Groundbreaking report offers legal framework for prosecuting Hamas sexual violence
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'The report presents the truth as it is – shocking, painful, but vital and necessary,' said First Lady Michal Herzog upon receiving the document in Jerusalem. 'On behalf of all those who were harmed, we are committed to continuing to fight until their cry is heard everywhere and until justice is done.'
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The 84-page report — written by Professor Ruth Halperin-Kadri, retired District Judge Nava Ben-Or, and Col. (res.) Attorney Sharon Zaggi-Pinhas, former Chief Military Prosecutor of the Israel Defense Forces — represents the most extensive legal and factual documentation to date of sexual crimes committed during the assault on Gaza border communities. Produced as part of 'The Dinah Project,' the report analyzes dozens of sources to establish clear patterns of systematic sexual abuse.
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The findings reveal consistent patterns of sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists both at murder scenes and in captivity. The report documents gang rape, public humiliation, forced nudity, genital abuse, and direct shooting of intimate body parts. It also includes accounts from abductees describing repeated sexual assaults, threats of 'forced marriage,' and attempts to erase sexual identity, including attacks on men.
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According to the report, investigators found recurring descriptions of half-naked female bodies, sometimes tied to buildings and trees, alongside reports from personnel identifying casualties from military bases. The authors conclude unequivocally that Hamas used sexual violence as part of an overall plan of terror, collective humiliation, and dehumanization of Israeli society.
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Several Palestinian terrorists captured by Israel have admitted to interrogators they raped and sexually abused women.
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The presentation included testimony from Ilana Gritzewsky, a survivor of 55 days in Hamas captivity who spoke about her experience of sexual abuse. 'On October 7, I was in my house, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, with my partner, Matan [Zangauker]. And suddenly – noise. Explosions. Screams. Then a door was broken open. We were kidnapped,' Gritzewsky recounted.
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Describing her ordeal, she continued: 'When I woke up, I was half-naked. Surrounded by terrorists. They beat me, touched me. I didn't know what happened to my body in those lost minutes. But my soul already knew: nothing would be the same.'
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Addressing her ongoing trauma, she said, 'I was released after 55 days. But I'm not really free. Because true freedom only exists when no one has to go through what I went through.'
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The report's authors stressed that sexual violence in conflict is systematic rather than random.
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CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
Europe unveils a deal for more food and fuel for Gaza. Israeli strike kills 14 outside a clinic
Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in northern of Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip - European officials reached a new deal with Israel to allow desperately needed food and fuel into Gaza, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Thursday, hours after an Israeli airstrike killed 14 people, including 9 children, waiting for help outside a medical clinic. The children's deaths drew outrage from humanitarian groups even as Israel allowed the first delivery of fuel to Gaza in more than four months, though still less than a day's supply, according to the United Nations. 'The killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is unconscionable,' UNICEF's chief, Catherine Russell, said. 'These were mothers seeking a lifeline for their children after months of hunger and desperation.' The Israeli military said it was targeting a militant when it struck near the clinic. Security camera footage outside the clinic in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah showed about a dozen people squatting in front of the clinic when a projectile explodes a few metres (yards) away, leaving bodies scattered. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to leave Washington after meetings with President Donald Trump, apparently without finalizing a temporary ceasefire advocated by the White House. A deal to increase aid The deal announced by European officials could result in 'more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers,' said Kaja Kallas, the 27-member EU's top diplomat. 'We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,' she said in a post on social media. Aid groups say Israeli military restrictions and recurring violence have made it difficult to deliver assistance in Gaza even after Israel eased its 2 1/2 month total blockade in May. Experts have warned the strip is at risk of famine, 21 months into the Israel-Hamas war. Kallas said the deal would reactivate aid corridors from Jordan and Egypt and reopen community bakeries and kitchens across Gaza. She said measures would be taken to prevent the militant Hamas group from diverting aid. Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid and selling it to finance militant activities. The UN says there is no evidence for widespread diversion. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar acknowledged the deal while at a conference in Vienna, saying it followed 'our dialogue with the EU' and that it includes 'more trucks, more crossings and more routes for the humanitarian efforts.' Neither Saar not Kallas said whether the aid would go through the UN-run system or an alternative, U.S.- and Israeli-backed mechanism that has been marred by violence and controversy. The UN said Israel had permitted a team to bring 75,000 liters of fuel into Gaza, the first delivery allowed in 130 days. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric warned it wasn't enough to cover a single day's energy needs in the territory and that services would shut down without more shipments. Israeli strikes kill at least 36 Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and early Thursday, killing at least 36 Palestinians, local hospitals and aid workers said. The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in Gaza. Those killed outside the clinic were waiting for nutritional supplements, according to Project Hope, an aid group that runs the facility. 