The accusation is false as a matter of fact, morality, logic and law. It trivializes the term “genocide” and applies it to nearly every war fought by the democracies. Which is the point.
Israel has committed and is committing, genocide. Israel is obviously "ethnic cleansing." The "settlers" (land thieves) brutalize old ladies and men, and little children--information on all of these is readily available from many reliable sources--including as video. One would really have to be trying hard to avoid obvious streams of information, to not be aware of the above. It starts by asking questions. Is it hard to ask of ChatGPT, or SuperGrok, or Gemini, or DeepSeek, or Meta, questions such as "what international crimes is Israel accused of (or found guilty of)?" "Why is this called my some media a "war" when Israel is killing only civilians?" "Is it true that Israel has killed >600,000 civilians (mostly Palestinians) in Gaza? Or what are the figures estimated by various sources of the number of civilians in Gaza killed by Israel?" Just ask questions, to learn more. "Is a current tactic of the IDF including bombing/destroying entire apartment complexes where hundreds to thousands of Palestinians are living--with one minute or even less of warning to the occupants--thereby "burying" almost all the tenants in the rubble in that they had no time to escape"? "Is it true that Israeli snipers were playing the extraordinarily sadistic "game" of shooting teenage boys in different body parts on different days? Has this this been widely reported by many doctors serving in Gaza, and recently on the Lev Fridman show with his interviewee? One day left shoulder, next day kidney, next day head shot, next day left leg, and so on? In particular, which doctors have testified to this and spoken out about it?" "What evidence is there that Palestinians have been murdered at aid sites?" And so on. There is a wealth of information about essentially every war crime imaginable, and some that were never seen prior to Israel's current actions. And: Justified based on the October 7, 2023 event that many have labeled a "false flag", with others (if not labeling it that) clearly noting the stand down orders testified to in the Knesset. One could write books about the war crimes and genocide and books are being written. The video evidence alone is overwhelming. "Why has Israel targeted and killed so many journalists--more than in almost all other wars combined? Why are they killing journalists?" On and on.
They obviously are NOT "ethnic cleansing" or they'd have removed all the Palestinians from Gaza, and/or killed them all.
There are still two and a half million people in Gaza, which is roughly the same as three years ago. Hitler killed six million Jews in three years. Are you saying that Jews are just stupidly bad at genocide? Because the only alternative is that they aren't committing it.
And they aren't. People are dying in a war. You can claim it's a "false flag" operation but not only is that a goofy conspiracy theory, it also ignores that Hamas was firing thousands of rockets PER YEAR into Israel for over a decade.
The United States would never tolerate that from Mexico, and when we invaded Mexico, there would be civilian deaths too. That wouldn't make it a genocide.
ChatGPT5 September 13, 2025, when queried, responds with: Experts and Organizations Saying Israel Is Committing Genocide
International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)
In September 2025, the IAGS passed a resolution stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under Article II of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
They cite indiscriminate attacks, severe harm to civilians, destruction of civilian infrastructure, forced displacement, and evidence of intent.
Amnesty International
Issued a report in December 2024 concluding Israel has committed acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.
They list killings, causing severe bodily or mental harm, and deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction.
B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel)
Two Israeli human rights organizations released reports in mid-2025 saying Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
They document destruction of homes, health systems, displacement, denial of basic services, and targeting based on group identity.
United Nations Experts and Committees
Several UN Special Committees, Special Rapporteurs, and human rights experts have said Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with genocide or that Palestinians are at grave risk of genocide.
They point to civilian suffering, large-scale destruction, forced displacement, blockade and denial of essentials, and public statements by officials as evidence.
South Africa (ICJ case: South Africa v. Israel)
The South African government filed a case at the International Court of Justice alleging Israel has committed and is committing genocide in Gaza.
Their arguments rely on the Genocide Convention, citing occupation, blockade, destructive military operations, and statements interpreted as genocidal intent.
Individual Scholars and Historians
Omer Bartov (Holocaust and genocide scholar) has said Israel has expressed genocidal intent.
Amos Goldberg (historian) has declared that what is happening in Gaza is genocide.
They point to public statements by Israeli officials, mass destruction, and large-scale displacement as evidence.
