By: Fern Sidman

The Israeli government has announced plans to publicly release a deeply disturbing segment of its documentary film “Bearing Witness To October 7^th” marking the first time that portions of the compilation of raw, unfiltered footage from Hamas’ atrocities will be made available to international audiences. According to a report on Friday at Israel National News (INN), the decision calls attention to a renewed public diplomacy campaign aimed at ensuring the world understands the scope and savagery of the October 7 massacre.

The 47-minute film, which has until now only been shown to select foreign officials, journalists, and dignitaries under highly controlled conditions, consists of images and video captured from Hamas terrorists’ body cameras, phones, and GoPro devices, as well as from Israeli security cameras and civilian victims themselves. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) compiled the film in the immediate aftermath of the attack, using it as both evidence of Hamas’ war crimes and as an urgent tool of diplomacy in the struggle against global skepticism and disinformation.

Officials have long described the film as nearly unwatchable — a visceral chronicle of cruelty and murder intended to document, with irrefutable evidence, the reality of what unfolded on that horrific day. According to the information provided in the INN report, screenings were deliberately limited to closed audiences, in part to preserve the dignity of victims and their families and in part to avoid gratuitous public exposure to extreme violence.

Now, for the first time, a specific section of the film will be published globally, though not in Israel, at the express request of the victims’ family.

The Ta’assa Family’s Story

The portion to be released centers on the murders of the Ta’assa family in the moshav of Netiv Ha’asara, a small community near the Gaza border that came under devastating attack on October 7. The footage comes from security cameras inside the family’s home and depicts the killing of Sabine Ta’assa’s partner and son.

Sabine herself survived the assault but was severely wounded, as were her other children, who are still undergoing rehabilitation. In an extraordinary act of courage, she agreed to allow the government to release the material in the hope that it would awaken global consciousness and reaffirm the moral stakes of Israel’s war against Hamas.

On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara met personally with Sabine Ta’assa. According to the information contained in the INN report, the Netanyahus listened as she described her family’s suffering, the rehabilitation process for her children, and the daily struggles of living with the aftermath of trauma.

Netanyahu and his wife thanked Sabine for what they described as her “incredible bravery and moral clarity” in approving the public release of such painful footage. In their joint statement with her, they emphasized that the purpose of releasing this video was not sensationalism but the urgent need to expose Hamas’ atrocities to the world without ambiguity or filter.

A Tool of Global Diplomacy

The Prime Minister’s Office has described the release as part of a global hasbara (public diplomacy) campaign. Officials believe that despite months of diplomatic outreach and media coverage, segments of the international community still downplay or distort the nature of Hamas’ October 7 crimes. The release of video evidence, particularly material as raw as the Ta’assa home footage, is intended to counter denial, relativism, and efforts to equate Israel’s defensive military campaign with Hamas’ terrorism.

According to the INN report, the joint statement distributed abroad highlights the fact that “Israel will not allow Hamas to repeat the atrocities of October 7 and will work tirelessly to defeat it and return all of our hostages.”

The decision to distribute the material outside Israel but not domestically reflects both strategic and ethical considerations. Israeli officials stressed that, at the family’s request, the video will not circulate within the country in order to safeguard the privacy of the Ta’assa children, who were filmed as they lay injured. The government has appealed to journalists and the public to respect this request.

For Israel, the release of this material is as much about preserving memory as it is about shaping global opinion. Officials point to the pattern of denial that has accompanied many historical atrocities, from the Holocaust to more recent genocides. INN has repeatedly noted that, in the weeks after October 7, conspiracy theories and propaganda campaigns sought to minimize Hamas’ crimes or recast them as fabricated.

The release of verified, timestamped footage directly from the victims’ home is intended to demolish such narratives. “This is irrefutable evidence of deliberate, calculated murder,” one Israeli official told INN. “No amount of propaganda can erase what the world will now see with its own eyes.”

The decision to publicize atrocity footage has not been taken lightly. Survivors’ groups and victim advocacy organizations have long debated whether releasing graphic material dehumanizes the dead or dishonors their memory. But the Ta’assa family, after long deliberation, concluded that showing the world exactly what Hamas did inside their home is essential to ensuring that their loved ones’ deaths are not abstracted or denied.

In many ways, this mirrors historical precedents. After World War II, Allied forces compelled German citizens to watch footage of liberated concentration camps, arguing that confronting the horrors was necessary to prevent denial. Similarly, Israeli leaders today see global exposure to Hamas’ barbarity as indispensable in building the moral clarity needed for international support.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly framed October 7 as a watershed moment not only for Israel but for the global fight against Islamist terrorism. In his remarks following the meeting with Sabine Ta’assa, Netanyahu declared: “We will not rest or be silent until we bring all our captives home — both the living and the fallen alike.”

He stressed that Israel’s mission is twofold: to ensure that no Israeli family ever again experiences such atrocities and to confront a terrorist organization that he said “threatens not only Israel but regional and global stability.” According to the INN report, Netanyahu’s message was aimed squarely at foreign governments and audiences whose support remains vital for Israel as it faces growing international pressure over its military operations in Gaza.

The release of the Ta’assa footage will undoubtedly stir debate. Critics will argue that it risks inflaming passions or retraumatizing survivors, while supporters will insist that it is essential to defeating denial and holding Hamas accountable.

For Israel, however, the calculation is clear. As INN reported, officials see the release as a moral imperative, a way to honor the victims by confronting the world with the truth of their suffering.

Sabine Ta’assa’s decision to allow the world into her home — to witness, through her own family’s tragedy, the nature of Hamas’ crimes — represents an extraordinary act of courage. It is a reminder that even in the darkest moments, the human will to seek justice and truth remains unbro