Hamas terrorists who raided southern Israel were given explicit orders to pillage, kill, and take hostages, including seizing the elderly, women, and children, an interrogation of captured gunmen revealed.

A joint announcement by the Israel Securities Authority and the Israel Police said Hamas terrorists from the Nukhba Unit who took an active part in the massacre on 7 October were questioned.

The terrorists made statements indicating the intent of the terror leaders and the marauders:

• "Whoever kidnaps a hostage and brings them to Gaza gets a stipend of $10,000 and an apartment;"

• "The instructions were to kidnap elderly women and children;"

• "Cleanse the houses, and kidnap as many prisoners as possible;"

• "Her dog came out, I shot him;"

• "We took a 15-year-old girl, took a selfie with her;"

• "Her body was lying on the floor, I shot her. The commander yelled at me, said I was wasting bullets on a corpse," and

• "We finished, then we burned 2 houses."

In the recordings of the interrogation, the main points that came up repeatedly were that the senior commanders of the military wing of Hamas, of company commander rank and above, stayed behind, protecting themselves in safe houses, while they sent their people to fight, die or be arrested in Israel.

In the ISA investigations, terrorists provided detailed information on the morning of the raid and the massacre, including information used to attack targets in the Gaza Strip.

In the joint statement, the security forces of Israel ensured the settling of all accounts with terrorists who participated in "the massacre on 7/10."

120 OFWs going home

Meanwhile, 120 Filipinos working in Israel have requested the government's help to return to the Philippines.

Department of Migrant Workers officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency is processing the repatriation requests.

"When I say process, we are calling them twice or thrice to make sure that they really want to go home. Second, we are ensuring that they've finished their contracts and that they're really scheduled to go home," Cacdac said.

"As for the others, we make sure that their separation from their employers was okay and that there was no job abandonment," he added.

Jing Villamente