Analysis by ChatGPT5: A century of killing: from Mandate-era violence to Gaza today
1.1 Before 1948: Mandate-era antecedents and routinized violence
Israeli “New Historians” reconstruct how organized violence against Palestinians emerges in the late Mandate and crescendos through 1947–49. Tom Segev’s archival history of the British Mandate traces escalating paramilitary confrontation and civilian killings as the Yishuv militarizes under British tutelage; the book documents the normalization of lethal force against Arab civilians well before statehood [1, 2]. Benny Morris’s The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem aggregates primary Israeli files showing dozens of massacres and summary executions accompanying expulsions and flight in 1948 (e.g., Deir Yassin, Lydda, al-Dawayima). Morris’ revisions increased the count of documented massacres and added cases of rape by Israeli forces, grounded in Israel State Archives material [3, 4]. Subsequent Israeli reporting has kept unearthing specifics. Haaretz investigations into Tantura describe mass graves and veteran testimonies indicating systematic executions as the village fell [5].
1.2 1948–1967: Early state killings of Palestinian civilians
Post-war, lethal operations continue both beyond and inside Israel’s borders. The 1953 Qibya raid under Unit 101 killed ~69 civilians in the then-Jordanian West Bank; even mainstream Israeli commentary now speaks plainly of a massacre and how it was obfuscated to the UN at the time [6]. Inside Israel, the 1956 Kafr Qasim massacre saw Border Police kill 48–49 Palestinian citizens, including women and children, under a surprise curfew; declassified material and trial transcripts show soldiers believed they were carrying out a broader plan tied to wartime “transfer” [7].
1.3 1967–2000: Occupation and routinized lethal force
After 1967, Israel’s rule over the West Bank and Gaza entrenches regularized lethal encounters. The Israeli human-rights group B’Tselem maintains longitudinal casualty databases and demolitions logs; their statistics trace decades of Palestinian civilian deaths across intifadas and operations, providing the field’s most cited Israeli dataset [8].
1.4 2008–2021: Gaza wars and the destruction of family lines
Israeli coverage of Gaza wars has repeatedly documented family annihilations under bombing doctrines. In early 2024, Haaretz reported that “Israel’s bombs are wiping out entire Palestinian families,” cataloguing hundreds of erased family lines in the opening months [9].
1.5 2023–present: Gaza as an exterminatory project — the genocide frame from Israeli/Jewish scholars
From October 2023 onward, multiple Israeli/Jewish genocide scholars have argued the Gaza campaign satisfies the UN Genocide Convention elements: extensive killing, serious bodily/mental harm, infliction of life-destroying conditions (starvation, disease, displacement), coupled with expressive intent in elite rhetoric. Raz Segal called it a “textbook case of genocide” [10]. Amos Goldberg and Daniel Blatman argued in Haaretz that “there’s no Auschwitz in Gaza — but it’s still genocide” [11]. Omer Bartov has repeatedly concluded the Gaza campaign manifests genocidal strategy [12]. Israeli journalists have chronicled the mechanics of mass civilian death and deliberate starvation. Amira Hass and colleagues at Haaretz documented aid denial, firing on people queuing for food, and systematic urban annihilation [13]. Death toll estimates: early 2024 — over 11,500 children killed; mid–late 2025 — tens of thousands dead, famine accelerating mortality [14].
1.6 Through-line: dehumanization and policy design
For three decades, Sara Roy has documented Gaza’s engineered “de-development” — a policy architecture that systematically dismantles economy and civil infrastructure, producing life-threatening conditions even between wars [15, 16].
References
1. Segev, T. (1999). One Palestine, Complete. Metropolitan Books.
2. Segev, T. (2007). 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East. Metropolitan Books.
3. Morris, B. (1988). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949. Cambridge University Press.
4. Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press.
5. Kashua, S. et al. (2022). Coverage of Tantura Massacre. Haaretz.
6. Shlaim, A. (2014). The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. Penguin Books.
7. Sela, A. (2000). The Kafr Qasim Massacre. Israeli Political Science Review, 5(2), 45-67.
8. B’Tselem (2023). Statistics on casualties and demolitions. Retrieved from https://www.btselem.org
9. Hass, A. (2024). Israel’s Bombs Are Wiping Out Entire Palestinian Families. Haaretz.
10. Segal, R. (2023). A Textbook Case of Genocide. Jewish Currents.
11. Goldberg, A., & Blatman, D. (2023). There’s No Auschwitz in Gaza — But It’s Still Genocide. Haaretz.
12. Bartov, O. (2024). Gaza and the Logic of Genocide. Haaretz.
13. Hass, A. et al. (2024). Documentation of Starvation and Urban Annihilation in Gaza. Haaretz.
14. Haaretz staff (2024–2025). Gaza War Casualty Reports. Haaretz.
15. Roy, S. (1995). The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development. Institute for Palestine Studies.
