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Hamas Terror on Israel

I. Gender-based violence

Introduction and overview

Section titled “Introduction and overview”

  1. The following section includes crimes that have gender elements, whether in terms of motive, form, implementation or impact on the victim. It includes acts of violence and harms directed at those with an inferior place in the gend er hierarchy, and as such reflects an abuse of power by the male perpetrator and a disregard for the special considerations that woman have in international law.

  2. The Commission documented evidence of sexual violence1 in several locations in southern Israel on 7 October.2 This evidence includes testimonies from credible witnesses and images of victims’ bodies displaying indications of some form of sexual violence. The Commission identified a pattern of sexual violence that has been corroborated by the digital evidence it collected and preserved.

  3. Reliable witness accounts obtained by the Commission describ e bodies that had been undressed, in some incidents with exposed genitals, as well as other indications of abuse, such as their hands and/or feet being tied, indicating they had been detained before their deaths, the position of the body, for example with legs spread or bent over, and signs of struggle or violence on the body, such as stab wounds, burns, lacerations and abrasions. The patterns in these witness accounts are consistent with digital footage collected and preserved by the Commission, including four victims found undressed from the waist down, as well as four cases where the bodies of victims were displayed partially undressed while being mistreated.

  4. Further corroborating its findings, the Commission also received reports that many bodies taken to the Shura camp showed signs indicative of sexual violence. Some bodies were completely or partially undressed with signs of considerable violence and struggle. One witness described to the Commission receiving a body of a girl around 13 years old who was naked with signs of violence to the stomach and broken legs.

  5. Bodies of women were found completely or partially burnt in several locations. One witness told the Commission that many bodies of men and women received at Shura were burnt in the genital area. In some cases, there were indications that gasoline had been used to set genitals on fire. In one case the Commission obtained video footage of the body of a woman who was set on fire with gasoline from the waist down. The Commission could not determine in these cases whether the fire was ignited before or after death. Some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and/or decapitated.

  6. The Commission has identified a pattern of sexual violence in the attacks on 7 October. In relation to rape, the Commission has seen open-source reports stating that Israeli civilians were subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence at various sites in southern Israel on 7 October. The Commission has reviewed testimonies obtained by journalists and the Israeli police concerning rape but has not been able to independently verify such allegations, due to a lack of access to victims, witnesses and crime sites and the obstruction of its investigations by the Israeli authorities. The Commission was unable to review the unedited version of such testimonies. For the same reasons, the Commission was also unable to verify reports of sexualized tor ture and genital mutilation. Additionally, the Commission found some specific allegations to be false, inaccurate or contradictory with other evidence or statements and discounted these from its assessment.

  7. The Commission has viewed reports asserting that documents found on militants who were killed or arrested contain alleged instructions to undress civilians and/or commit rape or other forms of sexual violence during the attack on 7 October. The Commission was unable to obtain copies of these documents and was unable to verify their authenticity.

  8. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, found after a mission to Israel in January to February 2024 reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred at several locations, including in the form of rape and gang rape. The SRSG also found credible circumstantial information indicative of some forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The SRSG noted that the specific attribution of these violations would require a fully-fledged investigation and recommended that the Israeli authorities grant access to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. The Israeli Government has refused to permit access by the Office or the Commission. Gender-based violence in kibbutzim and on road 232

  9. The Commission documented cases indicative of sexual violence perpetrated against women and men in several kibbutzim, including in Kfar Aza, Re’im and Nir Oz. Witnesses described seeing corpses with signs of sexual violence in Kfar Aza. One witness described finding the bodies of two deceased women in a safe room in Kfar Aza. One of the women, who was in her early twenties, had suffered fatal gunshot wounds to her head. She was positioned lying face down on a bed, naked from the waist down, with her knees on the floor and her upper body bent over the bed. The witness described a lot of blood around the body and signs of a struggle.

