Israeli forces 'undoubtedly' killed settlers held captive: Settler

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Electronic Intifada
17 Oct 2023 06:56
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The settler says Israeli occupation forces "fired indiscriminately" at Resistance fighters and Israeli settlers who were held captive.

Israeli occupation soldiers patrol a road near the border between occupied Palestine and Lebanon, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

An Israeli settler who witnessed the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Gaza envelope settlements last Saturday confirmed that some settlers were "undoubtedly" killed at the hands of Israeli occupation forces, The Electronic Intifada news website reported.

The settler, Yasmin Porat, told Israeli radio that the incident happened when Israeli occupation forces engaged in a fierce armed confrontation with Palestinian Resistance fighters in Kibbutz Be'eri and "fired indiscriminately" at the fighters and Israeli settlers who were held captive by the Resistance.

"They eliminated everyone, including the hostages," Porat revealed, adding that "there was very, very heavy crossfire" and tank shelling.

The settler mentioned that she, along with other settlers, had been held captive by Palestinian Resistance fighters for several hours and were treated "humanely".

#Watch | Al-Qassam Brigades published a video showing the Resistance fighters providing medical care to a female captive in Gaza, who was captured on the first day of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/5prYJxAqeN
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 16, 2023

According to The Electronic Intifada, the settler's interview was not included in the online version of the radio program, and "it may well have been censored due to its explosive nature."

The news website stressed that Porat's account "undermines Israel’s official story of deliberate, wanton murder by the Palestinian [Resistance] fighters," adding that "there can be little doubt about the recording’s authenticity."

This comes as since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Palestinian Resistance fighters have been subjected to a fierce campaign led by Zionist and Western media aimed at demonizing them, the latest of which was fake reports about the fighters killing and "beheading" babies in the "Kfar Azza" settlement.

The allegations were debunked shortly after being circulated on media outlets and blindly repeated by Western officials. The Grayzone news website has identified David Ben Zion, an Israeli occupation reserve soldier who is the key source behind the false claim, as an extremist settler leader who had previously incited riots by calling for the Palestinian town of Huwara to be "wiped out".

"We walked door to door, we killed a lot of terrorists. They are very bad. They cut heads of children, they cut heads of women," Ben Zion told Israeli i24 reporter Nicole Zedek in an interview on October 10, also referring to Palestinians as "animals".

Oddly, in a video posted on his Facebook account, Ben Zion could be seen smiling in "Kfar Azza", where he claimed to witness the alleged killings of the babies.

In addition, some reporters who initially supported the Israeli allegations began reporting on their own observations that showed otherwise.

Oren Ziv, an Israeli reporter who was present during the Israeli occupation military's official tour in "Kfar Azza", posted on X that "during the tour, we didn’t see any evidence of this, and the army spokesperson or commanders also didn’t mention any such incidents."

Ziv pointed out that "during the tour, journalists were allowed to speak to the hundreds of soldiers on site, without the supervision of the army's spokesperson team," which made it easy for Ben Zion to make such fabrications against Palestinian Resistance fighters.

He also added that some Israeli occupation soldiers he spoke to in "Kfar Azza" didn't mention "beheaded babies".