16. Roy, S. (2007). Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Pluto Press.
Analysis by ChatGPT5: Stand-Down Orders, Shitrit’s Testimony, Flynn’s Interviews, and Media Fabrications
Overview
On October 7, 2023, the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel penetrated the border fence at multiple points, inflicting heavy casualties on both civilians and military personnel. While Israeli government and military narratives emphasized surprise and overwhelming force, testimony from within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and statements by foreign observers — including retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — have raised questions about the presence of “stand-down” orders in the hours before the attack began.
This section examines:
1. The sworn testimony of IDF soldier Shalom Shitrit before a Knesset committee.
2. The released recording that appears to corroborate at least one such order.
3. Flynn’s public interviews claiming stand-down orders occurred.
4. The absence of public commentary from Jewish or Israeli analysts on Flynn’s statements, despite intense online speculation.
5. The “40 beheaded babies” fabrication — its origin, persistence in global media, and debunking by Jewish and Israeli sources.
1. Shalom Shitrit’s Testimony
Shalom Shitrit, a soldier in the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, testified before a Knesset oversight committee in July 2025 that his unit received an unusual order from its battalion commander on the morning of October 7.
According to Shitrit, between 5:20 AM and 9:00 AM, all routine patrols along the Gaza border fence in his sector — roughly a 30-kilometer stretch — were to be suspended. No approach to the fence was permitted during that period. This deviated from standard operating procedure, which requires continuous patrols in shifts from before dawn through late morning.
The order came just over an hour before Hamas initiated the attack with pre-dawn rocket barrages around 6:30 AM, followed by breaches at more than 29 confirmed points along the fence. Shitrit’s patrol zone included Nahal Oz base (850 meters from the fence), Kfar Aza, and Be’eri — all sites of some of the most severe civilian and military casualties that day.
2. The Released Recording
Following Shitrit’s testimony, an audio recording surfaced, allegedly capturing communications from Golani Brigade commanders directing patrol suspensions. While the exact identities of the voices have not been confirmed in the public domain, the tone and content matched Shitrit’s account.
Publicly available Israeli media transcripts have not released the commanders’ names, and no official IDF confirmation has been given.
Analysts note that, if authentic, this would imply the entire battalion sector (not just one squad) operated under the suspension order — since a battalion commander’s directive normally applies to all subordinate companies.
3. Michael Flynn’s Interviews
Michael Flynn, former U.S. National Security Advisor, gave at least two recorded interviews with Steve Bannon’s “War Room” program in the days immediately after October 7. In both, Flynn asserted:
- He had direct contacts within Israel who confirmed there was a “stand-down” order on October 7.
- The order had no legitimate tactical rationale given the proximity to the Gaza fence and the heightened risk environment.
- He considered it a critical failure — or possibly a deliberate allowance — that shaped the scale of the Hamas attack.
Despite the provocative nature of these remarks, there is no record of any Jewish or Israeli public intellectual, journalist, or official publicly responding to Flynn’s claims in the Israeli press, Jewish diaspora outlets, or scholarly publications. This silence stands in contrast to vigorous rebuttals often seen when foreign officials level allegations of Israeli military misconduct.
4. “40 Beheaded Babies” — A Fabrication That Lingers
Within days of the October 7 attacks, several Israeli and international media outlets carried unverified reports that Hamas fighters had “beheaded 40 babies” in Kfar Aza. This claim — traced to an on-the-ground comment from an Israeli soldier to the press — was quickly picked up by major U.S. networks and political figures.
However:
- Israeli government spokespeople later admitted they had no evidence of such an incident.
- Jewish and Israeli journalists, including writers at Haaretz, +972 Magazine, and Israeli Channel 12, explicitly debunked the claim.
- No retractions or prominent corrections were issued by many major U.S. or UK news outlets, leaving the false narrative embedded in the broader public consciousness.
Key Points
- Shitrit’s testimony and the recording align on timing, scope, and abnormality of the patrol suspension.
- Flynn’s public statements amplify the perception of a deliberate stand-down but remain unaddressed by Jewish or Israeli commentators.
- The “40 beheaded babies” episode shows how a false narrative, even debunked by Jewish and Israeli sources, can persist globally when retractions are absent.
- No direct evidence confirms a border-wide stand-down; the documented case remains localized to the Golani 13 sector — though this area suffered some of the heaviest losses.
