Israel and Palestine
Claims about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gaza, Hamas, and Israeli politics.
114 checked claim occurrences · 8 sources · 9 attributed speakers
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Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal and the architect of a genocide against the Palestinian people.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant alleging that Netanyahu is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but he has not been convicted. A UN Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, but describing Netanyahu personally as the legally established architect of genocide goes beyond the findings of a final criminal judgment.
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Israeli forces targeted neonatal hospitals and maternity care centers, denying newborns the chance to live.
UN and WHO reporting documents extensive attacks and damage to Gaza’s health system and severe effects on maternal and neonatal care. However, the wording asserts intentional targeting of neonatal and maternity facilities and a specific causal effect on newborn deaths, which is not established for all such facilities by the cited evidence.
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Israel blocked food and humanitarian aid, causing people to starve.
UN and other humanitarian reporting documents Israeli-imposed restrictions and periods of blockade affecting food, fuel, medicine, and humanitarian supplies, alongside severe hunger and famine conditions. The ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu specifically alleges starvation as a method of warfare.
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Hundreds of aid workers and journalists were killed by Israeli forces.
Hundreds of humanitarian personnel and more than 200 journalists or media workers have been killed in the conflict, with CPJ documenting more than 200 journalists or media workers killed by Israel in Gaza. But the phrase 'gunning down' implies that all were deliberately shot or specifically targeted, which the available casualty totals do not establish.
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The UN confirmed that Palestinian children continue to be deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli armed forces more than eight months after the ceasefire.
A UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry report published in June 2026 stated that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children and that children continued to be killed and seriously injured after the October 2025 ceasefire. The timing is consistent with a speech delivered in June or July 2026.
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The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Netanyahu on November 21, 2024, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally directing attacks against civilians.
Video Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.
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Gad Saad is on the side of Israel
Gad Saad appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast and is publicly known as a vocal supporter of Israel, as evidenced by multiple sources covering his JRE appearance where he defended Israel's position.
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Coleman Hughes appeared on the podcast but Israel was only discussed for about 20 minutes and was not the main reason he was there
Coleman Hughes appeared on JRE episode #2130 (April 3, 2024), which ran 3 hours 15 minutes. His episode covered his book, appearance on The View, chess, and Israel among other topics, confirming Israel was not the primary focus.
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The former defense minister of Israel said Netanyahu was 'begging' Qatar to keep sending money to Hamas
Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman publicly stated in February 2020 that Netanyahu sent the head of Mossad (Yossi Cohen) and the head of IDF Southern Command to Qatar to 'beg' the Qataris to keep sending money to Hamas. This was reported by the Times of Israel directly quoting Liberman.
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Netanyahu sent the head of Mossad to beg Qatar to keep the funds going to Hamas
Multiple credible sources confirm that Mossad chief Yossi Cohen visited Qatar on Netanyahu's instructions to plead for continuation of payments to Hamas (reported ~2020), and separately that Mossad Director David Barnea traveled to Doha in September 2023 and confirmed the continuation of funds on Netanyahu's instructions.
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Netanyahu and Ehud Barak admitted they allowed funds to go from Qatar to Hamas because Hamas was in Gaza to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state
There is substantial evidence that Netanyahu's strategy involved keeping Hamas strong to weaken the PA and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state — confirmed by Barak's 2019 Army Radio interview and a widely-cited 2019 Likud meeting quote attributed to Netanyahu. However, Netanyahu denied the 2012 Margalit account and called the 2019 quote 'false' in a TIME interview, and Barak criticized this as Netanyahu's strategy rather than a shared policy he personally admitted to. Attributing the admission equally to both and framing it as an explicit joint policy is an overstatement of the available evidence.
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There's only one recording of Netanyahu saying something along the lines of supporting Hamas to prevent a Palestinian state
While Netanyahu denies the quotes and there is no widely confirmed audio recording, there are multiple reported statements attributed to him — including a December 2012 conversation with journalist Dan Margalit and a widely-cited 2019 Likud faction meeting quote — suggesting the characterization of just 'one recording' understates the number of reported instances.
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The war of the last 18 months in the Middle East is a result of Hamas deciding to start another war with Israel and trying to annihilate their neighbor
It is factually accurate that Hamas launched the October 7, 2023 attack initiating the current war, but framing it solely as Hamas 'deciding to start a war' without context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict history, the blockade, and Israel's documented strategy of keeping Hamas in power to prevent a Palestinian state presents a one-sided causal account. The claim about 'annihilating their neighbor' also conflates Hamas's stated goals with the immediate tactical objectives of the October 7 attack.
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The Israelis withdrew from Gaza in '05
Israel completed its disengagement from the Gaza Strip on September 12, 2005, removing all ~8,000–9,000 settlers and IDF forces.
