Al Jazeera Investigative Unit (I-Unit) won a Gold award and a People’s Choice award for their film “October 7 – Al Jazeera Investigations” at the 14th Annual Lovie Award winners of 2024, held in London, United Kingdom (UK) on Thursday, November 7.
The awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), are Europe’s highest honour for excellence in digital media.
Taking to X on Friday, November 8, I-Unit wrote, “Our @AJIunit investigation into the reality of what happened on #October7 has just been awarded Gold by judges from the @lovieawards AND won the ‘People’s Choice’ in a public vote.”
It was directed by Richard Sanders. He and his team worked nearly four months to produce the film with I-Unit, which was released on March 20.
“With so much Western media determined to ignore our work, great to have won these two awards for our film on October 7. Many thanks to @lovieawards and to the general public who voted for us,” Sanders wrote in a post on X.
October 7 film
In October 7, I-Unit conducted a forensic analysis of the events of October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an incursion into Israel.
The film exposes widespread human rights abuses by Hamas fighters and others who followed them through the Gaza Strip fence, listing a comprehensive list of those killed.
However, the I-Unit’s investigation, which studied hours of film from CCTV, dashcams, personal phones, and headcams of deceased Hamas fighters, revealed that many of the reports that circulated in the days following the attack were false.
These include accusations of widespread and systematic rape as well as crimes like the mass murder and beheading of babies.
October 7, 2023, attack
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing 1,300 civilians and taking 150 hostages, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn of “a long and difficult war.“
Since then, Israel has been launching a devastating offensive on Gaza, despite a UN Security Council resolution requesting an immediate cease-fire.
In Gaza, more than 43,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,300 others injured.
