Can we know what happened on October 7th, 2023?

In his recent address to the UN, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu used several “props” to stage stunts that underscored his message. One was a QR code linking to https://saturday-october-seven.com/ and another was a set of large cards with simplistic multiple-choice questions. His childish antics were unlikely to persuade anyone, but persuasion was never the goal. His purpose was to remind. Most people around the world saw the photos and videos from October 7, 2023, and they believe they know what they saw.

Netanyahu is tapping into those memories — millions, perhaps billions of them. Let’s parse what those memories really amount to.

First, what you won’t remember.

In Sudan, 10,000–15,000 people were killed in the Masalit massacre. In Nigeria, Fulani militias killed 200 people, and Islamist armed groups massacred 223 villagers, including 56 children. In the DRC, repeated attacks by the ADF left civilian death tolls still uncounted. Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers between March 2022 and June 2023. In India, ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zomi communities in Manipur state led to mass killings, sexual violence, and the displacement of thousands; by mid-August 2023, at least 160 were dead and more than 300 injured. In 2023, the US accounted for 76% of terrorism-related deaths in Western democracies, despite incidents being at a 15-year low. The country most affected by terrorism was Burkina Faso (Vision of Humanity, March 4, 2025).

Why didn’t you hear about these? There’s one explanation: propaganda. Israel excels at it — not through outright lies, but by placing horrific events before the world in ways that compel sympathy. You likely remember the widely circulated figure of 1,200 Israeli deaths on October 7. But how many Palestinians died that day? For Israel — and therefore for much of the world — it doesn’t matter. Palestinians were cast as terrorists, not humans. Only Israeli citizens were seen as human.

The technique is simple. Take a photo or video, add a narrative, and push it out widely. The internet does the rest. You don’t need a Ministry of Propaganda; you just need mass gullibility. Few people challenge the narrative, fewer still investigate their doubts, and even fewer apply analysis. That work is left to “experts.”

When we see a blood-stained floor with the caption, “People were raped and slaughtered in their homes,” we assume terrorists did it. Forensic evidence is not demanded. But who told us this? The IDF — the very organisation that curated those images. A pool of blood may signal someone bleeding heavily. But whose blood? A kibbutz civilian with no weapon (possible), a kibbutz civilian with a weapon (likely), a Palestinian (likely), an IDF soldier (likely), even a dog. The victim is not in the photo.

If it was a kibbutz civilian, who witnessed it? If it was an IDF soldier, did comrades stand by while they were massacred? If there were witnesses and resistance fighters were responsible, why wasn’t the witness shot? Logic quickly muddies the picture.

One thing is certain: we will never know. Why? Because the follow-up to the attacks was handled by soldiers and by Zaka, the religious volunteer group. Photos show soldiers carrying bodies and Zaka loading trailers full of corpses. That means no forensic investigation — no multiple-angle photos, no blood samples, no bullet hole analysis. If it was safe for soldiers and volunteers to enter, it was safe for forensic experts. At the very least, bodies should have been preserved in freezers or buried under non-porous material to protect DNA.

Instead, the IDF brought in Zaka to quickly sanitise scenes. Israeli military protocol dictates not only shooting enemies but ensuring death with multiple rounds — leaving bodies riddled with wounds, an embarrassment in modern warfare. Prisoners and surrenders are accepted in most militaries — except one. (See the CNN interview with kibbutz survivors on how war is conducted in Israel.) With Zaka’s involvement and IDF protocols, any chance of objective conclusions is eliminated.

The music festival photos and videos are another example. At first glance, they show atrocity. But the images are curated. Soon after the first attack, gun battles erupted and IDF tanks and armoured vehicles entered the scene. We cannot know how people died. Rows of bodies appear in photos — but are they partygoers or resistance fighters? Some appear covered, others not. One body is shown with a raised fist — alive or dead? Were they killed in crossfire? Why are some placed in trailers and others zipped in body bags? We cannot know. Any narrative can be made to fit.

Much is made of burned bodies in cars. Dozens of vehicles were shown burned. But how could resistance fighters, amid battle, systematically torch cars with bodies inside? Many vehicles appear not only burned but blasted apart — damage consistent only with Hellfire missiles from IDF helicopters. Night-vision footage shows helicopters firing at vehicles. Why would the IDF fire on them?

Helicopter pilots are trained to fire the instant a target is locked — hesitation invites death. Identifying targets risks being shot down by anti-aircraft missiles. So vehicles became “targets” and were destroyed. That explains the rows of burned cars and the charred bodies. Only Hellfire missiles could cause such instant incineration. One image, supposedly captured by a Hamas fighter, shows a smoking, mutilated body beside a burned vehicle — damage no handheld weapon could cause.

Wherever the IDF curated evidence, serious doubts remain. What happened on October 7, 2023, will never be fully known. Many claim certainty, but the evidence shows propaganda overlays, not verifiable proof fit for a courtroom.

A complete analysis can be found at https://tissueoflies.com/tol/articles.php?article_id=68