Israel released previously unseen security footage of a Hamas attack on October 7, showing militants killing an Israeli firefighter in front of his two young sons before raiding the family’s home. The clip was presented to diplomats, world leaders and journalists on Friday, but not distributed within Israel “out of respect for the family’s wishes,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, as reported by the Times of Israel.The video, recorded at the Taasa family’s home in Netiv HaAsara, depicts 46-year-old Gil Taasa rushing his sons, Koren, 12, and Shay, 8, towards a backyard bomb shelter as Hamas fighters stormed the house at around 6:30 am (local time). One of the attackers threw a grenade, and Taasa jumped onto it to shield his children. He was killed instantly.The boys, injured and bloodied from shrapnel, were then forced back into the house, where they realised the extent of their injuries. Shay later lost vision in one eye, while Koren said he could no longer hear in one ear. In the footage, Koren pleads, “Please, please, please. Let me go home! My dad! My dad!” before telling his brother, “Dad’s dead, Shay. I’m not joking.” The younger boy replies, “I know. I saw.”At one point, a Hamas fighter opens the family refrigerator, offering the children juice or wine, before taking a bottle of Coca-Cola and walking away.As per the News York Post, the family also lost their eldest son, 17-year-old Or, that same morning. His mother, Sabine Taasa, later testified at the UN in Geneva that he was shot six times. “Is that normal? Shooting a child of 17 six times in the head?” she asked.Standing beside Sabine as the clip was introduced, Netanyahu said, “We’ll destroy Hamas, we’ll bring our hostages home, because we remember October 7, and so should you.”The footage’s release comes as Israel faces mounting international criticism over its military offensive in Gaza City. As per CNN, the timing coincides with growing condemnation abroad and a UN-backed declaration of famine in northern Gaza.
