October 7: Forensic analysis shows Hamas abuses, many false Israeli claims

Investigation draws up a list of those killed but also finds certain claims repeated by Israeli politicians untrue.

Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has carried out a forensic analysis of the events of October 7, when Hamas fighters launched an incursion into Israel that has transformed the politics of the Middle East.

October 7 reveals widespread human rights abuses by Hamas fighters and others who followed them through the fence from the Gaza Strip and draws up a comprehensive list of those killed.

But the investigation by the I-Unit, which examined hours of footage from CCTV, dashcams, personal phones and headcams of killed Hamas fighters, has also found that many of the stories that came out in the days following the attack were false.

These include claims of atrocities such as the mass killing and beheading of babies as well as allegations of widespread and systematic rape – stories that were used repeatedly by politicians in Israel and the West to justify the ferocity of the subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has so far killed nearly 32,000 people.

After a thorough analysis of all available data, the I-Unit concluded that claims by the Israeli army that it found eight burned babies at a house in Kibbutz Be’eri were untrue. The analysis found that there were no babies in the house, and the 12 people inside were almost certainly killed by Israeli forces when they stormed the building.