Six Hamas terrorists interrogated by Israel's Shin Bet security service and police force said they were told to kill and kidnap civilians during the raids on Oct. 7, and one said they were offered a special reward for bringing a hostage back to Gaza.
"Whoever brings a hostage back [to Gaza] gets $10,000 and an apartment," one of the terrorists told Israeli forces, reports The Jerusalem Post, after footage of the interrogation was released Monday showing selected clips from six separate sessions.
The terrorists each told of slightly different experiences, but there were common statements, including that the agents were told explicitly to kill and kidnap civilians, including the elderly, women, and children, while their commanders remained in Gaza.
They further said the plan had been that Hamas would take control of the towns they had attacked and hold their positions there once residents were killed or kidnapped.
At the end of the video, each of the terrorists were asked if what they had done was allowed under Islam, and all responded the same way: "No. Islam does not permit the killing of women and children."
According to the video, the Hamas operatives went into extreme details about what they had done on the morning of Oct. 7.
"The instructions were to kidnap women and children," one of the terrorists said, while another one said his commander "yelled at me" after he shot a dead body on the floor.
"I shot her and my commander yelled at me for wasting bullets on a dead body," he said.
The terrorists also made it clear that they were not to distinguish between soldiers and civilians with their killings.
"When we finished, we burned two houses," one said.
Another of the operatives described going into a house after others had shot a man living there.
"Two [terrorists] went into the house ... we heard voices inside," he said. "Another two came in. There was one lying on the floor next to the door. I don't know if he was dead, but there was blood next to him. Inside there was one wounded man ... I think a whole family. In their pajamas. The wounded man was in his underwear. A woman came out wearing a dress ... then another with a dress. [Then] a boy and a girl."
He added that they then went to the next house, where "they took out a woman. An old woman," and when asked if the family members were used as human shields, said "Yes."
Another of the terrorists said that when he was in Be'eri, he saw two Hamas operatives on a motorbike who "took a woman about 60-65 years old" with them "to Gaza."
In a later part of the same terrorist's account, he told the interrogators that "after Suleiman and Karem killed that woman from the town ... they took someone, a man about 40-45 years old ... and took him ... to Gaza."
In the clips, the terrorists also describe their other actions including using smoke to force civilians out of shelters and killing several pets. They also speak about dead bodies lying on the ground and people crying and trying to run away.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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