Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, March 4, 2024

English Statement by IDF Spokesperson RDML Daniel Hagari:

The information that I am about to share is distressing and some people may find it triggering, but we have an obligation to share the truth about what happened on October 7th, 150 days ago. We have a duty to expose the truth about those who took part in this brutal massacre.

Today, we are declassifying a call that we intercepted, made by Yusef Zidan Salimam Al-Khuairl, a Hamas terrorist who took part in the massacre of October 7th.

But he is not just a Hamas terrorist, he is also an UNRWA employee working as a teacher in a UN elementary school in Gaza.

The terrorist is heard speaking on the phone roughly 7 hours after Hamas began invading Israel:
Murdering; mutilating; massacring; kidnapping; raping; and burning entire families alive.

On the call, you can hear him bragging about the Sabaya is a female captive that he got his hands on.

He’s talking about one of our girls. He is talking about one of the women. The term “SABAYA” used by this UNRWA worker is an Arabic term, meaning ‘female captive’ with a possession, a possession of a captor.

"Sabaya" is exactly the same word used by ISIS to describe the Yazidi women they captured,
and did horrific things to.

I want you to listen to the conversation, I want you to hear the tone… how they brag… how they laugh…
how they talk about women…
How they call her a 
“noble horse”…

Listen.

*Recording Plays*

I'm a father of two girls. When I hear this conversation, I tremble. It's horrific.

150 days ago, on October 7th, Hamas terrorists abducted and violated young women–young girls. from the testimonies of hostages who have returned from captivity, we know that the women and girls in Hamas captivity are in danger. They are in danger.

Our mission to rescue our hostages from the hands of these ruthless terrorists is urgent.
Hamas and ISIS follow the same sick ideology and employ the same barbaric methods.

Yusef Zidan Salimam Al-Khuajri was just one of several UN workers who took part in the Hamas massacre 
of October 7th.

This evening, we are publishing the names of additional terrorists employed by UNRWA who participated in the October 7th massacre.

Bakr Mahmoud 'Abdallah Darwish, A Hamas terrorist and a school counselor at an UNRWA school.

Ghassan Nabil Mohammad Sh'hadda El Jabari: a Hamas terrorist who works in the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Mamdouh Hussein Ahmad al-Qak: A Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist and a teacher at an UNRWA elementary school.

Over 450 UNRWA employees are military operatives in terror groups in Gaza. Over 450. This is no mere coincidence, this is systematic. There is no claiming: 
“we didn't know.”

Hamas exploits humanitarian organizations and uses them to commit crimes against humanity. These terrorists are employed by UNRWA, they receive salaries that are paid for by the international community.
Donations that were meant for humanitarian purposes, meant to benefit the people of Gaza– are funding mass murderers and rapists.

We sent the information that I am sharing now, as well as further intelligence, to our international partners—including the U.N.

The weaponization of sexual violence
is a global problem. Hamas’ weaponization of rape and sexual violence should be met with global outrage. It demands a global response.

Hamas is holding 134 Israelis hostage, including our women, our girls.

Bringing all our hostages home isn’t just a mission. It's a moral obligation. One that IDF soldiers are risking their lives every day to fulfill.

While we fulfill this sacred mission We will continue our efforts to distinguish between Hamas and the civilians in Gaza who are also suffering as a result of this war that  Hamas started.

Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza. We acknowledge their suffering.

On Sunday,
the number of aid trucks that entered from Israel was the highest
since the start of the war. Israel puts no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid
that can enter Gaza. We will continue fulfilling our mission of dismantling Hamas and rescuing our hostages while expanding our efforts to alleviate the suffering
of the people of Gaza. 

Thank you.

Full Press Briefing:

Good evening, tonight we published recordings of conversations between Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7th massacre.

The content of the recordings is not simple, but we chose to bring them anyway because it is our duty - to remind and not forget. The massacre that Hamas carried out on the seventh of October is the most documented massacre in history. Hamas terrorists documented their brutality. As time passes, more and more evidence is revealed and new intelligence is discovered every day.

In one of the recordings we uncovered, you hear how the terrorists entered the territory of Israel, participated in the massacres and terrorism and captured "Sabaya". "Sabaya" is a term in Islam that describes women and children as the property of a Muslim man. The interpretation also has the context of a slave. The most severe use of the term "Sabaya" is by ISIS terrorists, who referred that way to the Yazidi women they captured. Many Muslim countries in the world have condemned ISIS for its cruelty towards women.

Later in the conversation, the terrorist on the other end of the phone calls a woman by the nickname "noble horse". On the seventh of October, Hamas terrorists treated young women, teenagers, cruelly and brutally, kidnapped them from their homes and treated them like animals.

Listen to the tone of the conversation, to the way the terrorists express themselves. It is difficult to hear, the rule over women, evilness and laughter. The way in which they refer to the hostages as "Sabaya" or a "noble horse", keeps us awake at night, and calls for a great outrage from the world, like the same outrage that the world felt the need to shout for the Yazidi women.

From the testimonies of hostages who returned from Gaza, we learn about the danger, the dangers to which the hostages are exposed, especially the women and children. The terrorist who speaks in the recording is a Hamas operative in the central camps who works as a teacher in an UNRWA elementary school. But he is not the only one - the findings show that there are a significant number of educators, administrators and teachers in UNRWA schools who are also terrorists.

Today we published the names of three more: a Hamas terrorist who is an UNRWA school counselor, a Hamas terrorist who works in a UNRWA health center and an Islamic Jihad terrorist who is also a UNRWA elementary school teacher.

And we will continue to publish, also in the coming days, Hamas terrorists and other terrorist operatives who work simultaneously at UNRWA, including in senior positions. Hamas has exploited UNRWA for years.

Hamas knew that international organizations wanted to help Gaza recover, so they would transfer a lot of money and equipment for construction and rehabilitation. Hamas has exploited international organizations and donation funds for terrorist purposes, and there are no global oversight mechanisms that prevent this. Hamas takes positions in the UNRWA organization, and places its people in them, at the same time as they act as terrorist operatives - and in this way it wants to control and influence these organizations and their money.

According to the intelligence information available to us, more than 450 operatives of the military wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are employed as UNRWA employees. We pass on these intelligence findings, and many others, to our partners around the world, including the United Nations.

Hamas launched a merciless attack on the 7th of October against the State of Israel and Israeli society, and attacked the helpless indiscriminately.

150 days that Hamas is holding 134 hostages, away from their families, without medical care and basic conditions. We are doing everything to bring them home, this is a supreme national mission.