Bodies Paraded Through Gaza Streets, Hamas Militants Flying Paragliders: Videos Show Horrors of Surprise Attack on Israel

Content Warning: Videos in this article contain graphic and violent images that may be disturbing to viewers.

Harrowing videos from the Hamas surprise attack on Israel show Palestinian militants flying motorized paragliders into cities, gunmen opening fire on Israeli civilians and bodies being paraded through the Gaza Strip in the most widespread invasion of Israel's territory in 50 years.

In addition to launching some 5,000 rockets and sending in ground forces to attack at least 22 locations, Hamas deployed paragliders, the Israeli army said Saturday.

Video posted to X — formerly Twitter — by Sky News correspondent Alistair Bunkall showed a paraglider soaring over an urban area, as booms echo in the background over the whir of the craft's engine.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Additional video footage purportedly released by Hamas appeared to show Hamas militants using similar paragliders.

Another disturbing video, posted by Kyiv Post correspondent Jason Jay Smart, showed bodies of victims lying on the ground at what appeared to be a bus stop. The New York Times reported the footage appeared to be taken in the town of Sderot.

Still more graphic footage purported to show a pickup truck heading through the streets of Gaza with at least one body in the bed, as throngs of onlookers cheered.

At least two men riding on the truck held rifles aloft, and at one point people gathered on the ground rushed the vehicle to hit the body, the video shows.

Similar footage circulated by many, including British politician Paul Golding, showed the body of a woman, stripped nearly naked, lying in the bed of a pickup truck.

One man on the truck held aloft a rifle, another a rocket launcher to cheers from a nearby crowd. At least one man from the crowd rushed forward to spit on the woman's body.

The body was later identified as a German-Israeli tattoo artist that was attending a trance music festival.

The Messenger could not immediately verify the videos independently.

In the wake of the surprise attack — launched on the Jewish sabbath and amid the holiday of Sukkot — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the nation "at war."

Later in the day, Netanyahu addressed the nation again, pledging victory over Hamas, adding that a "heavy price" will be paid for the lives lost in the surprise attack.

With Associated Press