'It's Inexplicable': Belgium House of Representatives Refuses to View Images of the October 7 Israeli Massacre

Civilians hunted down, killed at point-blank range, bodies of adults and tortured children, blood trails—these are the scenes depicted in images of the massacres committed by Hamas commandos on Israeli soil on October 7. These images, provided by Israeli authorities, were intended for presentation in the Belgian Parliament. However, it appears that this will not happen.

In response to queries about the potential screening of these images in the Parliament, its president, Eliane Tillieux (PS), stated that she had “submitted” the request to the Conference of Presidents of the Parliament, composed of all the Presidents of the political groups.

In their meeting on Tuesday, the Conference “did not reach a consensus,” she wrote.

“Unfortunately, the Parliament has just rejected the screening of this film. This refusal is inexplicable on the very day when the National Assembly in Paris is watching it, as is the European Parliament, for example,” expressed Georges Dallemagne (Les Engagés) on the same social media platform.

Within Les Engagés, Catherine Fonck believes that it was part of the “political duty” to watch the film. “We were the only ones supporting the request (for screening, editor’s note). The refusal was firm. Violent…,” she wrote on X.

When asked by a user if it is possible to “know the reasons for the refusal by others,” Catherine Fonck assures that there is “no explanation, no argument,” adding that it is “clearly a political direction.”

Aucune explication…Aucun argument…

— Catherine Fonck (@catherinefonck) November 14, 2023

This sentiment is shared by the president of DéFI, François De Smet: “It is indeed inexplicable.”

“The left’s shipwreck continues,” says Sophie Rohonyi (DéFI). “PS & PTB refused the screening; the others abstained. Would there only be certain horrors to show and denounce?”

The deputy asserts that “if DéFI had been a member of the conference (excluded because the group has fewer than five deputies), it would have strongly supported it!”

Gruesome Images

Before viewing the images, the viewer is warned by a preamble text that they will see “an overview of what happened that day.” Specifically, “the bodies of 138 people,” is specified at the end of the film.

On the screen, the bodies of men, women, and children. Lying in bushes, living rooms, bathrooms. Babies with blurred faces in body bags can also be seen.

In a kibbutz, in footage captured with a mobile phone, one of the attackers seizes a gardening tool to brutalize a wounded civilian, as if to decapitate him, amid cheers from his commando members.

Another sequence shows a car in front of the gate of one of the attacked kibbutzim. Men repeatedly shoot its driver, whose body jerks.

Assailants in green camouflage traverse well-maintained gardens between systematically targeted houses.

“He’s dead. They killed him.”

Two young children in underwear sob. Their father was killed by a grenade while protecting them, captured by a surveillance camera inside the house. One of them claims not to see with one eye, still crying for his father. “He’s dead. They killed him,” his brother replies. “Why am I still alive?” one of them asks.

Other videos show the attack on a techno festival a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip, where more than 270 people lost their lives.

The film displays the execution of a wounded person filmed by a security camera. In a refreshment stand, the floor is covered with bodies between refrigerators and beer taps.

In another video, an Israeli woman is pulled by the hair from the trunk of a jeep. The back of her pants is stained with blood. She is then violently pushed into the vehicle, which speeds away.

“Ten, Dad, I killed ten with my bare hands, with my bare hands.”

In one of the audio clips played during the film, a man calls his father from a woman’s phone, claiming to have “just killed her with her husband.” “Ten, Dad, I killed ten with my bare hands, with my bare hands,” he shouts. “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest in Arabic), reacts his father.

Israel claims to have collected hundreds of hours of footage of these attacks. The film was edited from excerpts from body cameras and mobile phones of some of the hundreds of Palestinian fighters from the Hamas Islamic movement killed or captured, Hamas social media, as well as phones of victims and rescuers, according to Israeli diplomacy.

Screenings have already taken place in Israel, the UN, and in about thirty countries, including France, according to a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Paris.

Thousands of Deaths

The Hamas attack has resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed on October 7, according to the latest official Israeli figures.

The Israeli army also estimates that about 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip during the initial Hamas attack.

Israel announced on Monday that 44 soldiers had been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israeli military operations on the ground in that territory.

Source: 7Sur7