1. Introduction:
The attack on October 7th was not the beginning of what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza, as many of the casualties sustained on October 7th were at the hands of the Israeli forces, and most of the information surrounding the event delivered through the mainstream media apparatus has been disinformation. Through this research, I will illustrate how the attack on October 7th was misportrayed to the entire world in a sense to engineer consent toward a broader invasion of the Middle East, using false narratives such as “40 beheaded babies,” as well as analyze which Western Media Groups and social media participated in the spread of this misinformation. I will also examine which posts or stories were promoted and which were suppressed.
2. Background and context of the problem
Misinformation has been a problem that has existed nearly as long as humans have, often executed by those who intend to deceive or manufacture interest. However, the spread of misinformation has grown to a dangerous point where it can spread through mainstream or social media channels at the speed of light, with little to no vetting, and the vetting that is done is often to curate a narrative. The main issue seems to be that most sources of information have been compromised, and just like America’s invasion of Iraq, interest is being manufactured for the massacres in Gaza, the West Bank, and around the globe.
3. OSINT tools used in this project
Search Engine: Tor Browser and Google Chrome
- Using the general search functions to search the internet, we will look for information surrounding October 7th, close to the date of the initial attack, and browse mainstream media sites to analyze the coverage they provided regarding the attack on October 7th. We will also utilize advanced search features in Google to further refine the information disseminated on the event day. www.google.com , https://www.torproject.org/download/
Maltego
- Maltego can be a multiple-faceted tool that may gather information on any entity.
Chat GPT
Chat GPT is an excellent tool for looking for loose information, taking those leads, and confirming them by searching for primary sources.
4. Findings
The Story of “40 beheaded babies” originated on October 10th, 2013, in Kfar Aza in southern Israel with Commander David Ben Zion, who recounted his observations in an interview with i24 News Correspondent Nicole Zedeck. Using Maltego, I was able to locate Nicole Zedeck’s Twitter account and subsequent posts spreading her earlier claim of “40 beheaded babies.”
https://x.com/Nicole_Zedek/status/1711721433968111855 @ 1:30
Nicole pushes hard on the narrative of “40 beheaded babies,” making mentions of cribs and strollers many times but showing no evidence of such atrocities as were described at the hands of Hamas.
I then tracked i24 posts to the original claim made by David Ben Zion.
https://twitter.com/Nicole_Zedek/status/1711721433968111855
David Ben Zion fiving the original claim of the “40 beheaded babies”; however, David offered no evidence on site. 10/10/2023.
https://twitter.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1711781404344721828
This article was earlier reported in the “40 Beheaded Babies” but has since updated the article, just as Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and the entire republican party still repeat the same lies.
It didn’t take long for nearly all Western mainstream media outlets to parrot this same story with little to no claim verification.
Who is Sharon Udasin, who shared the same story for The Hill?
I used Maltego to research who Sharon Udasin was since she parroted the early article about the beheaded babies, but there are no coincidences here.
CNN
In CNN’s article, they again give airtime to the same unconfirmed statements. The only thing clear from the interview the general did with his 50 journalist media op was dead “terrorists.” Just like the original video by i24, “beheaded babies” statements arise at 1:30.
Fox News
Now, let’s take an example from CNN’s direct competitor, FOX News, also posted on October 10th, 2023. Fox News also goes into much greater detail, going far beyond the “40 beheaded babies” claim.
The video they shared contains testimonies of witnesses; however, I have captured the frustration of Israeli citizens with both the Israeli and United States governments.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/40-babies-some-beheaded-found-israel-soldiers-hamas-attacked-village
Who Else Parroted the Misinformation of ’40 Beheaded Babies?
Below are more links to individual sources that have also repeated the same claims of “40 beheaded babies” on the date of October 10th, 2023. I found these articles by setting the Google search settings to 10/7/2023 – 10/10/2023.
https://www.businessinsider.com/idf-says-hamas-decapitated-babies-in-israel-2023-1
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hamas-terrorists-reportedly-slaughter-behead-205547232.html
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/kibbutz-israel-kfar-aza-massacre-gaza-strip-z7nz56rn9
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/hamas-terrorists-behead-babies-massacre-31155522
But the claims go on, and there are far more mainstream information sources that chose to run the article on October 10th, 2023, the same day it originated in Israel at i24 news, 3 days after the attack occurred.
However, few and far between, some sources refuted the claim of “40 beheaded babies,” citing that Israel would not offer confirmation of their claim.
However, this article only made it into the mainstream long after the damage had been done.
Aljazeera also pushed against the Western narrative within a few days of the release of the unconfirmed “40 beheaded babies” claim.
And the intercept released a scathing review of the Western narrative.
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/11/israel-hamas-disinformation/
Not long after the original claim, agencies that had earlier reported the unverified claims began shifting their narrative.
As we see here with Business Insider, which was one of the first to parrot the claim.
https://www.businessinsider.com/idf-says-wont-back-up-beheaded-babies-disrespectful-2023-10
Making things worse…
To make matters worse, politicians began to use the false claims of the beheaded babies and massacre, relying solely on the hands of Hamas.
But at the same time in intense doublespeak, the White House refutes the claims of Biden, citing the nature of the unverified claim.
Speaking on Kibbutz.