  10. The Commission reviewed footage that it could not verify of a naked decomposed body found under a collapsed house in one of the kibbutzim. According to an independent evaluation carried out by a forensic pathologist, the evidence suggests that a pair of scissors was inserted in the groin area after death.

  11. The Commission reviewed and verified video footage of a corpse of a woman found outside Kfar Aza on road 232, displaying signs indicative of sexual violence. The woman’s clothing was pulled up, her legs were spread apart, her underwear was missing and her genitals were exposed. According to an independent evaluation carried out by a forensic pathologist, the woman had burns covering at least 45 percent of her total body surface, along with a fourth-degree burn on the left side of the head. The expert assessed that the burns were most likely du e to a fire ignited by the perpetrators using an accelerant. The woman had a cut on the right mid-thigh, possibly occurring either shortly before or after death. According to the pathologist, the body showed signs of having been moved from its original po sition.

  12. The Commission also documented an image of a body found on road 232 whose trousers and underwear were pulled down to just above the knees. The Commission could not determine if there had been any violence to the genital area but could identify blood on his clothes on the right chest area and face. One witness also described to the Commission finding the body of a woman in her twenties close to road 232. The woman had likely tried to escape from the Nova festival in Re’im. The woman had been undressed from the waist down, with her genitals exposed and bearing blood marks on her genitals. Some of the woman’s clothing was seen next to the body and the witness stated that gunshot wounds entering from the back w ere observed.

  13. Most of the 90 women and girls abducted to Gaza on 7 October were from the kibbutzim in southern Israel. The Commission found that several of them were subjected to physical and psychological violence in the process of their abduction . The Commission received many reports and verified digital evidence that hands and sometimes feet of women were bound, often behind the victims ’ backs, during the abduction or prior to their killing. The perpetrators mainly used plastic zippers, but the use of rope and electric cables has also been documented by the National Center of Forensic Medicine.

  14. The Commission viewed CCTV footage of a woman being abducted by eight men in Kfar Aza at approximately 11:00 on 7 October. Two of the men were armed and in military uniform and the others were in civilian clothing. The footage shows the men carrying and dragging the woman against her will while she continuously struggles to get free. One attacker is carrying a white sheet that he is trying to place on the woman. At one point she falls on the ground and a man in military uniform slaps her in the face. The woman was later taken to Gaza where she was held captive for almost two months. She described after her release how she was beaten badly when she tried to escape her abductors and that her feet and hands were eventually tied when she was brought to Gaza. She also described feeling that she was being treated like an object during her abduction. The Commission considers that this violence by eight men, some armed, on a woman was inherently threatening and degrading and denied the woman the protection to which she was entitled under international law. The Commission considers she was subjected to gender-based violence.

  15. The Commission is aware of many cases in which women were intentionally killed by militants during their abduction or while trying to escape and has investigated three such cases. The Commission reviewed CCTV footage from kibbutz Mefalsim depicting a woman being dragged by an armed militant towards a white pickup at 08:00. The footage shows that the woman was shot in the back when she tried to run from her attackers. The Commission assesses that in this case militants may have been trying to abduct the victim to Gaza but they decided to shoot and kill her as she resisted.[°54] In the second case, CCTV footage shows a Hamas militant wearing a distinctive green headband, armed with AK-47, chasing and shooting at several people just outside the main gate of kibbutz Alumim at approximately 07:00. The video shows the perpetrator reaching one of the women, grabbing her and, when she tries to escape, shooting her at close range. A second woman then kneels on the ground and bends her head, seemingly in submission. The militant fires above her head, apparently aiming at the others who had escaped. He waits a few seconds before shooting and killing the woman from close range, while she is still kneeling.

  16. The Commission also found that bodies of civilian victims killed in kibbutzim and the Nova festival were used as trophies of victory for propaganda purposes, often with a clear gender element to the display.3 Militants posed with bodies in videos and photos, violating the personal dignity of the dead persons by humiliating or degrading treatment. In several of these cases there was a clear gendered element to the crime, where the bodies were displayed undressed as a means of humiliation and disrespect, while these acts were filmed and disseminated.

