US expresses shock at new images of Hamas atrocities: ‘Depravity, defies comprehension’

Warning this article contains graphic descriptions of death surrounding civilians, in particular children.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed revulsion at photographic evidence released Thursday showing the atrocities committed by Hamas against civilians in Israel, including young children and babies. 

“It’s hard to find the right words,” Blinken said of the images shared by the Israeli government, which he said “were new to me, and I think new to our team.”

“It’s beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine. Much less actually see, and God forbid experience. A baby and infant riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their hideaway rooms,” he said. 

“I could go on, but it’s simply depravity, in the worst imaginable way, it almost defies comprehension.”

The secretary was speaking shortly after the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted graphic images on X, formerly called Twitter, which gave visual support to some of the grisliest descriptions of atrocities committed by Hamas as it terrorized Israeli villages beginning Saturday morning. 

The Israeli government said the photos shared on X were taken from the community of Kfar Azza, in southern Israel. 

Israel has launched massive aerial strikes on Gaza in response to the Hamas assault, targeting what it says is infrastructure of the terrorist group and going after its leadership.

Hamas, recognized as a terrorist group by the United States, controls Gaza, a narrow strip of land bordering Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea that is home to more than 2 million people. 

Natanyahu said Thursday Hamas must be treated the same as ISIS, as Israel prepared for a possible ground invasion of Gaza.  

Israel has cut off supplies of electricity, fuel, food and water to Gaza, and the United Nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis. 

Blinken did not specifically address claims made by Israeli soldiers and officials that Hamas decapitated babies, but he described the group as carrying out “depravity and inhumanity … at babies, at small children, at young adults, at elderly people, at people with disabilities, the list goes on.”  

“And on a basic human level, how anyone cannot be revolted and cannot reject what they’ve seen, and what the world has seen, it’s beyond me,” he added. 

President Biden referenced seeing images Wednesday of the mutilated bodies of children. 

“I’ve been doing this a long time. I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children. I never thought I’d ever — anyway,” he said in remarks with Jewish leaders at the White House.

The White House has not explained what images Biden was referring to with those comments. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday that Biden’s point was to “underscore the depravity and the barbaric nature” of the attacks. 

Kirby grew defensive as reporters continued to press him about how officials verified the specific claims. 

“We take it very, very seriously, the need to be as factual and truthful as we can possibly be,” he said. “It’s obvious, sadly, it’s obvious what Hamas is proving willing to do to innocent Israel citizens. We’re not going to shy away from talking about the grotesque nature of what the terrorists have done.”

When a reporter brought up misinformation spread during previous wars like the war in Iraq, Kirby said “there’s no comparison whatsoever.” 

During a speech at the White House Tuesday, Biden described his horror at “stomach-turning reports of babies being killed.”

Israeli soldiers on the ground in Kfar Azza, a bedroom community about a mile from the Gaza Strip, have told reporters that the bodies of babies had been found with their heads cut off, a claim that has not been confirmed by media outlets.  

Those claims were repeated by Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Netanyahu, who told CNN that babies and toddlers were found in Kfar Azza with their “heads decapitated.” 

The Hill has reached out to Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli government for evidence of the claims. 

Senior members of Congress have also repeated the claims of beheadings. 

“It’s disgusting to me that 70 Hamas killers went into that village and slaughtered almost all of the residents there, including the babies at the day care center, some of those were beheaded,” Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told reporters Wednesday following a classified briefing on Israel presented by Biden officials.

McCaul’s office pointed to Israeli government claims in media reports when asked about where the chairman had received that information.

Yossi Zilberman, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said “Unfortunately, we stand behind our claims. Hamas is ISIS, it is not a slogan,” when asked by The Hill about the claims of atrocities in Kfar Azza. 

When asked specifically to confirm that babies were beheaded in Kfar Azza or any other communities, Zilberman shared graphic images, but they did not specifically show beheaded babies. 

In a voice note, he sought to convey that a focus on individual atrocities should not distract from the overall horror of the more than 1,000 people killed in Israel by Hamas in its assault.

“Regarding the beheading of babies, whether we have, right now, the photos or not, perhaps I will have the photos eventually, it is something quite minimal whether they were beheaded or not. Literally they burnt alive babies,” he said.

“There were families that were burnt alive. Things are quite obvious.”