Claims of Genocide Collide With the Record of October 7
Since the October 7, 2023 massacre, a dominant narrative has taken hold in activist media and international forums: that Gazans were largely uninvolved in the attack, and that Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas constitutes a genocide against innocent civilians. That claim is now being actively promoted by Hamas itself. In December 2025, the terror organization released a propaganda document titled Our Narrative, portraying Palestinians as passive victims who “seek to reclaim their freedom and rights” and embody “the finest of humanity’s qualities.” The problem is that this narrative collapses under the weight of documented evidence, including Hamas’s own admissions, international investigations, polling dataata, and extensive video footage from October 7.
What Happened on October 7, According to Independent Investigations
On October 7, hundreds of Palestinian civilians crossed into Israel from Gaza through breaches in the security fence alongside Hamas terrorists. According to Amnesty International, civilians participated in killings, looting, destruction of property, abductions, and other serious abuses targeting Israeli civilians. A separate United Nations report reached the same conclusion, confirming that Gazan civilians took part in attacks and kidnappings during the massacre. This was not a closed operation carried out by a small militant cell. It was a mass event involving thousands of people, many of whom were not members of Hamas.
Public Celebration of Mass Murder Was Widespread
Video evidence from October 7 shows tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians cheering as Hamas fighters returned to Gaza. Footage broadcast by multiple international outlets shows crowds dancing, chanting prayers, and handing out sweets to children in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. One of the most widely circulated videos shows the unclothed body of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old Israeli-German woman, being paraded through Gaza’s streets while hundreds of civilians spit on, beat, and abuse her corpse. These scenes were not hidden or condemned locally. They were filmed openly, celebrated, and shared.
Civilians Were Involved After the Attacks as Well
Civilian involvement did not end on October 7. Investigations reported by Israeli and international media revealed that ordinary Gazans, including teachers and medical professionals, participated in holding Israeli hostages captive. Of the 251 hostages taken into Gaza, civilians played a role in guarding, hiding, and imprisoning them rather than assisting in their release. Separately, UN Watch documented hundreds of Gaza teachers promoting hatred and violence against Jews in schools. After October 7, many of these educators publicly glorified the massacre.
Hamas Admits the Attacks Had Broad Popular Support
Hamas’s own propaganda undercuts the claim of collective innocence. In Our Narrative, Hamas states plainly that the October 7 massacre “was met with unprecedented popular Palestinian support.” Independent reporting aligns with that admission. Polling and field reporting show that roughly 90 percent of Palestinians celebrated the slaughter of 1,200 Jews on October 7, with scenes of rooftop celebrations and candy being handed out to children. Man-on-the-street interviews conducted by international outlets captured Gazan civilians describing Israel’s retaliation as a “sacrifice worth paying” for the mass murder of Jews.
Support for Hamas Remains Strong
According to figures cited by Hamas itself, 72 percent of Palestinians supported the October 7 attack, and 69 percent continue to support Hamas. If elections were held today, Hamas claims 68 percent of Palestinians would vote for the group. This is not a new phenomenon. Palestinians overwhelmingly elected Hamas in 2006, despite the fact that its founding charter explicitly rejects peace negotiations and calls for jihad against Jews, a point documented in academic analyses from institutions such as Yale Law School. Even today, 77 percent of Palestinians oppose disarming Hamas to end the war, a position fundamentally incompatible with claims of being victims of genocide seeking immediate peace.
Why the Genocide Claim Fails Under Scrutiny
Genocide is a legal term that requires intent to destroy a people as such. A population that actively participates in mass murder, celebrates it publicly, supports the perpetrators afterward, and refuses to disarm the ruling terror organization to end a war does not meet that definition. As journalist Douglas Murray observed when discussing the footage from Gaza, the crowds abusing Shani Louk’s body were not Hamas fighters but “ordinary Gazans,” a reality that contradicts the image of a peaceful population desperate for coexistence. Commentator Charlie Kirk made a similar point, noting that Hamas terrorists were welcomed home as heroes and that the problem extends far beyond a single militant group.
The Bottom Line
The claim that Palestinians were merely uninvolved civilians and are now victims of an Israeli genocide is not supported by the factual record. Hamas’s own statements, polling data, independent investigations by international organizations, and extensive video documentation from October 7 all point to widespread civilian participation and sustained public support for Hamas and its war against Israel. A war that continues because a population refuses to abandon or disarm a genocidal terror organization is not genocide. It is a conflict sustained by choice, ideology, and open support for violence.
