A total of 33 children are still in the hands of the terrorist Hamas.
In a moving video of an Israeli mother whose child was kidnapped by the terrorist group, she stressed the children are innocent and this is not their war.
And while Israel continues to call on the release of some 239 hostages who remain captives of the terrorist group, the rescue of these 33 children are being given utmost priority.
Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss noted the bottom line for the continued response of Israel to the Hamas attack on October 7, are the return of the kids and the rest of the hostages.
“This baby, who is only 10 months old, is the real story,” he said, as he pointed to the picture of Israeli- Argentinian infant, Kfir Bibas, who was among those abducted by Hamas.
The baby is among those “symbolically represented” by 33 blindfolded teddy bears, which depict their innocence.
A select group of media practitioners were invited recently by the Israel Embassy and viewed a 43-minute video that contained a lot of images never before released to the public. They were gathered from Hamas body cameras, CCTVs, Hamas cellular phones and Israel Defense Forces or IDF.
Ambassador Fluss noted because Israel is a responsible government, it is not inclined to show the video to the general public.
He added this is the reason it conducted an exclusive media viewing, because the embassy trusts the media to make the accurate account of the horrific acts Hamas committed on October 7, 2023.
“It’s very important that this video is shown to you now, in order for you to understand what led to this war and to understand why the Israelis are so united and supportive of the Israeli government in its war now. Because we cannot agree that something like this will happen again.
The footage that you have seen reminds us of the holocaust. And as you know, as Jewish people, the Nazis tried to eliminate the entire race, the entire nation. One third was exterminated. Israel was established as it’s our homeland, but it’s also supposed to be the safe haven for the Jews. But we’ve been attacked again and again,” Ambassador Fluss noted.
As a participant in the viewing of the 43-minute video containing very sensitive scenes of the Hamas attack and the casualties on that fateful day, this editor witnessed the acts of atrocities Hamas committed against mostly innocent civilians on October 7, 2023. Israeli soldiers were likewise shown to have fallen. The heinous crimes conducted were indeed gruesome and barbaric, to say the least.
The terrorist group did not differentiate killing and kidnapping men from women or children and babies, much less those who are pregnant.
Ambassador Fluss and the embassy staff even had to prepare water and tissues, for those who might just break down in the middle of viewing the documentary.
He stressed it was important that media practitioners clearly and fully understand why Israel had and has to respond to a war that was imposed on its citizens up to this time.
“Every night, they fire their rockets in Israeli cities and Israeli towns. And you saw they were butchering civilians. Israel is attacking Hamas, its infrastructure and the terrorists,” Ambassador Fluss explained.
The Israel Defense Forces or IDF on the other hand, he stressed, is not targeting civilians.
“Hamas is using their own civilians as human shield. When the IDF requested the citizens of Northern Gaza to evacuate to a safer zone, which is Southern Gaza, Hamas was blocking the way,” the ambassador said.
Mr. Fluss likewise sought the media practitioners present in the press briefing, to help correct faulty information about the four Overseas Filipino Workers who were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
He lamented that some media publications referred to these Filipinos as having been killed in the Israel-Hamas war.
“I ask you as representatives of the media, is this accurate? Those Filipinos were murdered by Hamas,” the ambassador stressed.
“We shared with you this kind of footage, so that through you, it will get to the Filipinos — the right information of what really took place. And people should know. This is why we are doing such briefings and we’re going to have to brief media almost on a daily basis in order to explain. Our social media of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the most successful ones globally as per the number of visits it has,” he added.
Ambassador Fluss went on to explain that the Israel government will be giving exactly the same support to the families of these Filipinos who perished, similar to what will be given the Israeli families who lost loved ones in the Hamas attack. This, because Filipinos in Israel are considered by Israelis as very much part of their own families.
The Israel Chamber of Commerce earlier held a memorial to the Overseas Filipino Workers who were killed by Hamas, while Ambassador Fluss later personally condoled with their families.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration was quoted by the ambassador that this was the first time an ambassador physically showed sympathies to OFWs who perished abroad.
