Footage Of UN Staffer Kidnapping Body Of Israeli From Kibbutz Beeri Revealed

 

Meet Faisal Ali Mussalem Al Naami (in black), a U.N. relief worker who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.

He’s a social worker for @UNRWA by profession, who was captured on video that day removing the limp body of an Israeli man who had been shot at Kibbutz Beeri and driving… pic.twitter.com/rLGMVbjhso

— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) February 17, 2024

 For the first time, footage of a UNRWA staff member assisting in kidnapping the body of an Israeli from Kibbutz Beeri on October 7th has been published, proving Israel’s claim that members of the relief agency were actively involved in the atrocities committed by Hamas. The footage was published by the Washington Post.

The worker is captured on video removing the limp body of an Israeli man who had been shot at Kibbutz Beeri and driving off with it, according to information released Friday by Israeli authorities.

Israel told UNRWA last month that Faisal Ali Musalam Naami, 45, and 11 other UNRWA employees participated in or lent support to the Hamas assault on October 7th. Israeli authorities have said Hamas and allied gunmen killed 1,200 Israelis and took some 253 people hostage back in Gaza.

Israel claims to have evidence that some 30 other UNRWA employees were directly or indirectly involved in the Hamas attack.

The explosive allegations plunged the United Nations into crisis, leading the United States — the agency’s largest donor — and other nations to suspend funding for the relief agency and threatening to collapse its operations in Gaza and the wider Middle East.

The footage of the person Israel identified as Naami would be the first to surface publicly of any of the accused individuals participating in the attack. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant released a screenshot from the video at a news conference Friday as part of a dossier that publicly identified the accused relief workers. “UNRWA has lost legitimacy and can no longer function as a U.N. body,” Gallant said.

The surveillance footage which was located independently by The Washington Post, provides a fuller picture than the brief account in the public dossier, which says Naami “was involved in kidnapping a soldier from Beeri.” Israel has also accused Naami of being part of a Hamas brigade in his hometown of Nuseirat.

After he was named in confidential Israeli documents last month, The Post found images of Naami online and then used facial recognition software to find a likely match for him in footage from Oct. 7. The Post found other indications pointing to Naami as the individual in the footage. A Nissan Terrano II in the footage appears consistent with the same make and model of car that Naami is pictured in social media posts, including damaged trim on a rear window.

Before Friday’s news conference, a security official told The Post that Israeli authorities had identified the man in the footage as Naami. The footage is among the evidence Israel used as the basis for its allegation against Naami, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

In the footage from Oct. 7, the SUV drives toward an open gate to Kibbutz Beeri shortly after 9:30 a.m. and stops just inside the entrance, where three men who had been shot and dragged from a car are lying motionless on the ground.

Two men step out of the SUV. The driver, the man identified as Naami, is wearing glasses that match photos from his social media profiles. The other man is carrying a rifle. They open the rear door of the vehicle and spread out a blanket inside.

They approach one of the people who had been shot, a man on the street next to an overturned cooler. It is not clear if he is alive, but he does not react as the man identified as Naami takes him by the jacket, the other man lifts his legs and they carry him to the trunk and place him inside.

They then rummage through belongings that are strewn in the street, taking a cellphone and a hat before driving off less than three minutes after they arrived. It is not clear why or where the two men took the Israeli or why they left the other bodies.

At The Post’s request, two vehicle forensic experts analyzed Naami’s social media photos capturing partial views of a white vehicle. They identified the car as a 1993-1995 Nissan Terrano II, and said the vehicle seen in the Oct. 7 footage matched that same color, make and model and was from the same generation.

Marcus Mazza, a vehicle engineering expert for Robson Forensic, a firm that provides technical expertise in court cases, said the separated trim also “may indicate that these are the same vehicle.”

On Oct. 16, Naami, five of his children and one of his two wives were killed in a strike on their home in Nuseirat, according to an UNRWA colleague who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. His name, the name of a woman who appears to be his wife and the names of his children appear on the Gaza Health Ministry’s list of those killed in Israeli attacks.

The Israel Defense Forces told The Post it “is unaware of a strike at the specified area or time.” A spokesperson, speaking on the condition of anonymity per the agency’s protocol, did not respond when asked if Naami had been targeted.