Schools in Israel and the United States are urging parents to delete social media apps from their children’s phones due to the threat of Hamas posting hostage videos of the Israelis being executed just days after the terrorist group attacked Israel over the weekend.
Per the Times of Israel, David Lange, who lives in Israel and runs the Israeli advocacy group Israellycool, posted a screenshot of a message from his daughter’s school on X, formerly Twitter, concerning Hamas possibly posting execution videos of hostages from Israel.
The message was originally written in Hebrew and posted through a Whatsapp messaging group.
On Saturday, Hamas launched a coordinated attack on Israeli civilians, killing over 1,200 people and wounding thousands more. Videos of the violence have also surfaced on social media platforms.
According to Israel, roughly 150 people are being held hostage under Hamas, including women, children, and the elderly. Meanwhile, Hamas warned they would execute hostages in retaliation to Israeli strikes in Gaza.
In response to the warnings, Jewish schools across the U.S. have urged parents to tell their children to delete their social media accounts amid the threat of hostage videos.
“Local psychologists have reached out to us and informed us that the Israeli government is urging parents to tell their children to delete Instagram and TikTok immediately,” Rabbi Eli Ciner, the principal of The Frisch School, a Modern Orthodox school in Paramus, New Jersey, said in an email sent to the school.
“We strongly advise our students to do the same as soon as possible.”
The Hannah Senesh Community Day School in Brooklyn, New York, also posted a similar message to parents.
“While we understand that we cannot fully prevent our students from viewing images that might appear on their phones, we strongly encourage parents to cultivate honest and open communication with your children about this possibility, monitor their social media usage, and discuss how to avoid opening these videos and what to do should they encounter such media,” read an email Tuesday afternoon from head of school Nicole Nash. “We also ask that parents strongly consider asking their children to delete these apps, at least for the time being.”
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Rick Scott from Florida called on social media platforms to remove disturbing posts and accounts that “instill fear and create chaos” and prevent Hamas from monetizing them, Forbes reported.
“We’ve seen reports of babies savagely beheaded. Children were shot in front of their parents. The elderly dragged through the streets,” Scott said. “Now Iran-backed Hamas wants to inflict more terror by sharing videos of hostages begging for their lives in Gaza. Social media companies MUST take action. TikTok, Instagram (Meta), X, and every other social media platform have an obligation to stop these terrorists from distributing posts containing violence and murder and collecting financial support for their terror operations.”
Photo Courtesy: ©Unsplash/Solen Feyissa
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