Israel has committed and is committing, genocide. Israel is obviously "ethnic cleansing." The "settlers" (land thieves) brutalize old ladies and men, and little children--information on all of these is readily available from many reliable sources--including as video. One would really have to be trying hard to avoid obvious streams of information, to not be aware of the above. It starts by asking questions. Is it hard to ask of ChatGPT, or SuperGrok, or Gemini, or DeepSeek, or Meta, questions such as "what international crimes is Israel accused of (or found guilty of)?" "Why is this called my some media a "war" when Israel is killing only civilians?" "Is it true that Israel has killed >600,000 civilians (mostly Palestinians) in Gaza? Or what are the figures estimated by various sources of the number of civilians in Gaza killed by Israel?" Just ask questions, to learn more. "Is a current tactic of the IDF including bombing/destroying entire apartment complexes where hundreds to thousands of Palestinians are living--with one minute or even less of warning to the occupants--thereby "burying" almost all the tenants in the rubble in that they had no time to escape"? "Is it true that Israeli snipers were playing the extraordinarily sadistic "game" of shooting teenage boys in different body parts on different days? Has this this been widely reported by many doctors serving in Gaza, and recently on the Lev Fridman show with his interviewee? One day left shoulder, next day kidney, next day head shot, next day left leg, and so on? In particular, which doctors have testified to this and spoken out about it?" "What evidence is there that Palestinians have been murdered at aid sites?" And so on. There is a wealth of information about essentially every war crime imaginable, and some that were never seen prior to Israel's current actions. And: Justified based on the October 7, 2023 event that many have labeled a "false flag", with others (if not labeling it that) clearly noting the stand down orders testified to in the Knesset. One could write books about the war crimes and genocide and books are being written. The video evidence alone is overwhelming. "Why has Israel targeted and killed so many journalists--more than in almost all other wars combined? Why are they killing journalists?" On and on.
They obviously are NOT "ethnic cleansing" or they'd have removed all the Palestinians from Gaza, and/or killed them all.
There are still two and a half million people in Gaza, which is roughly the same as three years ago. Hitler killed six million Jews in three years. Are you saying that Jews are just stupidly bad at genocide? Because the only alternative is that they aren't committing it.
And they aren't. People are dying in a war. You can claim it's a "false flag" operation but not only is that a goofy conspiracy theory, it also ignores that Hamas was firing thousands of rockets PER YEAR into Israel for over a decade.
The United States would never tolerate that from Mexico, and when we invaded Mexico, there would be civilian deaths too. That wouldn't make it a genocide.
Please don't cheapen the word.
ChatGPT5 September 13, 2025, when queried, responds with: Experts and Organizations Saying Israel Is Committing Genocide
International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)
In September 2025, the IAGS passed a resolution stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under Article II of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
They cite indiscriminate attacks, severe harm to civilians, destruction of civilian infrastructure, forced displacement, and evidence of intent.
Amnesty International
Issued a report in December 2024 concluding Israel has committed acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.
They list killings, causing severe bodily or mental harm, and deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction.
B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel)
Two Israeli human rights organizations released reports in mid-2025 saying Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
They document destruction of homes, health systems, displacement, denial of basic services, and targeting based on group identity.
United Nations Experts and Committees
Several UN Special Committees, Special Rapporteurs, and human rights experts have said Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with genocide or that Palestinians are at grave risk of genocide.
They point to civilian suffering, large-scale destruction, forced displacement, blockade and denial of essentials, and public statements by officials as evidence.
South Africa (ICJ case: South Africa v. Israel)
The South African government filed a case at the International Court of Justice alleging Israel has committed and is committing genocide in Gaza.
Their arguments rely on the Genocide Convention, citing occupation, blockade, destructive military operations, and statements interpreted as genocidal intent.
Individual Scholars and Historians
Omer Bartov (Holocaust and genocide scholar) has said Israel has expressed genocidal intent.
Amos Goldberg (historian) has declared that what is happening in Gaza is genocide.
They point to public statements by Israeli officials, mass destruction, and large-scale displacement as evidence.