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Condoleezza Rice and other American officials insisted that the Palestinians should have elections straight after the Israeli withdrawal
Multiple sources confirm Rice pushed hard for Palestinian elections, confident that the moderate Fatah party would win; she later acknowledged that armed groups like Hamas should have been barred from running.
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Hamas won [the elections]
Hamas won the January 25, 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections with 74–76 of 132 seats and approximately 44% of the vote.
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Hamas didn't have another election again and ruled Gaza for 18 years until the 7th of October 2023
Hamas did block free elections in Gaza after taking full control in June 2007, but the duration is overstated: from the January 2006 election to October 2023 is approximately 17.7 years, and from Hamas's actual military takeover of Gaza (June 2007) to October 2023 is only about 16.3 years — not 18 years.
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Smotrich is on record saying 'Hamas is an asset' and 'the Palestinian Authority, they're the liability'
Multiple sources, including a tweet by journalist Barak Ravid and a Zionism Observer quote database, confirm that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich publicly stated: 'The Palestinian Authority is a burden, and Hamas is an asset' in the context of international delegitimization efforts.
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Palestinians were given another state in 2005 when every single Jew was removed from Gaza by the IDF
While it is true that all Israeli settlers (~8,000–9,000) were removed from Gaza by the IDF in 2005, describing this as giving Palestinians 'another state' is contested: Israel retained control of Gaza's borders, airspace, and coastline, and the territory was not internationally recognized as a sovereign state.
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Even the graves of Israelis in Gaza were dug up and taken into the rest of [Israel]
During the 2005 disengagement, 48 graves were exhumed from a Gaza cemetery, and at least 15 bodies were reinterred in a ceremony in Jerusalem, confirmed by both a UN press conference and Haaretz reporting.
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Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders used aid money to make themselves billionaires
Haniyeh's estimated net worth was around $4 billion according to multiple reports, and Hamas leaders are documented to have accumulated significant wealth. However, attributing all of this specifically to diverted American/EU taxpayer aid money is an oversimplification; Hamas also raised funds through taxes on smuggling tunnels, investment portfolios, cryptocurrency, and donations from state sponsors like Iran and Qatar.
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Hamas leaders bought condos in Qatar and lived extremely well
Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders did live in luxury in Qatar and Turkey, splitting time between luxury hotels, private jets, and fine dining. However, the specific claim of purchasing 'condos' in Qatar is an imprecise characterization; reporting indicates they lived in luxury hotels rather than personally owned condos.
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Hamas had 18 years in Gaza (since 2005)
Israel withdrew from Gaza in August-September 2005, but Hamas only won the legislative elections in January 2006 and did not gain full control of Gaza until June 2007 after the Battle of Gaza. Counting from 2005 inflates Hamas's tenure by 2 years; counting from their actual takeover in 2007 would be approximately 16 years at the time of recording.
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Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are in Ramla
The Palestinian Authority's headquarters (the Mukataa) and Abbas's official residence are located in Ramallah, not Ramla. Ramla is a separate Israeli city near Tel Aviv. The speaker later self-corrects by saying 'Ramallah,' but the initial statement of 'Ramla' is factually incorrect.
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There were plans to organize a protest in Times Square in support of Hamas on October 7, 2023, while the massacre was still going on.
Pro-Palestinian rallies did occur in New York on and immediately after October 7, 2023, and some demonstrators celebrated the Hamas attack. However, the most prominent and well-documented large-scale Times Square protests (organized by 'Within Our Lifetime') were on October 8 and later dates, not confirmed as being organized during the attack itself. The claim that a 'massive protest in support of Hamas' was planned while the massacre was 'still going on' cannot be fully verified from available sources, though the rapid emergence of celebratory protests on Oct 8 is documented.
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The stated aims of Hamas include the annihilation of the Jewish people.
Hamas's 1988 founding charter does call for killing Jews and destroying Israel, but the 2017 revised charter shifted language from 'Jews' to 'Zionists' and framed the conflict in political rather than ethnic/religious terms. The speaker's characterization applies most accurately to the 1988 charter and to statements by some Hamas leaders, but the current official charter is more ambiguous, making an unqualified claim about 'stated aims' misleading.
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Hamas attacked a dance party (Nova music festival) in the early morning, with attackers using machetes on people.
Hamas did massacre attendees of the Nova music festival (a pre-dawn rave) on October 7th, killing 378 people. However, the primary weapons used were firearms and rockets; while brutal close-quarters killings occurred, 'macheteing' is not widely documented as a primary method in verified accounts of the Nova attack specifically.
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October 7th was the worst terrorist attack in Israeli history.
Multiple authoritative sources, including the U.S. State Department and Wikipedia, confirm that the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack was the deadliest and most brutal terrorist attack in Israel's history, killing over 1,200 people.
