How Hamas used sexual violence as weapon during October 7 attacks; new Israeli report reveals chilling details
Hamas
used sexual violence as a deliberate
weapon of war
during its October 7, 2023, assault on
Israel
. The report, titled "A Quest for Justice," was unveiled on Tuesday and includes harrowing eyewitness accounts, forensic data, and previously unseen testimonies from freed hostages and first responders.
The investigation, led by law professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari of
Bar-Ilan University
and supported by former senior legal officials, documents at least 17 separate incidents of sexual assault. The findings are based on interviews with 15 hostages who were released from Gaza, as well as additional evidence from survivors of the Nova music festival, one of the sites of the attacks.
According to the report, 13 women and two men who survived captivity by Hamas described experiencing or witnessing sexual violence while being held hostage, including beatings, sexual assault at gunpoint, forced nudity, and threats of rape disguised as forced marriage. Many recounted being subjected to verbal sexual harassment, with some reporting repeated physical abuse and sexual humiliation.
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The report's authors concluded that sexual violence was not random but systematic and tactical, intended to terrorize and humiliate victims and communities. Forensic evidence, visual documentation, and autopsy reports corroborated these accounts, with investigators describing patterns of gang rape, mutilation, and public humiliation. The report also highlighted the immense challenges in gathering evidence due to the killing or traumatization of many victims, which has left investigators reliant on survivor and witness testimony, as well as physical evidence collected from the attack sites.
The United Nations and other international bodies have previously expressed alarm over the accounts of gender-based atrocities during the
October 7 attacks
, with a U.N. Commission of Inquiry finding "reasonable grounds" to believe that Hamas committed rape and sexualized torture. The
International Criminal Court
has also cited these crimes in its pursuit of charges against Hamas leaders.
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Hamas has denied the allegations of sexual violence, but the new report urges a shift in how conflict-related sexual violence is prosecuted, calling for legal frameworks that do not rely solely on
victim testimony
, given the systematic silencing of victims through murder or trauma. The authors argue that the evidence demonstrates a clear pattern of sexual violence used as a weapon of war, and they call for international action to hold perpetrators accountable.
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