  17. The Commission documented and verified digital evidence of two women who were killed in the kibbutzim and whose bodies were displayed online while male perpetrators are seen taking selfies with the women’s bodies. In one of the cases, the perpetrator is seen desecrating the body of the woman, stepping on the victim’s head while stating “God is great”. The Commission also documented a case where the body of a partially undressed man wearing boxers is seen disrespected once brought to Gaza, with a mob kicking and hitting the lifeless body lying on the ground.

  18. In another case the perpetrators published videos of a victim’s execution and the mistreatment of his body in the vicinity of kibbutz Nahal Oz. In the first video the man is seen with blood on his face, being beaten and abused by seven men. In the video all of the attackers are speaking Arabic and several are dressed in civilian clothes while others are wearing military uniforms. In another video, five of the seven men are seen armed with automatic rifles and one of the attackers in civilian clothes can be seen holding a bloody knife and making threatening gestures towards the victim’s body which is lying on the ground. The victim’s body is now undressed on the top and a stab wound to the chest is visible. A man wearing a military uniform is standing on the victim’s face and another man dressed in a military uniform shoots about nine rounds at the upper part of the body and screams “God is great” which can also be heard in the background of the video.

  19. The victim’s mutilated body is also seen in a third video, which was published on the official Telegram group of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. In this third video one of the perpetrators is clearly seen wearing a yellow headband associated with the Al- Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, while standing on the victim’s face. This third video appears to have been filmed after the previous two. The victim is lying on his stomach and appears to have been almost completely undressed; his jeans have been pulled down and there is partial tearing of his underwear. According to an independent evaluation carried out by a forensic pathologist, multiple scratches on the victim’s back suggest movement of the skin against a rough surface before or around the time of death. There are wounds on the right gluteal area, which are most likely from a gunshot wound, and the body has multiple cut and stab wounds, as well as gunshot wounds to the lower legs which appear to have been broken, all consistent wi th trauma after or around the time of death. There are also signs suggestive of a fracture of the pelvic bone or hip. In a fourth video verified by the Commission, the body of the victim is being transferred in a truck, with men in the background screaming in Arabic, “Here’s the dog. Here’s the dog. Here’s the Jew.” As of May 2024, the body is most likely still being held in Gaza.

Gender-based violence at the Nova Festival

Section titled “Gender-based violence at the Nova Festival”

  1. The Commission documented five cases at the Nova festival where the bodies of victims showed signs of some form of sexual violence. In all cases, the victims had been partially undressed. These bodies were found in and around the festival site or on locations leading to or from the festival.

  2. One witness, who arrived shortly after the attack, described to the Commission seeing the bodies of three women, located at the eastern and western parking areas, bearing signs indicative of some form of sexual violence. All three women had been completely undressed from the waist down and two were positioned with the legs spread apart. According to the witnesses, two of the bodies displayed signs of considerable violence. One of the women had multiple gunshot wounds to her thighs and legs. The other woman had been burnt in the face, according to the witness likely as a result of a liquid accelerant having been applied. The Commission reviewed video and photo evidence from the Nova site which corroborated the witness’s statements. The digital evidence shows the bodies of women found partially undressed and with signs of considerable violence.

  3. The Commission also documented the statement of a witness who described seeing the body of a man with signs of rape. According to the witness, the victim was in his twenties and had multiple gunshot wounds to his head and back. The victim was found with his trousers pulled down, his underwear ripped and a gun inserted into his anus. The Commission found the testimony credible but was not able to corroborate the information.

  4. At least nine women were reportedly abducted at the Nova site and at least one body of a female victim was taken to Gaza. The testimonies and video footage reviewed by the Commission concerning the abduction of women show a distinct gendered element in the form, implementation and impact of the abduction of these women.

