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UK Parliament Group Publishes Major Report to Ensure Oct. 7 Massacre Is ‘Never Forgotten’
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
A group of British lawmakers has released a new and extensive report documenting the atrocities of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel to establish an irrefutable historical record of the massacre.
“The purpose of commissioning our report has been to chronicle the events of Oct. 7 with clarity and meticulous, fact-checking precision, to ensure it is never forgotten,” said Lord Andrew Roberts, a prominent historian who presided over the 318-page study.
“Holocaust denial took a few years to take root in pockets of society, but on Oct. 7, 2023, it took only hours for people to claim that the massacres in southern Israel had not taken place,” Roberts wrote in the report’s foreword. “Hamas and its allies, both in the Middle East and equally shamefully in the West, have sought to deny the atrocities, despite the ironic fact that much of the evidence for the massacres derives from film footage from cameras carried by the terrorists themselves.”
He continued, “The present report has been undertaken to counter such pernicious views, and to lay down incontrovertible proof — for now and for the years to come — that nearly 1,200 innocent people were indeed murdered by Hamas and its allies, and very often in scenes of sadistic barbarism not seen in world history since the Rape of Nanjing in 1937.”
The landmark report was produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for UK-Israel, an informal alliance of legislators from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, through a year of research and writing.
Among other findings, the report revealed that more British citizens (18) were killed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 onslaught than in any foreign terrorist attack since Al Qaeda struck the US on Sept. 11, 2001.
The report also provided details on the youngest death in the massacre, Naama Abu Rashed, who took a bullet while still in her mother’s womb and lived only 14 hours after being born.
In total, about 7,000 Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,182 people, wounded more than 4,000 others, and kidnapped 251 hostages — 210 living and 41 dead bodies at the time of their abduction — on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the report.
“It was the largest single massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust and the deadliest per capita terrorist attack, with just over 1 in every 10,000 Israelis killed and the third overall deadliest terrorist attack in the world to date,” the study concluded.
Other chapters in the study detailed Hamas’s planning, the weapons used, and the violence which occurred at each location, including gristly details of kidnapping, sexual violence, torture, and the desecration of corpses.
“Statements from eyewitnesses confirmed multiple incidents of rape and gang rape, and the rape of corpses of women. Eyewitness testimony also recounted the abuse of female victims who were passed between multiple attackers,” the report stated. “While victims fled missile fire and attack, militants chased and actively hunted victims. Victims were found naked from the waist down or totally naked, many with their hands tied behind their backs or tied to trees or poles around the [Nova] festival site. Others also sustained gunshot wounds to the back of the head.”
The study also described how the concept of the Oct. 7 attack began to form as early as 2014, with official preparation beginning in 2021.
The report identified the men most responsible for deciding on the attack as “Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Mohammed Sinwar (Yahya’s brother), Rawhi Mushtaha (a founding member of Hamas, also close to Sinwar), and Ayman Nofal, one of Deif’s close associates and the former head of Qassam Intelligence, the commander of the Brigades’ Central Brigade, and the head of the joint operations room for the resistance.” The report also profiled the groups which aided Hamas in the attacks, notably Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), and Al-Ahrar.
“As a gentile, I believe that it is vital to prevent the emergence of another, more modern version of Holocaust denial, namely Oct. 7 denial,” Roberts wrote in the report. “After the Holocaust, non-Jews like me owe the Jewish people nothing less. This can only be done by the kind of facts-based, evidential work in this report, which is dedicated to Emily Damari, the British hostage who was held in Gaza for 471 days, and daughter of the superbly brave Mandy Damari who our investigation teams have met in Israel and London.”
Historian Sir Niall Ferguson called the report “invaluable” and “harrowing.”
The All-Party Parliamentary Group “has performed a vital service by providing such an irrefutable record of the terrorists’ crimes,” he said in a statement. “Those who wish to understand the repulsive, pathological nature of antisemitism should read the report. Those who doubt the truly evil character of Hamas and PIJ must read it.”