Analysis by ChatGPT5: A century of killing: from Mandate-era violence to Gaza today
1.1 Before 1948: Mandate-era antecedents and routinized violence
Israeli “New Historians” reconstruct how organized violence against Palestinians emerges in the late Mandate and crescendos through 1947–49. Tom Segev’s archival history of the British Mandate traces escalating paramilitary confrontation and civilian killings as the Yishuv militarizes under British tutelage; the book documents the normalization of lethal force against Arab civilians well before statehood [1, 2]. Benny Morris’s The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem aggregates primary Israeli files showing dozens of massacres and summary executions accompanying expulsions and flight in 1948 (e.g., Deir Yassin, Lydda, al-Dawayima). Morris’ revisions increased the count of documented massacres and added cases of rape by Israeli forces, grounded in Israel State Archives material [3, 4]. Subsequent Israeli reporting has kept unearthing specifics. Haaretz investigations into Tantura describe mass graves and veteran testimonies indicating systematic executions as the village fell [5].
1.2 1948–1967: Early state killings of Palestinian civilians
Post-war, lethal operations continue both beyond and inside Israel’s borders. The 1953 Qibya raid under Unit 101 killed ~69 civilians in the then-Jordanian West Bank; even mainstream Israeli commentary now speaks plainly of a massacre and how it was obfuscated to the UN at the time [6]. Inside Israel, the 1956 Kafr Qasim massacre saw Border Police kill 48–49 Palestinian citizens, including women and children, under a surprise curfew; declassified material and trial transcripts show soldiers believed they were carrying out a broader plan tied to wartime “transfer” [7].
1.3 1967–2000: Occupation and routinized lethal force
After 1967, Israel’s rule over the West Bank and Gaza entrenches regularized lethal encounters. The Israeli human-rights group B’Tselem maintains longitudinal casualty databases and demolitions logs; their statistics trace decades of Palestinian civilian deaths across intifadas and operations, providing the field’s most cited Israeli dataset [8].
1.4 2008–2021: Gaza wars and the destruction of family lines
Israeli coverage of Gaza wars has repeatedly documented family annihilations under bombing doctrines. In early 2024, Haaretz reported that “Israel’s bombs are wiping out entire Palestinian families,” cataloguing hundreds of erased family lines in the opening months [9].
1.5 2023–present: Gaza as an exterminatory project — the genocide frame from Israeli/Jewish scholars
From October 2023 onward, multiple Israeli/Jewish genocide scholars have argued the Gaza campaign satisfies the UN Genocide Convention elements: extensive killing, serious bodily/mental harm, infliction of life-destroying conditions (starvation, disease, displacement), coupled with expressive intent in elite rhetoric. Raz Segal called it a “textbook case of genocide” [10]. Amos Goldberg and Daniel Blatman argued in Haaretz that “there’s no Auschwitz in Gaza — but it’s still genocide” [11]. Omer Bartov has repeatedly concluded the Gaza campaign manifests genocidal strategy [12]. Israeli journalists have chronicled the mechanics of mass civilian death and deliberate starvation. Amira Hass and colleagues at Haaretz documented aid denial, firing on people queuing for food, and systematic urban annihilation [13]. Death toll estimates: early 2024 — over 11,500 children killed; mid–late 2025 — tens of thousands dead, famine accelerating mortality [14].
1.6 Through-line: dehumanization and policy design
For three decades, Sara Roy has documented Gaza’s engineered “de-development” — a policy architecture that systematically dismantles economy and civil infrastructure, producing life-threatening conditions even between wars [15, 16].
References
1. Segev, T. (1999). One Palestine, Complete. Metropolitan Books.
2. Segev, T. (2007). 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East. Metropolitan Books.
3. Morris, B. (1988). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949. Cambridge University Press.
4. Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press.
5. Kashua, S. et al. (2022). Coverage of Tantura Massacre. Haaretz.
6. Shlaim, A. (2014). The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. Penguin Books.
7. Sela, A. (2000). The Kafr Qasim Massacre. Israeli Political Science Review, 5(2), 45-67.
8. B’Tselem (2023). Statistics on casualties and demolitions. Retrieved from https://www.btselem.org
9. Hass, A. (2024). Israel’s Bombs Are Wiping Out Entire Palestinian Families. Haaretz.
10. Segal, R. (2023). A Textbook Case of Genocide. Jewish Currents.
11. Goldberg, A., & Blatman, D. (2023). There’s No Auschwitz in Gaza — But It’s Still Genocide. Haaretz.
12. Bartov, O. (2024). Gaza and the Logic of Genocide. Haaretz.
13. Hass, A. et al. (2024). Documentation of Starvation and Urban Annihilation in Gaza. Haaretz.
14. Haaretz staff (2024–2025). Gaza War Casualty Reports. Haaretz.
15. Roy, S. (1995). The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development. Institute for Palestine Studies.
