Exposing the Lies – Exposing the Genocide
- By Feroze Mithiborwala
- 16 October 2025
1. Background: The Israeli Political Crisis Before October 7
In the months preceding October 7, 2023, Israel was gripped by internal turmoil. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced Corruption charges and mounting public outrage. Severe pressure from far-right coalition partners Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to annex the West Bank and expand illegal settlements. Efforts to weaken the Supreme Court, leading to a divided nation and massive street protests. This internal political instability formed the backdrop for the October 7 events.
2. Gaza Ghetto Uprising, Gazagrad – The Prison Break from the Concentration – The Context
The Al-Aqsa Storm, the Intifada of 7 October 2023 was a pre-emptive strike by Palestinian resistance forces aiming to:
- End the 17-year siege of Gaza.
- Free 10,000+ Palestinian prisoners (now over 20,000, including women and children).
- Halt the Abraham Accords and the so-called “normalisation” process with neighbouring Arab & Muslim nations. Saudi Arabia was on verge of signing the Accord, but the Gaza Uprising ensured that the plans were shelved.
- Defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque from destruction, with plans by Jewish extremists to build the Third Temple of Solomon on that very site.
- Oppose the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
- The Uprising brought Palestine back to the centre of global politics, forcing the world to confront the reality of Israeli apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide & call for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
3. The Nature of the Palestine Issue
It is not a conflict between two equal sides. It is essentially a colonial settler occupation, rooted in apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Under international law, no occupying power has the right to “self-defence.” Instead, it has a duty to protect the occupied population – a duty Israel has completely violated. Israel has never submitted a map of its borders to the UN, exposing its expansionist agenda toward a “Greater Israel.” Only people – not states – have a right to exist. The Palestinian people’s very existence is under threat.
The Palestinian national liberation movement has the right to resist “by all available means,” as reaffirmed by UN Resolutions 3246 (1974), 3070 (1973), and 34/44 (1979). In 1974, UN General Assembly Resolution 3246 (XXIX) reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty, and the right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property, and to struggle for liberation “by all available means, including armed struggle”.
4. FACT 1 – Netanyahu Was Aware of the Coming Attack
- Reports from The New York Times (Nov 30, 2023) and Le Monde revealed that Israeli officials possessed a 40-page dossier, “Jericho Wall,” outlining Hamas’s attack plans a year in advance.
- Egypt warned Israel days before the assault.
- Netanyahu denied prior knowledge, but U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul confirmed it. (NY Post, Oct 12, 2023)
- Israeli female soldiers had raised warnings but were silenced under threat of court martial. (ISRAEL CHANNEL 12, DAILYMAIL, UK, 19.11.2023)
5. FACT 2 – The Lie of the “Beheaded Babies”
- Western media spread fake atrocity stories, including the “40 beheaded babies” myth.
- CNN’s Sara Sidner later apologized for the 40-beheaded story lies. (Daily Mirror, Oct 14, 2023)
- Even President Biden repeated the false claim. (Intercept, Dec 14, 2023)
- This propaganda was weaponized to justify Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinian children.
6. FACT 3 – Sexual Violence Claims and UN Reports
- Israel obstructed the UN Commission of Inquiry (led by Navi Pillay) from meeting alleged rape victims.
- Despite furious claims by Israel that Hamas had raped women, curiously the Israeli regime did not let any of the alleged victims meet with the UN Commission of Inquiry led by Navi Pillay & Chris Sidoti. The UN Commission stated that there is a lack of cooperation & active obstruction in some cases.
- We don’t have any complaints, Israeli prosecutor Moran Gaz says department failed to gather evidence on October 7 mass rape claims. (The New Indian Express, Jan 6, 2025)
- Meanwhile, UN investigations (Mar 13, 2025) confirmed systematic sexual violence by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
- Germany’s envoy Steffen Siebert admitted spreading false rape claims. (Al Mayadeen, Aug 31, 2024)
- Max Blumenthal, Editor of the Grayzone and Aaron Maté exposed the NYT’s fabricated rape reports. (“Screams Without Proof,” Jan 10, 2024)
7. FACT 4 – IDF Soldiers Ordered to Stand Down
- Israeli soldier Sgt. Shalom Sheetrit testified that his unit was ordered to cancel patrols near the breach points. (HubPages, Sep 7, 2025)
- The stand-down order allowed the attack to proceed – a charge supported by multiple alternative media investigations.
- The IDF soldier’s testimony, so far reported only on Israeli News 7 in the mainstream media, has now been picked up by popular online media The Young Turks (TYT) and comedian-commentator Jimmy Dore. Alternative news media The Cradle has also picked up the story, the implications of which are far-reaching.
