I wish that it wasn't true: War correspondent stands by report of beheadings of Israeli babies

(Trigger warning: Some readers may find details of this report disturbing. Discretion is advised)

The international war correspondent who initially broke the story of Hamas' alleged beheading of Israeli children is standing by her reporting.

Despite doubts circulating on social media, i24News reporter Nicole Zedeck strongly defended her account and said, "I wish that it wasn't true."

She had reported that on Tuesday, at a kibbutz near the Gaza border, 40 infants and young children were brutally murdered, with some decapitated.

'Apocalyptic scene'

Appearing on "The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show," Zedeck recalled the gruesome scenes she witnessed while walking through a community near the Gaza border.

"I witnessed some of those scenes with my own eyes as we were walking through this community that may be a quarter of a mile from the Gaza border. The atrocities that were still left behind, children, cribs, baby cribs overturned on their side, splattered with blood... Horrible, horrible images," she said.

Calling the bloodshed witnessed by Israeli soldiers as an "apocalyptic scene," she said that there were no "words to describe what they've seen."

"Babies' heads cut off. That's what they encountered when they came there."

"So as horrible as it is, and I wish that it wasn't true. And I see how those images and those words are hard to comprehend because it's hard to comprehend how anyone could commit such heinous, heinous crimes. But that's exactly what happened in just one of the kibbutz communities," she added.

'Why aren’t you showing the babies?'

When a commentator's sound bite doubting her report was played, she slammed the nay-sayers and said, "You know, it's sickening, really, that people are asking, 'Where are the babies? Why aren’t you showing the babies?'".

She asked, "Is that something that anyone would want to see the first thing with their own eyes? Because after the graphic images that I saw of just children's beds covered in blood, I don't think I would be able to stomach those atrocities as well."

"I didn’t know anyone was capable of committing something like that, so that’s the only way I could report it by speaking to these soldiers, these commanders, who witnessed it first hand," said the war correspondent.

Zedeck also credited Israeli soldiers for undertaking the agonising task of transporting the children's lifeless bodies into ambulances.

Reports of 'beheaded' babies

A spokesperson for Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday confirmed reports of babies and toddlers found with their "heads decapitated," in southern Israel.

US President Joe Biden, too, claimed to have seen photos corroborating claims of decapitated bodies.

"I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children," he said. However, his claims were later clarified by the White House, who said that neither the president nor US officials had viewed images or independently confirmed such reports. They also said that the statement was based on claims made by a spokesperson for Israel's prime minister and media reports.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos, and videos.

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