Hamas commits massive sexual violence against women

Reports of sexual crimes committed by Hamas against Israeli women are increasing. The police are recording alarming witness statements. According to women's rights activists, the atrocities follow a brutal strategy. They are worried about the remaining female hostages held by Hamas.

Even weeks after the Hamas massacre in Israel, new reports of brutal acts of sexual violence against women and girls continue to come to light. Many of them are deeply disturbing. For example, a Zaka rescue worker told a parliamentary special committee about the horror that awaited him in a border town on October 7: "The body of a woman, naked, with a sharp object stuck in her private parts." Rescue worker Chaim Otmazgin said that he had also found several dead women with naked abdomens in other places after the massacre by Hamas terrorists and other groups.

On October 7, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip committed the worst massacre in Israel's history near the border. More than 1200 people were killed. Around 240 hostages were taken to Gaza and less than half have been released so far. The reports of highly sadistic violence on the day of the massacre also fuel concern for young women who are still in the hands of the terrorist organization and whose release Hamas has so far refused.

A paramedic said that he had found a 14-year-old girl in a house in Kibbutz Be'eri who had been raped and murdered. She had been lying on the floor of her bedroom, with her abdomen naked, her legs spread apart and traces of semen on her back. The teenager had been shot in the head.

Police investigating sexual crimes

The Israeli police opened an investigation into reports of mass sexual crimes against women on October 7. An independent commission of experts is also collecting eyewitness accounts, forensic and other evidence. The terrorists of Hamas and other groups had documented many of their atrocities themselves with bodycams, some of which were broadcast live via social media and also via the victims' cell phones.

Policewoman Shelly Harusch told a parliamentary committee meeting that around 1,500 witness statements on the incidents had been collected so far. "The investigation is also focusing on sexual offenses against the victims." Arrested Hamas terrorists stated during interrogation that they had also been ordered to rape women.

Disturbing eyewitness accounts

According to police reports, there are various eyewitness accounts of rape by terrorists at the Nova music festival on October 7. One survivor reported an "apocalypse of corpses". He had seen many young women without clothes, some had been mutilated, some with mutilated abdomens.

One participant, who had hidden from the murderers in the bushes, reported the cruel violence inflicted on a young woman. "They bent her forward and I realized they were raping her, one after the other. Then they passed her to another man who was wearing a uniform," the eyewitness said. "She was alive when she was raped. He pulled her hair and shot her in the head while he was still raping her. He didn't even pull up his pants. They cut off her breast and played with it in the street."

Eyewitnesses reported that women were raped next to the bodies of their friends. Some were then killed, others were taken to Gaza. A video distributed by terrorists showed the abduction of a young woman with blood-soaked trousers. Another video showed the lifeless body of German Shani Louk being taken to the Gaza Strip in a pick-up truck.

Traces of severe violence on female corpses

After the massacre, many of the bodies were taken to the military rabbinate near Tel Aviv for identification. A pathologist, a dentist and a military photographer were present in each case. A volunteer told of horribly maltreated female bodies that were brought there.

The arms and legs of one female soldier were broken in many different places. The female victims were often shot once in the body and then very often in the head. "It was obviously all about mutilation," she said.

The aid worker reported many indications of sexual crimes. Some of the bodies were dressed in bloody underpants, for example. Other employees had reported corpses with mutilated genitals. Some of the bodies were found to contain hand grenades. "We had to run out quickly to get to safety." Demolition experts were then called. What makes the evidence more difficult: in many cases, the bodies were in such a bad state that semen or DNA samples could not be taken.

Rape still associated with shame for victims

Law professor Yifat Bitton says that many of the survivors are deeply traumatized and not all of them are able to talk about their experiences. Sexual assault is still strongly associated with stigma and shame. "This is another burden for the victims," said Bitton. It could take time for everyone to talk about their terrible experiences. It is also known from other wars that women were raped as a means of humiliation. However, atrocities of this scale and severity had never been experienced in Israel before.

Cochav Elkajam Levy, a law lecturer at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said of the incidents on October 7: "There can be no doubt that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed." It is important to collect the testimonies and evidence so that the victims receive justice.

"We set up the Commission of Experts on the 8th day of the war because more and more testimonies of brutal crimes against women and children were coming to light," says Levy. She emphasizes that gender-based violence is not just about sexual crimes. "Cutting out women's organs, hiding a grenade in a woman's body, killing a baby in front of its mother, or abducting mothers in front of their children, women and children - all of this is gender-based violence."

Numerous videos on social media and videos from Hamas terrorists' bodycams have also been analyzed. A database and an archive are being set up with all this material. "We want to ensure that the crimes committed against women on October 7 are never forgotten." Many stories have been verified by several sources.

Complaint about delayed response from UN Women

Several of the Israeli experts have been complaining for weeks about the lack of response from international women's organizations. "The lack of condemnation of these crimes undermines the legitimacy of international institutions," says Levy.

Sarah Weiss is an Israeli diplomat and legal advisor responsible for relations with the United Nations. She complains that UN bodies such as UN Women have long remained stubbornly silent about the crimes committed against Israeli women and girls. "We are talking about mass sexual crimes that are aimed at terrorizing the Israeli population," she says. "What I find really bad is that organizations like UN Women have not spoken out."

It was only eight weeks after the Hamas terror attack and after massive criticism that UN Women wrote in an X-Post on Saturday night: "We unequivocally condemned Hamas' brutal attacks on Israel on October 7. We are disturbed by the many reports of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during these attacks."