House lawmakers on Tuesday attended a screening on Capitol Hill of the video assembled by the Israeli government which shows footage of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7.
The roughly 45-minute video includes graphic footage of the murders and atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel that day. Some of the footage was taken from the terrorists’ body cameras.
The screening was attended by lawmakers from both parties, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Greg Casar (D-TX), and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
According to Jewish Insider, lawmakers left the screening largely in grave silence, visibly shaken, several of them openly crying and comforting one another. One lawmaker, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), left in tears less than five minutes after entering.
Speaker Johnson later described the video as “harrowing” and pushed for the Senate to pass House legislation that coupled aid to Israel with cuts to the IRS.
“We had a large group of Republican and Democrat House members in the auditorium this morning, and you could have heard a pin drop — except for the sighs and the cries in the room because the video would make anyone with a soul cry,” Johnson said, according to The Hill.
“I agree with our friend, Prime Minister Netanyahu who said this is a battle between good versus evil, between light versus darkness, between civilization and barbarism. And we want to make absolutely clear where America stands in that fight, and we’ll continue to do that,” he added.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Fox News Digital he felt sickened after viewing the footage.
"I've seen decapitation and I've seen just beating, and beating on both dead and alive bodies," Issa said. "And quite frankly, I'm just sick to my stomach."
"I mean, the details. And you can hear it, but when you see it, it's like visiting Auschwitz or Birkenau, except it's still going on visually," he added.
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) told Jewish Insider she was “absolutely gutted.”
“Seeing the video footage of people celebrating the killing of Jews shows what we’re up against. And the fact that anybody would encourage or condone what Hamas did that day. It’s outrageous. It’s unbelievable seeing footage like that in the year 2023, in places we’ve all been,” she said.
Israel's Ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, said that Israel will continue to present the evidence of Hamas atrocities on October 7 in order to fight those who denied the attack took place and to show the international community that it cannot allow a cruel enemy that celebrates the massacre to repeat such actions.