The post UK Parliament Group Publishes Major Report to Ensure Oct. 7 Massacre Is ‘Never Forgotten’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syrian Minister Met Israel’s Dermer for Talks on Regional Stability, Sources Say
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a press conference in Moscow, Russia, July 31, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/Pool
Syria’s foreign minister met Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris on Tuesday to discuss security arrangements in southern Syria, two Syrian sources familiar with the meeting said.
Syrian and Israeli officials have been conducting US-mediated talks on de-escalating conflict in southern Syria. A previous round of these talks was held in Paris in late July but ended without a final accord.
Syrian state news agency SANA said Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with an Israeli delegation on Tuesday, but did not mention Dermer.
The agency said the discussions focused on de-escalation, non-interference in Syrian domestic affairs, and reactivating a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
There was no public comment by the Israeli government on the meeting.
A Syrian security source familiar with the meeting said Shibani and Dermer met for several hours, along with their respective teams.
The source said Shibani emphasized that Israel’s ongoing interventions in southern Syria, including incursions into the provinces of Quneitra and Deraa, risked further destabilizing the region.
The two sides agreed to continue talks focused on security coordination in southern Syria, the source said.
Another Syrian source familiar with the meeting said Israel had again raised establishing a “humanitarian corridor” to send aid directly into Sweida, a Druze-majority province in Syria’s south that saw days of sectarian violence last month.
Syria had previously rejected this idea but Israel raised it again, the source said.
Hundreds of people were reported killed in the clashes in Sweida province between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killings of Druze by government forces.
The clashes last month underlined the challenges interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in stabilizing Syria and maintaining centralized rule, despite warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
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Iran Says Moment for ‘Effective’ Nuclear Talks With US Not Reached
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran believes the moment for “effective” nuclear talks with the United States has not yet arrived, its top diplomat said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran would not completely cut off cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Tehran suspended negotiations with Washington, which were aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, after the US and Israel struck its nuclear sites in June.
Since then, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to access Iran‘s nuclear installations, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain essential.
“In my opinion, we have not yet reached the point of maturity where effective negotiations with the US can take place,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in remarks carried by state media.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned they will not hesitate to hit Iran again if it resumes enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to developing nuclear weapons.
Iran, which denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons, vowed a forceful response to the threats.
European powers have threatened to activate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Iran does not return to the negotiation table.
Araqchi said a meeting with Europeans could take place in the coming days, though “a basis for negotiations” has not been reached.
COOPERATION WITH IAEA
Last month, Iran‘s parliament passed legislation suspending cooperation with the IAEA and stipulating that any future inspections will need a green light from Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.
The legislation came after Tehran accused the IAEA of effectively paving the way for the Israel-US attacks with a report on May 31 that led the agency’s Board of Governors to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
Araqchi said in his remarks on Wednesday that Tehran was not cutting off all cooperation with the IAEA.
“The return of inspectors will be possible based on the parliament’s law, that is, with the approval of the Supreme National Security Council … So, it is not that we say we absolutely cut cooperation with the agency.”
Araqchi spoke two days after a foreign ministry spokesperson said Iran would continue talks with the IAEA and they would probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days.
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Australia’s Albanese Downplays Netanyahu’s Criticism as Ties Sour
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday played down Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu’s pointed condemnation of his decision to recognize a Palestinian state, saying he treated the leaders of other countries with respect.
“I don’t take these things personally; I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,” Albanese said during a media briefing.
Netanyahu’s personal attack on Albanese, describing him as a “weak politician,” has further strained relations between the two countries.
Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told national broadcaster ABC earlier on Wednesday that strength was “not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.”
“Strength is much better measured by exactly what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there’s a decision that we know Israel won’t like, he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Ties have soured since Australia decided last week to conditionally recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said in a post on X on Tuesday.
Albanese told reporters that he had informed Netanyahu about Australia’s decision to support a Palestinian state before his center-left government formally announced the plan.
“At that time, I gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a clear indication of my view and Australia’s view going forward but also a clear indication of the direction in which we were headed,” Albanese said.
“I gave him the opportunity to outline what political solution there was and gave him that opportunity.”
Israel this week revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority after Albanese‘s Labor government canceled the visa of an Israeli lawmaker over remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory.
Israel has been facing increasing international pressure over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip due to the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
The offensive began nearly two years ago after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.