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The 2005 disengagement gave Palestinians a state in Gaza
Israel's 2005 disengagement involved withdrawing settlements and military forces from Gaza, but it was explicitly a unilateral security measure, not a grant of statehood. No internationally recognized Palestinian state was established; Israel retained control of borders, airspace, and coastline, and no Israeli or international leader—including Netanyahu—characterized it as creating a two-state solution.
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Israel went from occupying Gaza to surrounding it and has had it under a brutal blockade since 2007
In autumn 2007, after Hamas's military takeover of Gaza, Israel formally designated Gaza a hostile entity and instituted a land, sea, and air blockade (significantly intensifying prior restrictions), which multiple international bodies have documented as severely damaging Gaza's economy.
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According to the World Bank, a blockade in 1996 contracted Gaza's GDP by 40%
Available data shows that real per capita GDP for the combined West Bank and Gaza Strip declined approximately 36.1% between 1992 and 1996 (not 40%, and not in a single year), driven by Israeli closure policies. There is no World Bank figure specifically isolating Gaza's GDP at a 40% single-year contraction in 1996; the speaker conflates a multi-year, combined-territory figure with a single-year Gaza-only figure.
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Israel wanted to keep Palestinians 'on a diet'
Dov Weissglas (described as senior adviser to PM Ehud Olmert) explicitly stated in early 2006: 'The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger,' a widely documented quote in reference to Gaza's blockade following Hamas's election victory.
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The Palestinians in Gaza voted in Hamas and made a very bad decision
Hamas did win the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, securing 74 of 132 seats with 42.9% of the vote. Whether this constitutes a 'bad decision' is an opinion, but the factual basis that Palestinians voted Hamas into power is accurate.
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There was no starvation in Gaza after 2005 and no deficit of goods coming in
Multiple UN and humanitarian sources document that the blockade imposed after Hamas's 2006 election victory severely limited food, medical supplies, and essential goods, contributing to significant humanitarian deterioration well before October 2023. By 2018, over 80% of Gaza's population relied on humanitarian aid for food, contradicting the claim that there was no deficit of goods.
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There has been a blockade on Gaza from 2007 onwards
It is accurate that Israel significantly intensified restrictions and imposed a comprehensive blockade after Hamas took control in June 2007, and Egypt closed the Rafah crossing the same year. However, this framing omits that Israeli and Egyptian movement restrictions on Gaza date back to the early 1990s, making '2007' a misleadingly precise start date for the broader blockade.
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According to the World Bank, there is a blockade causing economic devastation in Gaza
The World Bank has documented severe economic contraction in Gaza linked to blockade conditions and conflict, including reports of blockades strangling Gaza's economy and causing record GDP contractions.
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The blockade began after the first rocket fires, before Hamas was elected
Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, after which sanctions were introduced; the blockade was dramatically tightened only after Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza in June 2007. The claim that restrictions began 'before Hamas was elected' is not supported by the historical record — if anything, restrictions followed the election, and the full blockade followed the 2007 coup.
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Hamas had 18 years in power in Gaza before October 7
Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007 following the Battle of Gaza; from June 2007 to October 7, 2023 is approximately 16 years, not 18. The speaker repeats '18 years' multiple times, but the figure is incorrect by about two years.
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Vivian Silver spent every weekend driving children with the most rare medical conditions that couldn't be treated in Hamas-run hospitals in Gaza into specialist units inside Israel
Silver did volunteer with Road to Recovery, driving Palestinian patients from Gaza to Israeli hospitals, but sources describe her passengers as Palestinian patients generally (including cancer patients and critically ill adults), not specifically 'children with the most rare medical conditions.' The core activity is accurate but the characterization is embellished.
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Chaim Weizmann (referred to as 'Heim Whitesman') was essentially supposed to be the David Ben-Gurion, like he was in line as the number one ranking Zionist pre the creation of the state of Israel
Weizmann was indeed the dominant Zionist leader for decades and considered himself the political heir to Herzl, but characterizing him as 'in line to be the David Ben-Gurion' inverts the historical framing — Ben-Gurion rose to challenge Weizmann's leadership, not the other way around. Weizmann became first President of Israel (a largely ceremonial role), while Ben-Gurion became Prime Minister and the dominant political figure.
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Weizmann urged all Zionist militias to not embrace terrorism and he ended up losing that battle
Weizmann did advocate a more moderate approach and opposed the Irgun and Lehi's tactics, and he was not re-elected as WZO president at the 1946 Basel Congress partly due to opposition from more hardline factions. However, his loss of the WZO presidency was more directly due to American Zionist leader Rabbi Silver's opposition than simply because factions 'wanted to be more hardcore'; furthermore the Haganah (the mainstream militia) also engaged in armed attacks, complicating the narrative.