  5. In several cases of abduction at Nova, the women, or their dead bodies, were used as victory trophies by male perpetrators. The abduction, violence and humiliation of the women were put on public display, either on the streets of Gaza and/or by recording them and publishing the videos online. Recording was carried out either by the perpetrators themselves or by bystanders. This type of gender-based crime was identified by the Commission in many locations in the south of Israel and in Gaza, women being the primary but not the only target.4

  6. In one case, the body of a mutilated and undressed civilian woman in her twenties was paraded in the back of a truck in Gaza through a cheering crowd, while spat at by bystanders. In the video three militants are seen sitting with the body, one cradling the body while another is holding her by the hair in a gesture of triumph. The men in the truck are wearing identical olive green uniforms with one holding a rocket propelled grenade weapon. The victim, who has minimal clothing, has her right breast partially exposed in some of the footage reviewed by the Commission. According to an independent evaluation by a forensic pathologist, the body displayed signs of an injury to the scalp at the back of the head and fractures on the legs and the right arm, most likely inflicted after death. Reports received by the Commission indicate that the woman was killed at the festival and her body later brought to Gaza by militants.

  7. The Commission also documented a case in which a man, most likely deceased, was dragged on the ground by two men in military uniform on a motorbike. The man is seen with his trousers pulled down to his ankles and only wearing underwear, his feet and lower body dragged on the ground through Gaza.

  8. In another case members of armed groups published a video online showing a woman being humiliated and degraded by many male perpetrators during the process of her abduction from the Nova festival site to Gaza. The perpetrators are seen taking advantage of the coercive environment. The woman is filmed while surrounded and taunted by the male perpetrators who subjected her to degrading language, including referring to her as a Jewish female dog. She also received threats to her person while in this vulnerable and exposed position. The woman was later abducted to Gaza and held captive for more than 50 days. Following her release, she described how she was treated by her captors: “I was a trophy. They [abductors] brought people from outside so they could look at me.”

  9. The abduction of several women was filmed, the women being seen placed on the back of trucks, on motorbikes and other vehicles and brought to Gaza, acts committed with force, threat of force or the fear of violence. The Commission reviewed video footage of the abduction of several women to Gaza on motorbikes and other vehicles. The abductees were forced to sit very close to their abductors and filmed during their abduction; in some cases the women were placed between two men on a small motorbike, forcing them to coerced intimacy with their abductors. The Commission found that women were disproportionally affected by this type of gender- based crime and documented multiple cases with the same pattern, from both kibbutzim and the Nova festival. In a video viewed by the Commission, a woman is abducted by two men in civilian clothes. The woman is seen trying to move her head and one of the perpetrators forcibly turns her head in his direction. In another case a woman at the Nova festival was abducted by force on a small motorbike by two men in civilian clothes. She is seen struggling to get free from the perpetrators and pleading for her release. In another video, the man behind her is seen covering her face with a black piece of cloth while almost sitting on top of her, and she is heard crying out load in fear and anguish.

  10. The Commission documented that the perpetrators used white sheets and blankets to wrap or cover female victims in several cases. The use of sheets was documented during the process of abduction in four cases and in one case of a woman killed at the Nahal Oz outpost. The Commission notes that these sheets were used to help facilitate the abduction of women. In one case a woman was wrapped tightly in a white sheet from head to toe by her abductors, not being able to see or move, and placed in a cart with three male abductors to be taken to Gaza. Gender-based violence in the Nahal Oz outpost

  11. The Commission documented and verified information and digital footage of sexual and gender-based violence against female soldiers in the Nahal Oz outpost. According to the information reviewed by the Commission, several female soldiers were killed while unarmed and hiding from the perpetrators, while others were subjected to physical violence once captured and taken to Gaza as hostages. The Commission notes the inherently unequal circumstances of these soldiers in age, sex and combat capacity. In a video reviewed by the Commission, the female soldiers can be seen unarmed while hiding in a shelter at the outpost at the time of the attack.

