An Israeli woman who survived the Hamas assault on settlements near the Gaza boundary on 7 October said that Israeli civilians were “undoubtedly” killed by their own security forces, adding that Hamas treated them with the “most humane way possible.”
It took place when Israeli troops opened fire indiscriminately on both the Palestinian combatants and their Israeli detainees during heavy gun engagements with Palestinian fighters in Kibbutz Be’eri.
“They eliminated everyone, including the hostages,” she told Israeli radio. “There was very, very heavy crossfire” and even tank shelling.
Yasmin Porat, a 44-year-old mother of three, claimed that the Palestinians had previously held her and other civilians for several hours and treated them “humanely.” She had gotten away from the nearby “Nova” rave.
On public broadcaster Kan, a recording of her interview from Haboker Hazeh (“This Morning”) with host Aryeh Golan has been making the rounds on social media.
Notably, the interview is not included in the online version of Haboker Hazeh for 15 October, the episode in which it apparently aired.
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Porat, a resident of Kabri, a community close to the Lebanese border, surely went through horrific things and witnessed numerous noncombatants being slaughtered. One of the victims is Tal Katz, her own partner.
Her story, however, contradicts Israel’s official narrative that the Palestinian combatants committed willful, intentional murder.
According to the Arabic translation, this woman, who was held captive by Palestinians, claims that they were dealt with in the “most humane way possible.”
She then states that all in the building were killed – fighters and captives – by Israeli forces.pic.twitter.com/6RXb1oyLOj
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) October 15, 2023
Although it no longer appears on the Kan website, there can be little doubt about the recording’s authenticity.
At least one Hebrew-language account posted part of the interview on Twitter, now officially called X, and accused Kan of functioning as “media in the service of Hamas.”
However, the Maariv story, published on 9 October, makes no specific mention of civilians being killed by Israeli forces.
Israeli soldiers “undoubtedly” shot Israeli civilians, survivor of kibbutz raid says in explosive interview
Israeli forces “eliminated everyone, including the hostages,” said Yasmin Porat, who had fled the nearby Nova rave
By @davidsheen & @AliAbunimah https://t.co/ruQX4tMVyr pic.twitter.com/dm3hiWQct5
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) October 16, 2023
And in a half-hour interview with Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday, Porat speaks of intense gunfire after Israeli forces arrived. Porat herself received a bullet in the thigh.
Not only does Porat tell Kan that Israelis were killed in the heavy counterattack by Israeli security forces, but she says she and other captive civilians were well treated by the Palestinian fighters.
Porat had been attending the “Nova” rave when the Hamas assault began with missiles and motorized paragliders. She and her partner Tal Katz escaped by car to nearby Kibbutz Be’eri where many of the events she describes in her media interviews took place.
Porat said that the wife of the dead man “told us that when they [the Hamas fighters] tried to enter, the guy tried to prevent them from entering and grabbed the door. They shot at the door and he was killed. They did not execute them.”
“They did not abuse us. They treated us very humanely,” Porat explained to a surprised Golan in the Kan radio interview.
“By that I mean they guard us,” she said. “They give us something to drink here and there. When they see we are nervous they calm us down. It was very frightening but no one treated us violently. Luckily nothing happened to me like what I heard in the media.”
You can listen to the interview it with English subtitles;