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The Hamas election was in 2005
The Palestinian legislative elections in which Hamas won took place on January 25, 2006, not 2005. The speaker says '2005' when referring to the election, but all sources confirm the date as 2006.
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Hamas did not win a majority in one single precinct — they won pluralities all around
Hamas won 74–76 of 132 parliamentary seats — an outright parliamentary majority — with about 44% of the popular vote. While Hamas did not win an absolute majority of votes (over 50%) in many district-level contests, characterizing their victory purely as 'pluralities' omits that they secured a clear parliamentary majority of seats. The framing obscures the real extent of their electoral win.
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Half the population of Gaza today is under the age of 18
Multiple sources, including the UN and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, confirm that approximately 47–50% of Gaza's population is under 18 years old.
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There was an attempted coup after the Hamas election, and that's when Hamas seized complete control
It is disputed who initiated the 2007 conflict. The pro-Hamas view holds that it was Fatah (backed by the US) who planned a coup against Hamas, which Hamas pre-empted. The pro-Fatah view is that Hamas itself staged the coup. Framing it unambiguously as a Fatah coup attempt that Hamas foiled is a one-sided characterization of a genuinely contested historical event.
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More children have died in Gaza than in any recent war
Multiple UN agencies, including UNICEF and UNRWA, have confirmed that more children have been killed in Gaza than in four years of global conflicts combined (2019–2022), making it the deadliest conflict for children in recent recorded history.
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Israel has dominated Gaza since at least 1967
Israel occupied and administered Gaza following the Six-Day War in June 1967, exercising control over the territory continuously until its 2005 disengagement, after which it maintained a blockade. Its control since 1967 is a well-established historical fact.
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Many Palestinians in Gaza are there because of the creation of the state of Israel, having previously lived in what is now Israel
A large portion of Gaza's population consists of Palestinian refugees and their descendants who were displaced from areas that became the State of Israel in 1948 (the Nakba), a widely documented historical fact confirmed by UN and historical records.
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Hamas was forced on the people (in the context of the George W. Bush exporting democracy policy)
Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections with 44% of the vote (to Fatah's 41%), giving it a majority of seats. However, Hamas then seized full control of Gaza by force in 2007 after a violent conflict with Fatah, going beyond its electoral mandate. The statement that Hamas was purely 'forced on' the people is an oversimplification — it was democratically elected (though later consolidated power by force), and its rule was not simply an external imposition.
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We saw protests against Hamas just recently
There have indeed been documented anti-Hamas protests in Gaza. Large-scale protests occurred in July–August 2023 over economic conditions, and further protests took place in January 2024 and as recently as March 2025 in Beit Lahiya, with protesters chanting 'The people want the fall of Hamas.'
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Gaza has a disproportionately heavy/young population
Multiple sources confirm Gaza has one of the youngest populations in the world, with nearly half (approximately 47%) of its population under 18 years old.
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Gaza has been under full blockade since 2007
A tightened blockade of Gaza did begin in 2007 following Hamas's takeover, but the blockade was not immediately 'full' — it was progressively tightened over subsequent years. Additionally, an initial blockade and economic sanctions were imposed as early as early 2006 after Hamas's electoral victory, predating the 2007 Hamas takeover by force. The naval blockade itself was formally declared even later.
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Israel rules the seas and the air over Gaza, controls electricity that goes in, Gaza is not allowed to have an airport or a seaport, and Gazans don't have freedom to leave without Israeli permission
Multiple sources confirm Israel controls Gaza's airspace and territorial waters (established under Oslo and maintained since), that the Gaza airport was shut down in 2000 and bombed in 2001, that no seaport exists, and that Israel supplies and controls electricity into Gaza. Freedom of movement is heavily restricted by Israeli controls.
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Gazans don't have the freedom to vote over the government that rules them
The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in January 2006. No subsequent elections have been held in Gaza, meaning Gazans have had no opportunity to vote on their governing authority for nearly two decades.
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The highest Hamas death count inside Gaza for the last year and a half is less than an average year in Syria during the civil war over the last decade
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported roughly 50,000–84,000 deaths in Gaza over ~18 months of war. Syria's peak year (2014) saw ~110,000 killed, and the most violent years averaged 60,000–110,000 annually. However, many years of the Syrian civil war had far lower annual tolls, and total documented civilian deaths were ~306,000 over 10 years (~30,000/year average), making Gaza's toll comparable to or higher than many individual Syrian war years rather than consistently less than 'an average year.'
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There are still hostages in Gaza held for the last 18 months by Hamas, including young Eden Alexander from New Jersey
At the time this was likely recorded, Edan Alexander (spelled 'Edan', raised in New Jersey) was indeed still held in Gaza. However, he was subsequently released in May 2025 after ~600 days in captivity, making the present-tense claim outdated. The name and New Jersey detail are accurate.
