NEW DELHI: In the relentless theatre of war that is the Israel-Hamas conflict, the stage is set for an appalling spectacle of violence, where the innocent becomes the hapless victim, and the world shudders at the unfolding horrors.
The first incident showcased to The New Indian at Wednesday’s heart-wrenching 40-minute screening at the Israel Embassy in Delhi, was a nightmarish tableau—a father, mercilessly killed in front of his traumatised children. The 10-minute-long clip was an unrelenting torrent of images and videos that painted a nightmarish portrait of inhumanity.
Tragically, one of the boys lost his sight in the horrific incident. This scene served as an opening act in a series of horrors laid bare during the screening, drawn from diverse sources, including Hamas‘s Facebook page, CCTV footage, victims’ social media accounts, and eyewitness testimonies.
However, the cruelty did not stop there. Reports poured in, each ghastlier than the last. Shovels were wielded as instruments of brutality, and innocent bystanders found themselves caught in the crossfire of mass shootings, even those who were merely commuting in their cars. Streets, once teeming with life, now cradled the charred remains of souls, unrecognisable in their final repose.
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The greatest tragedy of all unfolded in the faces of those too innocent to understand the depths of depravity around them. Newborns, their futures snuffed out in a cruel twist of fate, suffered in agonising silence. Children, symbols of innocence, became unwilling sacrifices, thrown into the crucible of fiery conflict. Women, the nurturers of life, endured unspeakable horrors, their voices silenced in the heart-wrenching tableau of their untimely end.
A Chilling Phone Call:
Nonetheless, amid this horrifying collection, one revelation stood as the epitome of inhumanity – a bone-chilling voice recording. In this disturbing audio, a Hamas operative used a phone previously held by a Jewish victim to boast of ending ten lives with his own hands, punctuating his claim with the haunting refrain, “Allahu Akbar.”
In a distressing twist of fate, the response from his parents was not one of shock or condemnation. Instead, they lavished praise upon him and fervently prayed for his safety, their voices trembling with emotion as they expressed pride in their son’s monstrous deeds. The disquieting call concluded with the son directing his parents to view the gruesome images of his carnage, providing a chilling reminder of the horrors that can unfold in the name of ideology.
Religious Rhetoric Fuels Conflict:
Equally disconcerting as the violence, itself is the pretext on which it unfolds. Religion, a source of solace and unity, is cynically manipulated as a catalyst for war, with devastating consequences. While Hamas professes to act in the name of faith, the suffering they unleash flies in the face of all claims to righteousness. The conflict exacts a devastating toll on innocent civilians, many of whom meet untimely demises, endure grievous injuries, or grapple with the burden of unspeakable trauma.
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As the Israel-Hamas conflict rages on, the use of religion as a pretext for violence should sound alarm bells worldwide. Humanity cannot remain a passive observer of such depravity without demanding profound introspection.
On Wednesday, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, poignantly captured the gravity of the situation as he described his country’s altered reality. “This is how Israelis went to sleep on Friday with Hamas as their neighbour and woke up on Saturday to ISIS as their neighbour,” he observed, underscoring the urgent need to end the ongoing suffering.
On October 7, Hamas announced the launch of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” claiming to have fired thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. While exact numbers vary between sources, both sides reported a significant number of projectiles launched, causing extensive damage and loss of life.