'No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,' said Dr. Mithqal Abutaha, the group's project manager. The aid group had initially said 15 people people were killed, including 10 children. But Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies, later said that 14 people were killed, including nine children and three women. At the morgue of Al-Aqsa Hospital, families prayed over the bodies of their loved ones, laid across the floor. Omar Meshmesh held the body of his 3-year-old niece Aya Meshmesh. 'What did she ever do? Did she throw a rocket at them or throw something at them? ... she's an innocent child.' Israel's military said it struck near the clinic while targeting a militant it said had entered Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It said it was investigating. Gaza's Nasser Hospital reported a total of 21 deaths in airstrikes in the southern town of Khan Younis and the nearby coastal area of Muwasi. It said three children and their mother, as well as two other women, were among the dead. Netanyahu leaves Washington Readying to leave Washington, Netanyahu said Israel continues to pursue a deal for a 60-day pause in the fighting and the release of half of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, many of them believed that deal is in place, Israel is prepared to negotiate a permanent end to the war, Netanyahu said -- but only on condition that Hamas disarms and gives up its governing and military capabilities in Gaza. If this 'is not achieved through negotiations in 60 days, we will achieve it in other ways; by using force, the force of our heroic army,' Netanyahu said in a video statement. Still, U.S. officials held out hope that restarting high-level negotiations -- mediated by Egypt and Qatar and including White House envoy Steve Witkoff -- could bring progress. 'We're closer than we've been in quite a while and we're hopeful, but we also recognize there's still some challenges in the way,' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. West Bank violence, another Israeli soldier killed The Israeli military said a soldier was killed in Khan Younis the day before, after militants burst out of an underground tunnel and tried to abduct him. The soldier was shot and killed, while troops in the area shot the militants, hitting several of them, it said. Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks, one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months, putting additional public pressure on Netanyahu to end the war. Meanwhile, two Palestinian attackers killed a 22-year-old Israeli man at a supermarket in a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday afternoon, according to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services. Israeli police said two people in a stolen vehicle attacked a security guard at the supermarket. Paramedics said people on site shot and killed the two attackers. There was no information about the attackers but Israeli troops were setting up roadblocks around the Palestinian town of Halhul, around 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the supermarket. Earlier Thursday, a 55-year-old Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said the man was shot after stabbing a soldier in the village of Rumana. The soldier suffered moderate wounds. The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military targeting militants in large-scale operations that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Palestinian militants from the West Bank have also attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel in 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas-run government, doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. By Wafaa Shurafa, Sarah El Deeb, And Melanie Lidman. McNeil reported from Brussels, El Deeb from Beirut and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. This story was first published on Jul. 10, 2025. It was updated on Jul. 11, 2025 to correct the number of people killed in the strike outside the clinic. The strike killed nine children, according to the hospital, not 10.
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
At least 4 presumed dead, 11 missing after Houthi rebels sink ship in Red Sea, EU naval mission says
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Four people are presumed dead and 11 others are still missing after a Liberian-flagged cargo ship sank in the Red Sea following an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, a European Union naval mission said Friday. The update from the EU's Operation Aspides came as private security forces continue to search for survivors from the Eternity C, a Greek-owned bulk carrier that sank on Wednesday. Ten people were recovered alive from the attack, including eight Filipino crew members and a Greek and Indian from the vessel's three-man security team, the EU operation said. Fifteen people remain unaccounted for, including the four presumed dead, the mission said. 'All nearby vessels are advised to have a sharp look out,' the EU mission said. The Houthis have said they hold some of the crew. The U.S. Embassy in Yemen — which has operated from Saudi Arabia for about a decade — has described the Houthis as having 'kidnapped' the mariners. The death toll is the highest from any seaborne assault carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthis in the crucial maritime trade route where $1 trillion in cargo once passed through annually. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The rebels say they are attacking ships to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, and have in total sank four vessels and killed sailors who had no direct role in the war. The attack on the Eternity C followed the sinking of the bulk carrier Magic Seas in a similar attack last weekend. Neither the European naval force nor the U.S. had been escorting the two vessels when they were attacked. The Houthis have held mariners in the past. After seizing the vehicle carrier Galaxy Leader in November 2023, the rebels held the crew until January this year. From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones. The stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. A new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war — as well as the future of talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's battered nuclear program — remain in the balance.
Global News
17 hours ago
- Global News
U.S. State Department is axing more than 1,300 employees
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