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Hamas took approximately 250 hostages at the beginning of the conflict on October 7
Multiple sources confirm that Hamas took 251 hostages from Israel into Gaza on October 7, 2023, consistent with the speaker's figure of '250 odd hostages.'
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Hamas built up the structure of Gaza throughout the 18 years that they had
Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 following the Battle of Gaza. Depending on when this video was recorded (likely 2024–2025), that span is approximately 17–18 years, making the 'about 18 years' characterization broadly accurate.
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Hamas flouted laws of war by placing weapons in civilian houses, firing rockets from houses of worship, launching attacks from hospitals, and keeping detention/torture facilities inside hospitals
Multiple independent sources, including declassified Hamas Ministry of Interior documents from 2020 and NGO reports, confirm Hamas systematically embedded military infrastructure, fighters, and leadership within hospitals and civilian facilities, and used them for detention and interrogation — all violations of international humanitarian law.
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All 250 hostages would still be there if not for constant kinetic force by the IDF
The actual number of hostages taken was 251, not 250. More importantly, the claim that IDF military force alone drove releases is contested — the majority of hostage releases came through ceasefire and negotiated prisoner-exchange deals brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, not purely military pressure. Israeli PM Netanyahu himself credited both military and diplomatic pressure.
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Hamas took 250 hostages on October 7
The widely confirmed and officially cited number of hostages taken into Gaza on October 7, 2023 is 251, not 250. This figure has been verified by Israeli authorities, the AJC, PBS, and the Washington Post, among others.
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Gadi Eisenkot lost his own son and then his nephew during the Gaza war
Multiple credible sources confirm that Eisenkot's son Gal was killed in Gaza in December 2023, and his nephew Maor Cohen Eisenkot was killed in Gaza one day later.
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Eisenkot's nephew was killed in a firefight because Hamas terrorists were firing from a mosque
Maor Cohen Eisenkot was killed when an explosive device detonated inside a mosque, confirmed by multiple sources. However, the framing that he died because 'Hamas terrorists were firing from a mosque' appears to be an embellishment; the confirmed cause was an IED detonation in a mosque, not a firefight with gunmen firing from it.
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Sinwar had been in an Israeli prison for strangling Palestinians to death in the 2000s
Sinwar was indeed imprisoned for killing Palestinians (suspected collaborators), but this occurred in 1988, not 'the 2000s.' He was arrested in 1988 and sentenced in 1989 to four life terms. He was later released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
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The best case analysis is that one innocent Gazan has been killed for every one terrorist (1:1 ratio)
The IDF has claimed approximately a 1:1 to 1.4:1 civilian-to-combatant ratio, but most independent analyses and the Wikipedia entry on civilian casualty ratios estimate closer to 4:1 (80% civilian). Describing 1:1 as the 'best case' reflects the most pro-Israel interpretation and is contested by most external analysts.
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Palestinians elected Hamas in their elections
Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections, a fact confirmed by multiple sources including Wikipedia and the European Council on Foreign Relations.
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There have been documented cases of Hamas placing missiles in mosques and in schools.
Multiple independent sources, including CBS News, CBC News, the AP, and the IDF, have documented instances of Hamas storing or launching rockets from or near mosques, schools, hospitals, and UN facilities. A Hamas official even acknowledged some of these incidents.
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Every second or third house in Gaza has either munitions or tunnel entrances
While evidence confirms widespread booby-trapping and tunnel access points hidden in civilian buildings, available data (IDF reporting ~96,500 rigged sites vs ~250,000 total structures, roughly 40%) does not support the specific 'every second or third house' figure. The claim overstates a real but less pervasive phenomenon without a verifiable source.
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Going into a mosque in Gaza, you will find either rockets and/or tunnel entrances
There is documented evidence of Hamas using mosques to store weapons and as tunnel access points, but framing it as a certainty for any mosque is an overstatement. Multiple mosques were found to contain weapons or tunnel shafts, but this was not universal.
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Going into a hospital in Gaza you will find grenades, tunnel entrances, or dungeons
Weapons including grenades were found at Al-Shifa and other hospitals, and tunnel infrastructure was confirmed underneath Al-Shifa, but presenting this as universally true for hospitals in Gaza overstates the verified evidence.
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The BBC said in 2014 that the Shifa complex was where Hamas was operating from
There is no clear 2014 BBC report stating outright that Hamas was operating from Shifa; the 2014 BBC reporting by Jeremy Bowen actually downplayed Hamas's use of civilian infrastructure. Multiple other outlets (Washington Post, PBS) reported on alleged Hamas use of Shifa before 2014, but attributing this specific claim to the BBC in 2014 is not substantiated.