This last summer, footage and information were released confirming rumors regarding the “defunct” Hannibal directive, in which Israeli forces murder Israeli citizens if they are in danger of being captured alive.
Erez Tidhar was a veteran who was on site the day of October 7th, 2023 and has a bizarre story In which the IDF had attacked the Kibbutz themselves, confirming the reports of the Hannibal directive, which had already been circulating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFxrl8nUb7Q
After these reports began circulating, Israel began its war on Journalists, in which over 200 have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank as of now.
There is far more information that needs to be assembled. However, I believe I will save it for the Final Research Document.
5. Recommendations
The only recommendation I can make is for that of the individual information consumer as for 1, most mainstream media outlets goal is not to exactly get the truth out, and two, this will only get worse. Restrictions on free speech come into play, and only state-authorized agencies are allowed to speak, agencies such as FOX News or CNN, which neither are indeed news stations.
I recommend that individual users vet their information aggressively and educate themselves with the tools available. This can be as simple as using Google to find verifiable and relatable primary sources—right from the horse’s mouth if you will. Ultimately, only the individual will be able to confirm their information for themselves, reach valid conclusions, and then share that knowledge verification with others.
6. Conclusions
In conclusion, the attack on October 7th did not happen in a vacuum or unprovoked, nor was the rumor of “40 beheaded babies” true, nor was Hamas fully responsible for the full scale of the damage caused in the Kibbutz on October 7th, 2023. The narrative was shaped to garner the most hostility toward Hamas and justify the future massacres in the West Bank and Gaza as a response to their right to self-defense to “Israel’s 9/11.” And it would seem that all mainstream media outlets immediately fall in line with the narrative even when it’s entirely unconfirmed. Even more alarming, even after the event has been confirmed as false, elements of it live on in political rhetoric and Islamophobia.
Using tools such as Maltego, I was able to run background checks on individual authors of the original articles as soon as October 7th and determine a little more about them, their interests, and potential provenances. I also decided on where the original story started using Chat GPT, which, surprisingly, set me on the path in the right direction to the correct primary sources I needed to support my research. Finally, google served as an essential OSINT tool; by setting a date window from 10/7/2023 – 10/10/2023, I was able to find articles shared closest to the date of the event, seeing who conformed early and who chose to portray the truth of the independent narrative.
Overall, provenance is everything when choosing your resources, and everyone must follow through with their independent fact-checking, no matter how difficult, exhausting, or time-consuming it may be. This is the only real option until up-and-coming scientists design a method to dispel false information.
7. References to found resources with valid URLs for each reference
Maltego. (n.d.). Maltego Investigation Tool. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.maltego.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=S_Tools&utm_term=maltego%20investigation&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7Py4BhCbARIsAMMx-_JCM50d0NBVNh0QnoWvUkxshn6ICEdbr75uSMLD2xIVx20hF8KWQAsaAuYPEALw_wcB
OpenAI ChatGPT. (2024). ChatGPT Responses on Various Topics. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from ChatGPT.
Google. (n.d.). Google Search Engine. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.google.com
Zedek, N. (2023, October 10). Nicole Zedek’s Post on X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://x.com/Nicole_Zedek/status/1711721433968111855
The Hill. (2023, October 11). Israeli forces say they’ve uncovered evidence of brutal killings. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://thehill.com/policy/international/4248499-israeli-forces-say-theyve-uncovered-evidence-of-brutal-killings-they-cut-heads-of-children/
CNN. (2023, October 10). Israel kibbutzim Kfar Aza, Beeri, Urim – Hamas attack. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/10/middleeast/israel-kibbutzim-kfar-aza-beeri-urim-hamas-attack-intl/index.html
Fox News. (2023, October 11). 40 babies, some beheaded, found in Israel soldiers say after Hamas attacked village. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.foxnews.com/world/40-babies-some-beheaded-found-israel-soldiers-hamas-attacked-village
Anadolu Agency. (2023, October 13). Israeli army says it does not have confirmation about allegations that Hamas beheaded babies. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-army-says-it-does-not-have-confirmation-about-allegations-that-hamas-beheaded-babies-/3014787#
Al Jazeera. (2023, October 13). Watching the watchdogs: Babies and truth die together in Israel-Palestine. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/13/watching-the-watchdogs-babies-and-truth-die-together-in-israel-palestine
The Intercept. (2023, October 11). Israel-Hamas disinformation. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://theintercept.com/2023/10/11/israel-hamas-disinformation/
Business Insider. (2023, October 14). IDF says won’t back up beheaded babies claim as it is ‘disrespectful’. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.businessinsider.com/idf-says-wont-back-up-beheaded-babies-disrespectful-2023-10
The Intercept. (2023, December 14). Israel-Biden beheaded babies false claim. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://theintercept.com/2023/12/14/israel-biden-beheaded-babies-false
Times of Israel. (2023, October 15). IDF officers invoked defunct Hannibal Protocol during Oct 7 fighting. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-officers-invoked-defunct-hannibal-protocol-during-oct-7-fighting-report/
Times of Israel. (2023, October 15). Efrat Katz likely killed by IAF helicopter fire during Oct 7 abduction attempt probe. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.timesofisrael.com/efrat-katz-likely-killed-by-iaf-helicopter-fire-during-oct-7-abduction-attempt-probe/
YouTube. (2024). [Video Title: Unknown]. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFxrl8nUb7Q
English