It’s published •update
According to an Israeli report released Tuesday, Hamas used sexual violence as a “tactical weapon” in the October 7, 2023 attack, and the UN built its foundation on other investigations by international and Israeli rights groups and attacks by extremist groups.
Reports from the Dinah Project, a team of legal and gender experts, are based on findings on survivors and witness testimonies, accounts from first responders, and forensic, visual and audio evidence.
It called for a change in how conflict-related sexual violence is being charged, and said Hamas silenced the victims by killing them and robbed investigators of important evidence explaining the perpetrators.
“Most victims have been silent forever — either killed or left too traumatic to speak during or after the attack — creating a unique proof challenge,” the report says, calling for a more coordinated legal approach to conflict-related sexual violence.
The report said it relies on dozens of accounts from survivors of attempted rape at the music festival, 15 hostages, 17 witnesses and one survivor from multiple first responders.
In some cases, Dinah Project conducted its own interviews, but relied on public testimony or public accounts.
Citing accounts from Israeli and international media, 15 former hostages said they had experienced or witnessed some form of sexual assault, including physical violence, forced nudity, oral sexual harassment, and threats of forced marriage.
The two male hostages said they faced forced nudity and physical abuse while naked.
The witness’s accounts showed at least 15 separate cases of sexual assault, including at least four cases of gang rape, according to the report.
The report said the findings showed a pattern of sexual assault committed, including victims who were found partially or completely naked with their hands tied, followed by evidence of subsequent gang rape, killing, genital mutilation and public humiliation.
Hamas has previously denied allegations that the force carried out sexual violence when extremists plunged into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
In a report last year, the United Nations said there was “rational basis” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexual torture” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during the attack.
When they issued an arrest warrant to the three Hamas leaders who were ultimately killed by Israel, International Criminal Court prosecutors said they were held responsible for “perpets of rape and sexual violence as a crime against humanity” during the attack on October 7th.
Reports encourage new approaches
The report recommended that conflict-related sexual violence should be treated differently from regular sexual offences to explain the “systemic silence of the victim” evidence that is primarily dependent on testimony from victims.
It sought to recognize various forms of evidence in prosecution of conflict-related violence.
It stated that joint criminal liability should be applied to all participants in the attack, rather than attempting to link individual perpetrators to specific actions or victims.
The approach would create “a path to justice for victims of the October 7 attack and a potential path for victims of other conflict zones,” the report said.
The report begins with a surprise cross-border raid by extremists as Israel and Hamas negotiate a new ceasefire for the 21-month war in Gaza.
The deal suspends fighting on Palestinian territory, releasing some of the remaining 50 hostages, with more than half of them said to be dead.
Additional sources •AP