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The IDF found massive weapons stores — grenades, RPGs, Kalashnikovs — in tunnels and cellars underneath the Shifa complex
The IDF did find Kalashnikovs, grenades, and some military equipment at Al-Shifa, but multiple news agencies including the BBC and AP described these as relatively small caches. The characterisation of 'massive weapons stores' significantly overstates what was publicly documented in November 2023; the larger tunnel infrastructure found in the March 2024 raid was more substantial.
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Much of the destruction seen in Gaza photographs is the result of the IDF setting off munitions (used by the American military and others) to trigger secondary explosions in booby-trapped buildings
While IDF forces did detonate booby-trapped buildings as part of clearing operations, and Hamas extensively booby-trapped structures, independent assessments (including UN satellite analysis) attribute the majority of structural destruction to Israeli airstrikes and artillery, not solely to detonating booby-traps. The claim presents a partial explanation as the primary cause.
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The Clean Break memo was paid for by the Israelis
The Clean Break memo (1996) was produced by the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS), an Israel-based think tank, and was written for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While it was commissioned by an Israeli-affiliated institution for the Israeli government, characterizing it simply as 'paid for by the Israelis' oversimplifies the arrangement and obscures that the authors were largely American neoconservatives.
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The US is funding and arming Israel in the war
Multiple authoritative sources confirm the US has provided substantial military aid and weapons to Israel since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, including at least $16.3 billion in direct military aid per the Council on Foreign Relations, and over $21.7 billion per the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
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Douglas Murray's book is titled 'On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization'
The book's exact title is confirmed as 'On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization' by Douglas Murray, listed on Amazon, Goodreads, and the Manhattan Institute.
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Some scholars believe the Copper Scroll records Jerusalem Temple treasure hidden before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Temple treasure concealed before the Roman destruction is a longstanding scholarly hypothesis. It is not established fact, however; other proposals connect the treasure to Qumran, undelivered Temple contributions, or the Bar Kokhba revolt.
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Around AD 985, Erik the Red named Greenland to attract settlers, and Norse colonists subsequently established farms, raised livestock, built churches and traded with Europe.
Medieval Icelandic tradition says Erik chose the favorable name to encourage settlement, and colonization began around 985–986. Archaeology confirms a farming society with livestock, churches, hunting and overseas trade.
Video Hidden Gaps In History We Still Don’t Understand
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Maximilian Krah wrote that Israelis are great because they are ethnonationalists, whereas current Jews in Germany have nothing to contribute and are mostly left-wing/communist.
In his 2023 book 'Politik von rechts', Krah praised Israel as an admirable ethnonationalist project, while asserting that contemporary German Jews have 'nothing of their own to add' to German culture and are almost exclusively left-wing.
Video Is the AfD a threat to Germany? Mehdi Hasan & Maximilian Krah | Head to Head
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Israel hat etwa 10 Millionen Einwohner.
Israels Statistikbehörde gibt für März 2026 eine Bevölkerung von rund 10,2 Millionen an. Die Angabe „etwa 10 Millionen“ ist daher zutreffend.
Video GESELLSCHAFT: "Die Israel-Wahrheit"
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Israel ist flächenmäßig kleiner als Hessen.
Israel innerhalb seiner international anerkannten Staatsgrenzen umfasst etwa 20.770 km², Hessen etwa 21.115 km². Je nach Einbeziehung umstrittener Gebiete können Flächenangaben abweichen, die übliche Vergleichsaussage ist jedoch korrekt.
Video GESELLSCHAFT: "Die Israel-Wahrheit"
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Israel ist ein demokratischer Staat.
Israel wird als parlamentarische Demokratie mit Mehrparteiensystem und regelmäßigen Wahlen beschrieben. Diese Bewertung bezieht sich auf Israel innerhalb seiner Staatsgrenzen; die Lage in den besetzten palästinensischen Gebieten wird von Freedom House separat bewertet.
Video GESELLSCHAFT: "Die Israel-Wahrheit"
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Israel definiert sich ausdrücklich als Nationalstaat des jüdischen Volkes.
Das israelische Grundgesetz „Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People“ bestimmt ausdrücklich, dass Israel der Nationalstaat des jüdischen Volkes ist und dass das Recht auf nationale Selbstbestimmung im Staat Israel ausschließlich dem jüdischen Volk zukommt.
Video GESELLSCHAFT: "Die Israel-Wahrheit"
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Israel ist technologisch hochmodern.
Die Formulierung ist wertend, wird aber durch Israels ausgeprägten Hightech-Sektor, hohe Forschungsintensität und starke Stellung bei KI und Innovation gestützt. Sie ist keine präzise messbare Einstufung, aber im Kern sachlich begründet.
Video GESELLSCHAFT: "Die Israel-Wahrheit"
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Israel gibt enorme Summen für Verteidigung aus.
