Israel on Friday evening released a harrowing clip from the Hamas-led October 7 assault, amid mounting global criticism over its looming offensive on Gaza City.
The footage, taken from security cameras, captures the attack on the Taasa family home in Netiv HaAsara, a community just north of Gaza.
It forms part of a 45-minute compilation of October 7 atrocities previously shown to diplomats, journalists, and world leaders, but never made fully public.
Standing beside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the released segment is Sabine Taasa, who lost both her husband and eldest son that day.
Introducing the video, Netanyahu declared, “We’ll destroy Hamas, we’ll bring our hostages home, because we remember October 7, and so should you.” Although the prime minister emphasized the material had never been aired publicly, parts of it were broadcast earlier in March 2024 by Israel’s Channel 12 News.
The recording begins with Sabine’s husband, Gil, hurrying two of their children into the backyard bomb shelter.
A Hamas militant hurls a grenade, detonating it at the entrance. Seconds later, Gil’s body is seen collapsing to the ground.
The children, wearing only underwear, are then led into the blood-stained kitchen. When one gunman enters, one of the boys pleads in English, “Please, please, please. Let me go home!” He then breaks down, crying: “My dad! My dad!”
The assailant briefly rummages through the refrigerator, offering them juice or wine. The boy responds, “I want my mom,” before the militant grabs a Coca-Cola bottle and walks out.
Out of respect for the Taasa family, Israeli authorities have asked local media not to broadcast or circulate the clip.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not provide an explanation for the timing of its release.
However, it coincides with escalating condemnation of Israel’s planned advance on Gaza City and follows a UN-backed declaration confirming famine conditions in northern Gaza.
The Taasas’ eldest son had already been killed earlier that morning, shot dead while heading to the beach to fish with friends.
