Sexual violence ‘integral’ to October 7 Hamas attack on Israel
Tel Aviv,May 12, (dpa/GNA) – Systematic sexual violence occurred during the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and throughout the captivity of numerous hostages, according to an extensive report published on Tuesday by an independent commission in Israel.
The Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children released its findings, following an investigation lasting more than two years.
The report refers to “rape, gang rape, sexual torture, forced nudity, mutilation, burning of bodies” as well as sexual attacks in the presence of family members.
Running to around 300 pages, the report is based on witness testimony, visual documentation and forensic evidence.
It states that 13 recurring patterns of abuse in various locations and at different stages of the attacks were identified. These included “the deliberate filming and digital dissemination of abuse as a means of amplifying terror.”
The findings showed that these crimes were not isolated incidents, but rather a “widespread and systematic and formed an integral component of the attacks and the subsequent treatment of hostages.”
On October 7, 2023, Hamas carried out an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people in border communities and at a music festival, and abducting more than 250 people to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with a military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which led to a protracted war and triggered a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Because of the scale and intensity of its operations, which have left tens of thousands dead, Israel has faced repeated accusations of war crimes and, in some cases, genocide.
The Israeli government has categorically rejected those allegations.
Some of the hostages were freed by the Israeli army, while others were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The remains of captives were also returned.
Commission establishes war crimes archive
Survivors of the Nova music festival reported, for instance, that they had witnessed rapes followed by the murder of the victims. Israeli hostages recounted, after their release, instances of sexual assault during their captivity in the Gaza Strip.
A volunteer in a mortuary reported that victims of the October 7 attacks, had shown signs of mutilation to their faces and genitals.
“For more than two years, the Civil Commission has undertaken the painstaking labor of documenting, preserving, and analyzing the crimes committed on October 7 and against hostages in captivity,” said lawyer Cochav Elkayam-Levy, founder of the civil commission.
The evidence had been secured in a dedicated “war crimes archive ” to ensure “their voices are neither silenced nor forgotten,” the report states.
“We cannot prevent future atrocities if we ignore, deny, question, or look away from them. Nor can we begin to prevent what we do not know—or choose not to fully understand.”
Hamas has denied that sexual violence took place on October 7.
The report provides a detailed roadmap for prosecution, according to the commission’s statement. The commission’s head and lawyer, Merav Israeli-Amarant, emphasized that during the documentation process, the evidence had been rigorously examined and cross-checked in each case.
This includes hundreds of interviews, photos, videos, site visits, forensic assessments and geolocation.
“For victims of sexual crimes, recognition is inseparable from the possibility of justice. It is never merely symbolic: it forms a necessary step in the process of healing and the restoration of dignity,” Elkayam-Levy said.
GNA