'Mission was simply to kill': IDF releases video footage of interrogation of Hamas terrorist

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday released a video footage of Hamas terrorist who during an interrogation revealed that they were asked by their handlers not to kidnap but kill every person that came in their path. The terrorist, identified as Omar Abu Rasha, was part of a 7 October killer squad that crossed over into Israel and is now in the custody of Israeli intelligence.

Hamas terrorist confirms: Their mission is simply to kill. pic.twitter.com/sHfvhIOssl

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 1, 2023

In a video footage posted on X by IDF, Rasha can be heard saying, " The mission was simply to kill. We weren’t supposed to kidnap, just kill… kill every person we see and come back." Rasha, a member of Hamas’s Nukhba commando unit, described how he and another Hamas operative entered a house in the small farming community through a window. Once inside, they heard the cries of children coming from a safe room. “We shot at the safe room… We shot at the door until we didn’t hear noise anymore,” he recounted the atrocities he had committed. When asked whether the orders they received made a distinction between men, women and children, he replied, “They told us that all the settlers were soldiers, there were soldiers. Kill every single one you see.” On asking if they were told that women women were soldiers too, Rasha said, “Yes, they told me, soldiers. They told us to kill everyone.” When the interrogator asked what is the difference between Hamas and ISIS, Rasha said, “In the things the interrogator showed me, there is no difference, in the things I was shown. I saw videos worse than ISIS.” The arrested terrorist also said that if his father had know that he had killed people, he would have shot him dead. According to current estimates, around 3,000 Hamas terrorists entered the Western Negev from various points during the 7 October attack rather than the 1,500 to 2,000 initially estimated. They successfully overwhelmed several IDF bases and communities in the border area, reaching as far as Sderot and Ofakim, where they brutally massacred residents, including children and infants. Hamas abducted at least 245 people, including women, children and the elderly, to Gaza. To date, Hamas has released four of these hostages on its own accord. One hostage, an Israeli soldier taken captive during the 7 October attack, was rescued by IDF forces in a daring operation within the Gaza Strip. With inputs from agencies