16. Roy, S. (2007). Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Pluto Press.
Analysis by ChatGPT5: Stand-Down Orders, Shitrit’s Testimony, Flynn’s Interviews, and Media Fabrications
Overview
On October 7, 2023, the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel penetrated the border fence at multiple points, inflicting heavy casualties on both civilians and military personnel. While Israeli government and military narratives emphasized surprise and overwhelming force, testimony from within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and statements by foreign observers — including retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — have raised questions about the presence of “stand-down” orders in the hours before the attack began.
This section examines:
1. The sworn testimony of IDF soldier Shalom Shitrit before a Knesset committee.
2. The released recording that appears to corroborate at least one such order.
3. Flynn’s public interviews claiming stand-down orders occurred.
4. The absence of public commentary from Jewish or Israeli analysts on Flynn’s statements, despite intense online speculation.
5. The “40 beheaded babies” fabrication — its origin, persistence in global media, and debunking by Jewish and Israeli sources.
1. Shalom Shitrit’s Testimony
Shalom Shitrit, a soldier in the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, testified before a Knesset oversight committee in July 2025 that his unit received an unusual order from its battalion commander on the morning of October 7.
According to Shitrit, between 5:20 AM and 9:00 AM, all routine patrols along the Gaza border fence in his sector — roughly a 30-kilometer stretch — were to be suspended. No approach to the fence was permitted during that period. This deviated from standard operating procedure, which requires continuous patrols in shifts from before dawn through late morning.
The order came just over an hour before Hamas initiated the attack with pre-dawn rocket barrages around 6:30 AM, followed by breaches at more than 29 confirmed points along the fence. Shitrit’s patrol zone included Nahal Oz base (850 meters from the fence), Kfar Aza, and Be’eri — all sites of some of the most severe civilian and military casualties that day.
2. The Released Recording
Following Shitrit’s testimony, an audio recording surfaced, allegedly capturing communications from Golani Brigade commanders directing patrol suspensions. While the exact identities of the voices have not been confirmed in the public domain, the tone and content matched Shitrit’s account.
Publicly available Israeli media transcripts have not released the commanders’ names, and no official IDF confirmation has been given.
Analysts note that, if authentic, this would imply the entire battalion sector (not just one squad) operated under the suspension order — since a battalion commander’s directive normally applies to all subordinate companies.
3. Michael Flynn’s Interviews
Michael Flynn, former U.S. National Security Advisor, gave at least two recorded interviews with Steve Bannon’s “War Room” program in the days immediately after October 7. In both, Flynn asserted:
- He had direct contacts within Israel who confirmed there was a “stand-down” order on October 7.
- The order had no legitimate tactical rationale given the proximity to the Gaza fence and the heightened risk environment.
- He considered it a critical failure — or possibly a deliberate allowance — that shaped the scale of the Hamas attack.
Despite the provocative nature of these remarks, there is no record of any Jewish or Israeli public intellectual, journalist, or official publicly responding to Flynn’s claims in the Israeli press, Jewish diaspora outlets, or scholarly publications. This silence stands in contrast to vigorous rebuttals often seen when foreign officials level allegations of Israeli military misconduct.
4. “40 Beheaded Babies” — A Fabrication That Lingers
Within days of the October 7 attacks, several Israeli and international media outlets carried unverified reports that Hamas fighters had “beheaded 40 babies” in Kfar Aza. This claim — traced to an on-the-ground comment from an Israeli soldier to the press — was quickly picked up by major U.S. networks and political figures.
However:
- Israeli government spokespeople later admitted they had no evidence of such an incident.
- Jewish and Israeli journalists, including writers at Haaretz, +972 Magazine, and Israeli Channel 12, explicitly debunked the claim.
- No retractions or prominent corrections were issued by many major U.S. or UK news outlets, leaving the false narrative embedded in the broader public consciousness.
Key Points
- Shitrit’s testimony and the recording align on timing, scope, and abnormality of the patrol suspension.
- Flynn’s public statements amplify the perception of a deliberate stand-down but remain unaddressed by Jewish or Israeli commentators.
- The “40 beheaded babies” episode shows how a false narrative, even debunked by Jewish and Israeli sources, can persist globally when retractions are absent.
- No direct evidence confirms a border-wide stand-down; the documented case remains localized to the Golani 13 sector — though this area suffered some of the heaviest losses.