You've likely seen the gruesome scenes from Hamas's attack on innocent Israeli citizens, including women being kidnapped, innocents being shot, and charred corpses of those who were burned alive. All of it is horrific and all of it elicits a feeling of absolute rage and vengeance from those who see it with the exception of those who believe in Palestine's cause.
But among the stories that have come out, the one that has truly horrified and angered people the most is the story of the 40 babies killed by the terrorist group, some of whom were reportedly beheaded. When the story first broke, it spread like wildfire across social media and elicited calls for the complete and immediate destruction of Hamas.
However, despite the news reports, no solid proof of the 40 babies exists, at least in the public square. As Jennifer Van Laar reported on Wednesday, Biden confirmed he'd seen the photos of the slaughtered children, seemingly putting an end to the question of whether or not it happened. However, the White House released a statement that evening claiming Biden never saw any photos at all.
According to the New York Post, the White House has "clarified" that neither Biden nor any U.S. official, has seen proof of the 40 dead babies:
The White House says that Biden based his remark on claims made by a spokesman for Israel’s prime minister and media reports coming out of the Jewish state.
The "clarification" threw the story back into the fog of war despite Biden claiming he himself saw them. The trouble for many is that this is Biden, so it's unclear if what he was saying was a lie to make his speech seem dynamic or if this was a figment of his imagination brought on by his clearly aging mind.
It could also be true and there are other reasons for the denial, such as lessening the outrage and feelings of vengeance toward Hamas so as to better lead to a ceasefire, or some other outcome.
Hamas has nothing to gain from Israeli retaliation. Hamas has consistently attacked Israel, but then always had a habit of running and hiding behind the skirts of first-world leaders who try to organize peace...that is when they weren't hiding behind Palestinian children to use them as human shields against Israeli responses.
Hamas counts on first-world people who want peace and understanding to pressure Israel into not responding when attacked. When Israel does move, they put Palestinian innocents in harm's way hoping that they get hurt or killed so that they can then display these things for the Western media to see and report.
The people in America and the UK see this and call for the violence to stop because of innocents being hurt. If it creates some anti-Israel sentiment, then all the better. Moreover, the West sends money and supplies to these Palestinian people which the terrorist groups in control can seize and utilize for the Jihad.
Then the process repeats.
The 40 babies story would get in the way of this repeating process. The question remains as to whether or not Hamas is denying it happened so they can get the process back on track or, as some believe, Israel released the fake story in order to keep Western anger nice and fueled, at least long enough to carry out what they want to do.
So, did it happen?
Barack Ravid, political reporter for Axios, claims to have seen photos Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had shown Secretary of State Antony Blinkin photos of babies killed by Hamas including one shot in the head and one burned.
Netanyahu showed Blinken in their meeting photos of babies who were murdered by Hamas, the Israeli PM office said. One photo was of a baby who was shot in the head and another photo of a baby whos body was burned by Hamas militants (I saw the photos. They are horrible) https://t.co/8XY86E15uE
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 12, 2023
There's this image that was released on Israel's official X account on Thursday. The image is of a dead baby in a body bag. The child's head is blurred, but this is presumably the baby shot in the head that Ravid was describing.
More images were uploaded by the Israel PM X account that shows two images of babies that had been burned wholly and completely.
Even if there weren't 40 babies killed with some beheaded as reporters swear they saw, Hamas murdered innocent children during the attack, and brutally.
Here's the thing. Even if Israel does release the photos of the whole of the 40 dead babies it will still be denied by Hamas supporters and anti-Israel activists. They don't care about proof. There was enough proof of their atrocities staring people in the face without the 40 babies story.
The point is, you don't need the story.
Hamas has killed children, and not just innocent Israeli babies, but their own children. They kill them all the time by putting them in harm's way in an attempt to save their own skins. They use babies as human shields as they launch brutal attacks against men, women, and children in the neighboring country.
No matter the veracity of the 40 babies story, the ultimate truth is that Hamas has killed far more babies than that.