Nach SIPRI stiegen Israels Militärausgaben 2024 um 65 Prozent und erreichten rund 46,5 Milliarden US-Dollar. Im Verhältnis zur Größe von Bevölkerung und Wirtschaft ist das eine außergewöhnlich hohe Belastung.
Video GESELLSCHAFT: "Die Israel-Wahrheit"
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Israels Regierungen stehen innerhalb Israels oft mindestens genauso stark unter Kritik wie andere Regierungen.
Dass israelische Regierungen innenpolitisch kritisiert werden, ist belegbar; der Vergleich „oft mindestens genauso“ erfordert jedoch eine klar definierte Vergleichsgruppe und belastbare Messgröße, die im Ausschnitt nicht genannt wird.
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Der Gaza-Krieg hat unermessliches menschliches Leid verursacht.
UN-Berichte dokumentieren eine katastrophale humanitäre Lage mit massenhaften Todesfällen, Verletzungen, Vertreibungen, Hunger und der Zerstörung ziviler Infrastruktur.
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Hamas ist eine Terrororganisation.
Hamas ist unter anderem von der Europäischen Union als terroristische Organisation beziehungsweise terroristische Vereinigung gelistet; auch das Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz bezeichnet Hamas als terroristische Organisation.
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Hamas ist der Verursacher des Leids beziehungsweise des Konflikts.
Hamas und andere bewaffnete Gruppen verübten den Angriff vom 7. Oktober 2023 und tragen dafür Verantwortung. Das nachfolgende Leid und die humanitäre Krise wurden jedoch auch durch Israels militärische Operationen, Blockaden und weitere Handlungen mehrerer Akteure verursacht; eine alleinige Zuschreibung an Hamas ist daher verkürzend.
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Auf Demonstrationen im Zusammenhang mit Israel und Gaza tauchen antisemitische Parolen auf und Terrororganisationen werden relativiert.
Dokumentationen antisemitischer Vorfälle in Deutschland erfassen antisemitische Versammlungen, einschlägige Parolen und Fälle, in denen Terroranschläge oder die Shoah relativiert wurden. Die Aussage ist als allgemeine Feststellung zutreffend, bezieht sich aber nicht auf jede Demonstration.
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Israel ist ein demokratischer Staat und steht dauerhaft unter sicherheitspolitischem Druck.
Israel wird als parlamentarische Mehrparteiendemokratie mit grundsätzlich freien Wahlen und unabhängigen Institutionen bewertet. Zugleich ist das Land seit Jahrzehnten von bewaffneten Konflikten und Sicherheitsbedrohungen betroffen.
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Die überwiegende Mehrheit der Menschen, die Israels Regierung kritisieren, tut dies aus demokratischen und humanitären Motiven.
Für die Motive der Gesamtheit der Israelkritiker gibt es keine belastbare, repräsentative Datengrundlage. Die Aussage kann plausibel sein, ist in dieser quantifizierenden Form aber nicht verifizierbar.
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Ob internationale Schlagzeilen positiv oder negativ ausfallen, verändert israelische Sicherheitsentscheidungen häufig gar nicht.
Die Aussage ist eine weitreichende, nicht näher eingegrenzte Kausalbehauptung über israelische Sicherheitsentscheidungen. Ohne Angaben zu Zeitraum, Entscheidungsträgern, konkreten Entscheidungen und dem Einfluss internationaler Berichterstattung lässt sie sich nicht belastbar bestätigen oder widerlegen.
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The state of Israel was founded based on the expulsion and multiple massacres of the local population
While historians widely acknowledge that the 1948 Arab-Israeli War involved the displacement of approximately 700,000 Palestinians (the Nakba) and some massacres such as Deir Yassin, characterizing the founding of Israel as based on expulsion and massacres is a contested framing that omits other historical factors including the UN partition plan, Arab rejection, and the broader conflict context.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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Hamas spokesman said two weeks ago they would do it again and again and again if they can
Hamas officials and spokespeople have repeatedly made public statements indicating willingness to repeat October 7-style attacks. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, made such statements in late October 2023, saying Hamas would repeat the attack until Israel was annihilated. The specific 'two weeks ago' timing cannot be verified from this transcript alone, but the general claim reflects documented statements.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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In 1948 there were multiple massacres of large numbers of people by Israeli forces
Historians, including Israeli historians like Benny Morris, have documented multiple massacres of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, most notably the Deir Yassin massacre and others documented in the historical record.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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Israel has been massacring Palestinians in numbers of thousands for 80 years and taking their lands and destroying their homes and jailing their children and torturing them
While Israeli historians (such as Benny Morris) have documented significant violence, displacement, and human rights abuses against Palestinians since 1948, characterizing the full 80-year period as continuous 'massacring in thousands' is an oversimplification that conflates distinct historical periods and omits significant context, though the broad claim of displacement and documented abuses has historical basis.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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The Likud charter excludes a Palestinian entity west of the Jordan River
The original 1977 Likud platform stated there would be no Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, but the party's official positions have evolved since then, and this characterization of the current charter requires qualification.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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Israel was able after October 7th to simply turn off the supplies of food, water, and fuel into Gaza
Israel announced a complete siege of Gaza on October 9, 2023, cutting off food, water, electricity, and fuel supplies, which was widely reported and confirmed by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's public statements.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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In 2005 there was a study in the Journal of World Psychiatry looking at traumatized populations under war conditions, finding the most traumatized children were in Gaza
A specific 2005 study in the Journal of World Psychiatry ranking Gaza children as the most traumatized globally could not be confirmed through available sources. The World Psychiatry journal does exist, but this specific study's findings and ranking could not be independently verified.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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In 1967, the speaker wrote an article after the war arguing that Israel had occupied the territories deliberately and would never give them back
This is a personal claim about a specific article the speaker says he wrote in 1967. Without knowing the speaker's identity or being able to locate the specific article, this claim cannot be verified or refuted.
