Fact check: Clip about October 7 attack was taken out of context

A video has been widely shared on social media appearing to show political commentator Owen Jones saying: “In 2023, 240 Palestinians had been killed that year by the Israeli state, including 40 children. What else was Hamas supposed to do on October 7?”

Another video which was also widely spread on social media included only the last sentence.

Evaluation

The clips have been taken out of context. Mr Jones was making a point that asking such a question would be “outrageous”.

The facts

The mention of October 7 is a reference to the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas against Israel on that date in 2023.

The attack killed around 1,200 people and Hamas took hundreds of hostages.

Following the attack, Israel attacked Hamas in Gaza, a conflict which has claimed more than 54,000 lives by an official count.

The clip shared on social media was taken from an episode of Piers Morgan’s YouTube show Uncensored. Mr Jones was interviewed about the situation in Gaza on the show on July 3, starting at around 42 minutes into the episode.

The clip was from a section where Mr Jones attempted to make a point about Mr Morgan’s questioning.

Slightly before the clip starts, Mr Morgan had asked about how Israel should have responded to the October 7 attacks.

He said: “Three thousand terrorists have come over the border. They’ve annihilated 1,200 people. They’ve captured 250-plus hostages. Seven thousand people were wounded, many of them with irrevocable injuries. What would you have done?”

After some back and forth, Mr Jones said: “You would find this question offensive if I had put it to you. If I had said to you: ‘In 2023, 240 Palestinians had been killed that year by the Israeli state, including 40 children. What else was Hamas supposed to do on October 7?’ What would you say?”

Mr Morgan: “Are you justifying…”

Mr Jones: “No, no, that’s the point. I’m saying: You would say – correctly – ‘there is never any excuse for war crimes, this is an outrageous question for you to even ask me’.”

Links

Post on X (archived post and video)

Second post on X (archived post and video)

US Department of Defense – Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin (archived)

Britannica – Israel-Hamas War (archived)

Piers Morgan Uncensored, July 3 2025 (archived page and audio – downloads as mp3 file)

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