8. FACT 5 – Netanyahu Refused an Official Inquiry and Continues to Delay
Despite widespread calls, Netanyahu refused to launch a formal investigation into the events of October 7, shielding himself and the military from accountability. Benjamin Netanyahu rejects state inquiry into Oct 7, but demand persists | The Jerusalem Post
9. FACT 6–12 – The “Hannibal Directive”
The Hannibal Directive is a standing Israeli military order:
- “Prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers – even at the cost of their lives.”
- Originally created in 1986, it allows Israeli forces to kill their own citizens or soldiers to prevent abductions.
- During October 7, the directive was reportedly activated on a mass scale (“Mass Hannibal”).
Case 1: Yasmin Porat, Kibbutz Survivor
Porat testified that Hamas treated hostages humanely but Israeli forces fired tank shells and killed their own civilians. (Middle East Eye, Oct 15, 2023)
Survivor Speaks: Israeli forces shot their own civilians – YouTube
Case 2: Death of 12-year-old Liel Hetzroni
Killed when the IDF fired tank shells into a house in Be’eri holding both hostages and Hamas fighters. Survivors say “the army eliminated everyone”. (Kan News) (Israeli child “burned completely” by Israeli tank fire at kibbutz | The Electronic Intifada)
Case 3: Nova Music Festival
Israeli helicopters fired on festival-goers, killing Israelis as well as Hamas militants. (Haaretz; MSNBC; ABC News)
Reserve Colonel Nof Erez called it “Mass Hannibal”, where Apache helicopters targeted all moving vehicles – with or without hostages. (Video: Israeli reserve colonel says Oct 7 killings were ‘mass Hannibal’ directive by IDF, not Hamas – SKWAWKBOX)
10. FACT 13 – Nova Victims’ Families Demand Justice
- Families of the Nova Festival victims condemned the IDF investigation as a “disgrace” and a cover-up. (Jerusalem Post, ABC News, Haaretz)
- Israel’s investigation into Hamas’ Nova festival massacre leaves families of victims with more questions than answers. By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran. Israel’s investigation into Hamas’ Nova festival massacre leaves families of victims with more questions than answers – ABC News
- Relatives of Nova Victims Fault IDF’s Probe Into Festival Massacre, Call for State Inquiry. Yoram Yehudai, whose son Ron was killed at Nova, told Haaretz that the army investigation ‘was a disgrace’ Relatives of Nova Victims Fault IDF’s Probe Into Festival Massacre, Call for State Inquiry – Israel News
Bereaved families leave IDF’s Nova massacre probe meeting in anger. The Hostage Families Forum stated that the investigation was “superficial,” with facts that were “inaccurate at best, lies at worst.” October 7 victim’s families leave IDF’s Nova probe meeting in anger | The Jerusalem Post
11. FACT 14–16 – Journalistic Investigations
- Prominent journalists like Max Blumenthal, Chris Hedges, and Asa Winstanley have exposed that:
- Israeli forces used heavy weaponry against their own citizens on October 7.
- Electronic Intifada and The Grayzone published testimonies confirming that Israel “shelled” Israeli houses and hostages.
- The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal joins Chris Hedges to discuss his investigation into Israel’s indiscriminate use of heavy weapons against Israeli citizens on October 7, and the shock-and-awe campaign of misinformation it subsequently employed to create political space for its brutal assault on Gaza. This was originally published by The Real News Network.
- Editor’s note: Since the publication of this interview, an Israeli police investigation has confirmed that Israeli Apache helicopters killed numerous Israeli citizens at and around the Nova electronic music festival, and that Hamas did not know in advance about the festival. The Israeli government has also acknowledged that 200 of those it counted as Israeli casualties were, in fact, Hamas militants killed by its forces on October 7, and that it may have marketed images of their charred bodies to the public as proof of Hamas’ brutality.
- October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles by Max Blumenthal October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles – The Grayzone
12. FACT 17–21 – October 7 as a Pretext for Genocide
- The Netanyahu regime used October 7 as justification for ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza.
- Over two years, Israel has killed or injured more than 10% of Gaza’s population (Al Jazeera, 2025).
- Hospitals, schools, and refugee camps have been systematically bombed.
13. FACT 22 – Global Solidarity Rises
- The historic uprising of October 7 has ignited global Palestine solidarity movements across continents.
- Millions march under the banner of “Ceasefire Now” and “Free Palestine.”
- The Palestinian cause has once again become the central & defining moral struggle of our time.
Conclusion: The events of 7 October 2023, mark a turning point in modern history. They revealed not only the depths of Israeli state deceit and genocidal brutality, but also the resilience, humanity, and justice embodied by the Palestinian resistance. The struggle continues — not just for Gaza or Palestine, but for truth, justice, and the liberation of all oppressed peoples.