turned into a universe of pain. “I think we’re going to die.” One brother sees the other’s injuries, “Can you see from your eyes?” “No” he replies. The brother who can still see cries: “Why am I alive!” Footage captured later shows the mother arriving in the garden with two security guards from the kibbutz. They cautiously approach the bomb shelter. She sees her husband lying in his underwear blown up. She collapses and screams and becomes hysterical. The security guards try to both restrain her and hold her from collapsing simultaneously. They try to muffle her screaming. The kibbutz is still under attack.
Hamas are taking the phones from people they kill.
A hamas terrorist pulls a murdered person out of the front seat of their car and drops their body into the dirt. He then gets into the car, in the person’s blood, and drives off.
A woman is on her knees in a kindergarten. She is in a bare room without any furniture. She nervously peeps up towards the windows. She tries to hide pathetically behind the only things available to her: some bags. We see the Hamas terrorists sneaking into the kindergarten. They move with military stealth in a kindergarten. They work tactically together in a kindergarten. The men using military tactics to find the woman trying to hide behind two bags and shoot her. They sift through her pockets and take her phone. They then hoist her body over their shoulders and carry her away.
NOTE WRITTEN TO SELF: WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES
CONTINUED…
We hear radio communication between Hamas terrorists in Israel and their leaders in Gaza:
“We’re in Kibbutz Nisim”
“Cut off heads with knives!”
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”
“Play with their heads! Take photos! Send to me!”
An injured man is on the floor of his living room beside a chair. He is laying on his back with blood on his chest. Hamas grab a garden tool - a hoe. They start swinging the blade down onto the injured man’s throat and adam’s apple. They swing again. They swing again hitting his throat. They hold the furthest end of pole to get maximum leverage and power. As they cut off the man’s head they yell, “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” They’re so excited.
A woman’s face collapsed from bullets shot into it.
A room with approx eight people in a blood bath after having been shot. It’s a tiny box bedroom. They’re crammed in there.
Houses on fire.
The terrorists are having the greatest time of their lives
One of them sets fire to a car using a spray can and a lighter - like a teenage vandal.
The terrorists are laughing and smiling. They are taking selfies. They are experiencing great pleasure. Laughing. Cheering. This is a carnival of blood for them. They are tooting their horns in celebration like they’ve won the Super Bowl.
A dead woman’s corpse
A family dead in their house. Lips that would kiss are now destroyed faces with broken skulls. A middle aged woman is dead, lying face down on the bed. A dead person is on the floor beside the bed.
We see a river of blood where a body has been dragged. Thick blood. Congealed. Lumps in it. Bubbles.
A hacked off, severed head. It’s teeth protrude. The lips have shrivelled back.
A burned corpse
A charred barbecued body.
A pet dog shot dead in a pool of it’s own blood on a living room floor
A soot covered corpse burned
An ISIS flag
A dead woman in her bathroom
A dead baby with it’s skull smashed in
A dead baby
A dead child in its underwear
A dead child in a Disney Mickey Mouse top
A dead child
Another dead child
A child blackened from burning
Burned off lips
A dead child in a dress with butterflies
Piles of dead people
A terrorist uses a phone stolen from a murdered victim. He calls his father. “I killed Jews father!” The father responds “Allahu Akbar!” Father and son are bonding in the most idealised way a father and son could. They are bonding over murder. The son asks to speak to mom. “Mom! I killed Jews!” “May Allah bring you back in peace” she replies. Like a child excited to show his parents something he has done at school he says: “Look at my live whatsapp! Look at my live whatsapp!” Most people on earth would be hard pushed to remember a time when they’ve been as excited as this family are right now.
Dead old lady with her underwear exposed
Dead people. Their eyes either lifeless or their faces collapsed from bullets
Some teenage girls are hiding. They flinch each time they hear a grenade explode in the distance. They’re sobbing and jump with muffled shrieks each time an explosion is heard getting closer.
A woman is hiding under a table in a dark room. Hamas shine torches into the room. They are unbelievably thorough to make sure no one survives. They shine the torch under the table and see her. They toss a grenade under the table. They shout “Allahu Akbar.” There’s an explosion. She screams briefly and then stops.
They find another woman hiding under a table in the darkness. The terrorists don’t deal with her immediately as she poses no threat to anyone. She is not a soldier. She is a civilian. The terrorists talk calmly with each other. They matter of factly point out where there are people for them to kill. They do this leisurely as they are not fighting soldiers. They’re murdering civilians who have zero cards to play in this situation.
We hear audio from a Hamas radio communication. This is being orchestrated from Gaza. It couldn’t be happening without a huge infrastructure. This is a wave of serial killers who have a huge support network and headquarters to direct their crime. The terrorists have captured an Israeli. “Crucify him” comes the instruction from Gaza.
Terrorist are taking selfies with corpses. They put their feet onto the face of a dead corpse - like lads having a night out. They film themselves kicking a dead person’s head. They are laughing. They are a group of friends having a bonding experience and creating memories of murdering people.
Inside Gaza a corpse is dragged out of a car. There are unbelievable celebrations of joy and ecstasy. A crowd of Palestinians begin stamping on the corpse. They stamp it into the road. The civilian had no means of defence whilst alive. Their body just takes these kicks now dead inside Gaza.
A terrified girl is removed from a truck in Gaza. She is barefoot in the dirt. She is wearing sweatpants that are bloodied around her crotch and only around her crotch. There are crowds of everyday Palestinians. They are tooting their horns. There are shouts of Allahu Akbar - deep, heartfelt shouts of Allahu Akbar as the girl in bloodied pants finds herself alone in this city of her rapists. The crowd shouts Allahu Akbar and cars toot their horns as if raping a girl is victory in the World Cup Final.
