The Israeli report accuses Hamas of using sexual violence as a weapon of war on October 7

An Israeli report issued on Tuesday said that Hamas used sexual violence as a “tactical weapon of war” on October 7, 2023, attacks, and building other investigations by international and Israeli groups and Israeli rights United Nations In the armed group attack.

The DINAH project report, a team of legal and gender experts, was based on the results reached on the testimonies of survivors and witnesses, the accounts of the first respondents and visual and sound evidence. He called for a shift in how to try sexual violence related to the conflict, saying that Hamas silence his victims by killing them, and stealing investigators from the main evidence to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The report said: “Most of the victims were permanently silent-either were killed during or after the attack or are very shocking to the conversation-creating unique proof challenges,” and called for a more specific legal approach to sexual violence related to the conflict.

The report comes Israel and Hamas are negotiating a ceasefire For the 21 -month -old war in Gaza, which started with the sudden cave of militants across the border. The deal would stop fighting in the Palestinian territories and launch some of the 50 hostages, more than half of those who are said to have died.

Sexual violence accounts from hostages and witnesses

The report said that he relied on dozens of accounts, including from one of the survivors to attempted rape at a music festival, 15 returns, and 17 witnesses, and first respondents.

In some cases, the DINAH project conducted his interviews, while in other cases he depended on the certificates available to the public or the published accounts.

Quoting accounts in the Israeli and international media, it said that 15 previous hostages either suffered or saw a form of sexual assault, which included physical and forced nudity, verbal sexual harassment and forced marriage threats. Two male hostages said they faced forced nudity and physical assault when naked.

The report said that the witnesses of witnesses indicated at least 15 separate cases of sexual assault, including at least four cases of gang rape.

The report said that its findings showed patterns of sexual assaults committed, including the victims who were partially found or completely in their hands, evidence of gangs rape followed by death, the distortion of the genitals and public insult, indicating that they were deliberately used as a weapon of war.

Other accusations of sexual violence by Hamas

Hamas official did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the new report. Hamas has previously denied allegations that its forces carried out sexual violence on October 7, 2023, when the militants stormed Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

In the report last year, the United Nations said that there were “reasonable reasons” to believe that Hamas had committed rape, “sexual torture” and other harsh and inhuman treatment of women during their attack.

In issuing arrest orders for three Hamas leaders who were eventually killed by Israel, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor said they bear the responsibility of “rape and other sexual violence as crimes against humanity” during the October 7 attack.

The report urges a new approach

The report recommended the necessity of treating sexual violence related to the conflict differently from regular sexual crimes to allow evidence that does not depend mainly on the testimony of the victims, to calculate the “Systemic victims”.

He called for different forms of evidence to be accepted in any prosecution of the violence related to the conflict. He said that the joint criminal responsibility should be applied to all the participants in the attack, instead of trying to link individual perpetrators with specific actions and victims.

The report said that this approach will create “a way to justice for the victims of the October 7 attack and perhaps for victims in other conflict areas.”