  12. Most female soldiers at the outpost were either killed or abducted. Seven were taken to Gaza. In the film “Scenes of the Al-Qassam Brigades storming the Nahal Oz military site” released by Hamas on 10 October 2023, the seven abducted female soldiers can be seen lined up, sitting facing a wall, hands tied behind their backs, guarded by six male Palestinian militants. Several of the women were taken from the shelter, indicating that they had surrendered. In video footage reviewed by the Commission the young women are seen unarmed and distressed, hiding in the shelter from the attackers. Other footage reviewed by the Commission shows that these women were subjected to physical and psychological violence prior to being taken to Gaza. Several of the women lined up by the wall are filmed with their hands tied behind their back and with visible injuries to the face, arms, knees, ankles, feet and/or hands. In video footage reviewed by the Commission the militants threatened and insulted the women while tied and lined up by the wall. One militant also stated “You are beautiful”.

  13. The Commission reviewed other digital footage of the abducted women that showed clear signs of abuse. One woman is seen being pulled out of the back of a truck by an armed militant in Gaza. She is barefoot, her hands are tied and she has multiple injuries including a wound on her temple and injuries or blood marks on her hands, wrists, feet and knees. The woman has what appears to be a large blood stain on her trousers around the genital and gluteal area. Another woman, who was later abducted to Gaza, can be seen in video footage with blood traces and injuries to her face, while her upper body is covered with a white sheet.

  14. The Commission also documented information indicating that women at the outpost were subjected to sexual violence. This includes bodies being found undressed and isolated in separate rooms, showing signs of physical abuse and sexual violence. In one testimony, a witness who arrived at the site after the attack told the Commission that he saw bodies of women who seemingly had been hiding under tables, in the showers and under the beds. Among them, the witness saw bodies of two partially undressed women that had seemingly been isolated in separate rooms. Both had their pyjama trousers pulled down to the knees. According to the witness, the women had been shot. The witness said that it was clear that the victims had been abused: “The women were brutalized, and it was clear what had happened. They were isolated, stripped and in positions of surrender when we found them.”

  15. The Commission reviewed and verified digital footage of two female bodies that were partially undressed. A video published by Hamas titled “Scenes of the Al-Qassam Brigades storming the Nahal Oz military site” contained one scene depicting armed militants in the shelter after its capture. The scene shows six militants with blurred fa ces standing beside the same wall where a large group of women was seen hiding in another video viewed by the Commission. Four bodies are shown lying on the floor of the shelter. One female body is partially blurred and appears to have been covered with a piece of white sheet. Despite the blurring, the lower part of the body appears to be undressed, but the Commission could not conclude whether the underwear was removed or not. In another video, the militants can be seen screaming “God is great” while standing over the same woman.

  16. The Commission reviewed a video published by Al-Quds Brigades of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad titled “Al-Quds Brigades show scenes of the moment the Nahal Oz military site was seized east of Gaza as part of the battle Al -Aqsa Flood”. The video depicts two blurred female bodies lying on the floor at the entrance to the women’s living quarters. A closeup frame shows that one body is lying on the back with legs spread apart, and the lower part of the body appears to be undressed. However, due to the blurring, the Commission could not conclude whether underwear had been removed. A second female body is seen in the same video lying outside the living quarters’ entrance, in close proximity to the first body. The image is blurred but it is clear that the female victim is positioned lying on her back with the lower part of the body burning, with flames visible through the blurring. A blood stain is visible under the head. A trace of liquid near the body indicates that the perpetrators might have used gasoline to ignite it.

Sources

Footnotes

Section titled “Footnotes”

  1. The Commission considers the term ‘sexual violence’ to cover a range of physical and non-physical acts of a sexual nature against a person or causing a person to engage in such an act, by force, or by threat of force or coercion. ↩

  2. The indicators considered by the Commission are referenced in section II on methodology. ↩

  3. See more in para 156. ↩

  4. See also section on sexual and gender-based violance in the Kibbutzim. ↩