A music concert. Young people are dancing. They’re having fun. Some uncertainty enters the concert. We hear a girl say: “What’s happening?” Cut to people running. A girl is sobbing. There is a crack of bullets. Teenagers try to escape the cracking of bullets. Some make it to a line of vehicles and attempt to hide behind cars. Armed Hamas terrorists are hunting them. A teenager tries to run away.
We see hundreds of kids running across an open field. They are like buffalo being hunted. The children are running across the open field. Hamas terrorists are following them with machine guns. Shooting at them.
Some Hamas terrorists are stood by vehicles. They notice one lone individual on the crest of a hill trying to escape. Approximately twenty Hamas members go after them. It’s that important to kill every one. EVERY Jew must be killed. They want a perfect score.
Terrorists shoot people who are hiding in portable toilets at a concert. It is methodical. Like a job. One by one they go to each cubicle and fire through the plastic door. They want to kill every Jew they can.
The equipment these terrorists have brought to kill civilians is astonishing. The money and time and logistics and operational support just to kill children is mind blowing. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Every terrorist pulling a trigger has the equivalent of a village behind them. You can’t wake up one morning and spontaneously commit massacres like this, in so many locations, at such a scale.
A rocket launcher fired
A crying woman amidst gunshots and explosions
Crack crack crack of bullets
Teenagers huddled and hiding with the worst tears in their hearts
Someone is on the ground beside a car. They are playing dead. They are playing dead. They are laying still and playing dead. Their leg twitches. A terrorist runs over and fires bullets into their back. He ran to finish them off. He ran to finish them off with efficiency and intent. They want a perfect score of killing Jews. Zero Jews left alive is the only acceptible thing for them.
Jubilant shouts of Allahu Akbar. Everywhere. In every scene of death. Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.
A charred barbecued body is burning on the ground. It’s back is smouldering with low flames.
A young man is trapped. His face is gurning in terror. Wild eyes. Chattering teeth. He is in a group of other trapped youngsters. His teeth chatter amidst the sound of the injured and dying moaning.
There are body parts in a road. Lumps of human meat.
A woman is cowering in a car
A grenade is tossed into a bomb shelter full of youngsters
Injured bleeding hostages are loaded into the back of pick up trucks
THE MAGNITUDE!
THE MAGNITUDE!
Terrorists take selfies with their hostages. Half alive, beaten or dead. The terrorists take jubilant selfies with their hostages.
There are bodies of hostages in the back of pick up trucks, like caught and bloodied fish tossed into the back of a fishing boat. Limbs overlapping. There are shouts of Allahu Akbar.
Inside Gaza. In the back of a pick up truck. A terrorist sits with a hostage. It is uncertain whether she is alive or dead. She is face down with her head in his lap. She has been undressed. She only has a bra on. It is uncertain whether she is alive or dead. The terrorist is playing with her hair. He is casually looking at the crowd assembling. He is in a quiet stupor, unconsciously playing with her hair. The crowd of everyday Palestinians push to the pick up truck to spit on the body of the girl. They jostle and fight with each other to get a good position to spit at the face down girl who doesn’t move. One by one they spit as the tired terrorist strokes the hair of the undressed girl face down in his lap.
A road of utter destruction. Car after car destroyed. Cars that could have been used for escape deliberately destroyed. These are not spontaneous acts. These are tactical decisions that have been made and studied in advance. These are intentional pre-planned acts to ensure the most amount of Jewish people can be murdered. These are pre-planned acts to ensure defenceless people have even less opportunity to survive.
Two barbecued bodies. They are so intensely cooked you could smash them into powder.
A human skull with all its flesh burned off is charred. The blackened parts of the skill give way to the white parts of the skull.
There are cooked corpses still smoking and smouldering
There are bodies that look like they’ve been in a nuclear blast. Human beings who woke up that morning are turned into charcoal by sunset.
It is night time. There is a pit full of smoking bodies. A raging fire of human bodies is now gentle embers, smouldering whatever is left to burn on them.
It has been an entire day of slaughter.
A deformed and mangled body. A woman’s limbs have been snapped. They’ve been purposefully twisted into unfathomable shapes. Her lips have been ripped off. Her teeth protrude gormlessly. A woman has been reduced to the most undignified appearance. She is a human lump.
A tent full of the dead. There are approximately fifty dead. Were this tent alone all that had happened today, it would have been an atrocity the history books would remember. There are not enough pages to document every act of evil that took place today. The magnitude. The magnitude of their crimes. They did this all on one day. Imagine what they would do if they had a whole calender. Not one Jew would exist if they had the power to make it so.
A dead girl
A dead girl in Little Miss Sunshine trousers
A dead girl
A dead girl
Another dead girl
A dead girl with a deep hole in her chest where the bullet has entered
A body with its legs snapped into unusual shapes
A decapitated corpse with a gag in its mouth
A corpse face down with it’s hands handcuffed behind its back
A burned and blackened body. It is in a crawling position. It’s shoulders are raised off the ground in a crawling position.
A truck full of burned corpses, melded together in one clump.
It was relentless
It was relentless
They said the name of their God at the time when most people would doubt that God exists
This is an incredible description . Thank you for being there and for continuing to document it for us here and on instagram.
Soul shattering. Every Israeli was exposed to these videos at some extent… some even saw them (and more) in real time but the truth is- 28 days later and I still cannot find words to describe what I feel. Its surreal that we need to say it in the context of such a demonic massacre- but thank you for standing with us, Lee.