John Spencer, the head of the U.S.-based Modern War Institute’s Urban Warfare Studies Department, posted a thread that soon turned viral on the X social media platform after watching the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit film of Hamas’ October 7 attack in a screening held in New York.
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“No one should want to see it, but the horrors of that day should never be forgotten,” Spencer wrote of the compilation of horrific footage in one of the posts. The thread includes shocking descriptions of the scenes depicted in the film and has garnered over 15 million views.
Spencer in the thread discussed the compilation of footage from body cameras and mobile phones seized from Hamas terrorists, as well as footage from closed-circuit security cameras in Israel, dashboard cameras, traffic cameras and other videos filmed before, during and after the events of the massacre.
“The video starts w/ Hamas terrorists riding in the back of trucks armed with AK-47s, RPGs & a few heavy machine guns, through a cut in the border wall,” Spencer explained. “The terrorists all screaming with joy, yelling over & over ‘Allahu Akbar!’ More trucks & motorcycles into Israel behind them.”
Throughout more than 20 posts he made in the thread, Spencer continued to describe what he saw in the video. Due to the sensitive subject matter and disturbing descriptions, Ynet has chosen not to detail them.
Toward the end of the thread, Spencer wrote: “I've seen my share of evil firsthand around the world in wars. I've seen heinous cruelty/dehumanization/mutilations. I've looked evil men in the eye. But I've never seen so many evil men (hundreds, thousands) show such joy in committing their acts.
“I understand now why this video must be selectively shown. You can't watch it without be [sic] in some way traumatized. I will never forget the children. Photo after photo of dead children. I hated having to watch the video. You can’t unsee the evil shown in it. No one should want to see it, but the horrors of that day should never be forgotten. Never rationalized away.”