The horrific visuals emerging from Rafah show a gruesome scene of a Palestinian man holding a decapitated baby that was killed in Israelโs attack on a make-shift camp in Southern Gaza on May 26th. Although the horrid visual has shaken the world, it has not stirred as strong a reaction as it did earlier when Hamas was accused of committing a similar act on October 7th.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) accused Hamas militants of beheading 40 babies in October 2023 at Kfar Aza Kibbutz. The unverified claim was rapidly propagated by the mainstream media, as well as high-profile officials like US President Joe Biden.ย
While the allegation of Hamas beheading children outraged the West, itโs awaiting an ironic move on the airstrike in Rafah resulting in the killing of women and children.ย
Reaction of the West: Calling for an Israeli investigationย
The graphic visual of a headless baby in Rafahโs tent massacre has failed to fuel sharp reactions from the international community. Ironically, the West has been seeking the IDFโs investigation of its own โtragic mistakeโ of the airstrike on the inhabited camp.ย
British Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs, David Cameron in his X (formerly Twitter) post stated, โThe IDFโs investigation must be swift, comprehensive & transparent.โย
US Spokesperson for the Department of State Mathew Miller, expressing his deep concerns, said the US is โgoing to wait to see the full results of the investigationโ.
โThey (IDF) need to conduct the investigation. And weโre going to eagerly await the investigation and press them to make sure that the results of that investigation are presented openly and transparently to us and to the world,โ Mr Miller added.
US Secretary of the States Antony Blinken said that he doesnโt know the details but โthe IDF is investigating.โย
The UK Ambassador James Kariuki called on Israel โto launch a swift, comprehensive & transparent investigationโ at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).ย
Writing on X, the German Foreign Office also called for a โswift IDF investigationโ on the Israeli airstrike.
Public and political reaction to allegation of Hamas attacks
Showing a strong contrast, the claim of 40 decapitated babies by Hamas, in October 2023, made it to the front pages of the mainstream media including The Independent, Fox News, New York Post, BBC, The Times, The Scotsman, Financial Times, and others across the Atlantic, even though it was not supported by any kind of evidence.ย
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee pushed the claim on X, โ40 Israeli babies, murdered. They are not just statistics; they were new souls, full of potential, brutally stolen from their families by vicious terrorists.โ
Parallely, the accusation was endorsed by celebrities and high-profile politicians like Mr Biden, as a result of which, an angry white man stabbed a Palestinian child to death in Illinois.
Mr Biden said, โI never really thought that I would see, have confirmed, pictures of terrorists beheading childrenโ in a meeting in the White House. The White House later backed off the remark saying the remarks were based on โNetanyahuโs spokesman and media reports from Israel.โ
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that babies with their โheads decapitatedโ were found in southern Israel after Hamasโ attack.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz posted on X, โHamas is executing entire families, killing children, raping women, beheading babies, and seizing hostages.โ
Congresswoman for GA-14, Marjorie Taylor Greene, posted on X, โCutting off babies heard is unspeakable (sic).โ
Even celebrities like Noah Schnapp pushed the unverified claim posted on X, โ40 babies were beheaded and burnt in front of their parentsโ
Nicole Zedek, reporting for Israelโs i24News channel that has close ties with Mr Netanyahu, alleged that about 40 babies were killed by Hamas on October 7th. This is where the claim is believed to have started.ย
Since the Israeli government and the IDF could not provide a single piece of evidence to support the claim, it was clear that it was โpropagandaโ, โdisinformationโ and a โlieโ as experts and other social media users called it.ย
CNN journalist Sara Sidner publicly apologised on X for not being cautious in her reporting. She wrote โThe Israeli government now says today it CANNOT confirm babies were beheaded.ย I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry.โ
Claims of the IDF on Rafahโs tent airstrike resulting in a decapitated baby
The IDF has denied that their munitions caused the tent massacre and pointed out that Hamasโ ammunition warehouse exploded resulting in the massacre.ย
Israelโs War Room on X said โThe IDF did not strike within the humanitarian zone.โ
Daniel Hagary, the spokesperson of IDF, said after the airstrike caught attention, โWeโre assessing footage taken by Gazans which appear to show secondary explosions indicating that there may have been weapons in the areaโ
The IDF, indicating that the attack happened due to a โHamas ammunition warehouseโ nearby, posted on its X, โWe are investigating the cause of the fire and will continue to operate in accordance with international law (sic).โ
Israelโs Foreign Ministry posted โimportant detailsโ about the airstrike in Rafah, on X. It included the claim that โHamas intentionally exploited the area in close proximity to civiliansโ and that โthe strike took place after precautionary measures were taken, including surveillance.โ It also alleges that โthe strike did not take place in the designated humanitarian zone.โ
Is the IDFโs investigation reliable?
The Human Rights group pointed out that an Amnesty International investigation into four Israeli strikes on Rafah in December and January found no evidence of military targets.
Experts argue that IDFโs earlier internal investigations on its military action lack transparency and independence and have been criticised for not being thorough.ย
To uphold the principle of justice, the need for independent investigation sounds ethical. A probe from an unbiased international body such as the UN could be an advocate for investigating the potential war crimes carried out by Israel.
UN Experts stated in a press release, โEven if Israeli leaders claim now that the strikes were a โmistakeโ, they bear international legal responsibilityโ and insisted on โthe urgent need for international action and accountability.โ
It is to ponder whether the IDF investigation of allegations of war crimes can be trusted with impartiality and fairness. It is to wonder whether it will give justice to all 45 people killed in the tent massacre and 250 people wounded. It is to also question whether the result of the IDFโs self-probe will hold those responsible accountable for the killing of the decapitated baby in Rafah.ย
East Post is an independent geopolitical analysis portal covering South Asia and global power dynamics for international audiences. Views expressed are analytical and do not constitute endorsement of any state or non-state actor.
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