Video Israel-Hamas War: Gabor Mate vs Piers Morgan On Palestine and Gaza | The Full Interview
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The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery showed Iran rebuilding infrastructure damaged by Israeli and U.S. strikes faster than Israel or the United States had anticipated.
The Wall Street Journal reported that satellite imagery and officials indicated Iran was rapidly repairing damaged roads, missile bases, bridges, and other infrastructure, with the pace worrying Israeli officials.
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Trump reached a deal allowing Saudi Arabia to pursue a civilian nuclear program, potentially including uranium enrichment, and said it would be conditional on Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel.
A U.S.-Saudi civilian nuclear agreement was signed, and reporting indicated it could permit a future Saudi enrichment facility after further study. However, Trump appeared to add the Israeli-normalization condition after the agreement was signed, while publicly denying that the deal itself included uranium enrichment.
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Trump added a requirement that Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel, even though that condition was not in the agreement as originally announced.
Reports described Trump’s normalization demand as a new condition announced one day after the agreement was signed, creating uncertainty about the pact’s status.
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Saudi Arabia has said it will never normalize relations with Israel.
Saudi officials have repeatedly conditioned normalization on an irreversible pathway to Palestinian statehood, rather than declaring normalization categorically impossible under all circumstances.
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Bassem Youssef was a guest on the Triggernometry podcast discussing the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Bassem Youssef appeared on the Triggernometry podcast in an episode released on January 28, 2024, titled "Bassem Youssef: Peace Is Not Israel's Goal."
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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Throughout the entire history of Israel, it was only Benjamin Netanyahu who ever treated the terrorism problem as a problem for the regular military, whereas it was previously always addressed with targeted assassinations and special operations.
Israel has repeatedly deployed its regular military (including infantry, tanks, and air power) in large-scale conventional operations against militant and terrorist groups, such as the 1982 Lebanon War under Menachem Begin and Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 under Ariel Sharon.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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Israel has a long history of targeted assassinations
Israel has a well-documented history of utilizing targeted killings (assassinations) as a state and military policy, carried out by Mossad, Shin Bet, and the IDF since the state's founding.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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The Israelis had left [Gaza].
Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005, dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements and evacuating all settlers and military personnel from inside the territory.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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I [a Gazan] could go and work across the border.
In the period leading up to October 7, 2023, Israel had issued work permits to approximately 18,500 Palestinians from Gaza, allowing them to cross the border for employment in Israel.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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Hamas had 40,000 to 50,000 entrenched armed fighters before or during the conflict.
Independent intelligence and security estimates of Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, prior to October 7, 2023, generally range from 20,000 to up to 40,000 or 50,000 fighters when including all security forces and auxiliary units.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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During the October 7th attacks, a Hamas militant called his parents from a kibbutz and boasted, "Mom, dad, I've killed some Jews."
On October 24, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces released an intercepted audio recording of a Hamas militant calling his parents from Kibbutz Mefalsim, boasting that he had killed 10 Jews with his own hands.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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There was an Arab Islamic massacre against Jews in Hebron in the 1920s, before the State of Israel or any Zionist entity existed.
The Hebron massacre occurred in August 1929 in British Mandatory Palestine, resulting in the murder of 67 Jewish residents, nearly two decades before the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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Exactly 114 years before the establishment of Israel (in 1834), Jewish communities in Palestine experienced violent attacks, looting, and the destruction of synagogues.
This refers to the events of 1834, specifically the 1834 looting of Safed and the Hebron pogrom during the Peasants' Revolt, where local mobs and soldiers violently attacked Jewish quarters, plundered homes and synagogues, and killed or injured residents.
Video Dave Smith DUMBSTRUCK As Konstantin Kisin Uses His Own Words Against Him!
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