THREAD: Some thoughts on October 7th and the importance of their being global transparency over what we know about what really happened on that terrible day.
1/ This (see screenshots in the first few posts in this thread) is one of the most important pieces of conflict related journalism published in recent years.
It relates to the orders given to soldiers on October 7th to fire on any vehicle seeking to return to the Gaza Strip to prevent the taking of hostages and was published on July 7th, 10 months later in Haaretz.
2/ As @IsraeliPM Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to address congress it is vital that the public in the US, Israel and globally is fully aware of what exactly happened on October 7th in Gaza.
3/ The account in this story published by Haaretz is at this time still behind a paywall and it has therefore not been read by the very large number of people who ought to have done so. I have not seen very many reports containing the detail of this report elsewhere though I presume there are many.
A copy of the report can be found however on here >> Archive.is
archive.md/zqUnt
4/ Nor have I seen this story told in any great detail on Youtube – or at least not in the main high volume channels, nor on television. This image shows the view numbers of the most recent reports published on Youtube which are all relatively modest given the story's importance, both in terms of the facts it contains, but also in terms of its political implications in both Israel and the United States.
5/ I suspect the reason for this is that it is such a terrifying and horrific story.
Yes one which Hamas is nearly entirely responsible for making happen, but one which has incredible implications for those involved in the operation - and one which ought not be suppressed as it is the elephant in the room, in everybody’s room, across the planet. And it explains in many ways what is happening now.
6/Given that the story has not received the coverage it deserves, and has therefore not reached the audience it ought to have it is vital IMO in the interests of justice, for the peoples of both Israel and Palestine, that the news report receives the full attention it deserves before the speech by Netanyahu is delivered in Washington DC. this week,
7/ Obviously none of this in any way condones what Hamas did. And it is important to understand that Hamas would have known this would have been the response by the IDF to its operation.
Nor is it necessary for this news to be publicly known because of failures by the IDF or its commanders.
8/ It is clear in the report that there was complete chaos on the battlefield as the October 7th attack took place. Whilst it is not known for sure what Netanyahu's role in this was - he was in the box seat and it seems probable that he had to make the decision for the directive to be implemented..
9/ The revelations in relation to this Haaretz report are therefore not entirely Netanyahu’s responsibility, but nevertheless, the buck has to stop somewhere as that is the job that Netanyahu holds.
10/ However the way the war was subsequently prosecuted - with so much egregious death and mayhem certainly is Netanyahu's responsibility, as are his current reported efforts to obstruct/control the official, IDF and Judicial investigations into the events of October 7th.
11. And as a result the truth of what happened on October 7th has therefore become an issue in relation to his conduct, the peoples of Gaza, Israel - especially the victimes - as well as the people of the United States - whose govt has funded and enabled the IDF operations over the past 10 months - and indeed everybody in the world is entitled to receive a true account of these events.
12: And this is all the more the case as Netanyahu prepares for his speech to Congress in Washington DC this week.
These facts are the unspoken subtext which everyone in the know is aware of, and they are a such an horrific subtext that this story will loom like a dark cloud over Netanyahu's oratory when he delivers it at the Capitol.
13. In a sense Netanyahu has become a hostage himself to these facts as he knows exactly what happened and they have influenced the decisions that he has made on a day to day basis about both the ceasefire and the conduct of the war ever since October 7th 2023.
And this is part of why this story needs to be more widely understood - and why the full investigation into the events of October 7th 2023 ought to be completed as soon as possible.
14/ Also given that millions of souls all over the world have been watching this war for the past 10 months, and that many have been traumatised whilst doing so, the facts of what happened in Israel on October 7th ought to be at least available to all.
15/
& finally. As this post is published it is my understanding - based on reporting & video recordings - that @IsraeliPM Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to hold on to the Prime Minister’s office - against the wishes of a majority of Israelis -at least in part because he wishes to continue to try to control the investigation and the findings of the inquiry into October 7th,
He knows the failures on that day are ones that he will ultimately be held responsible for historically.
/ends
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