Sexual and gender-based violence in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel

Not to be confused with Sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians during the Israel–Hamas war.

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During the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israeli women and girls were reportedly subject to sexual violence, including rape and sexual assault by Hamas or other Gazan militants.[1][2][3] The militants involved in the attack are accused of having committed acts of gender-based violence, war crimes and crimes against humanity.[4][5][6][7] Hamas has denied that its fighters commit rape and assault against women.[1]

Israeli police said dozens of women and some men were raped. An anonymous survivor of the Nova festival massacre, under the initial "D.", became the first male rape victim to come forward publicly about his sexual assault.[8][9] The BBC reported that "videos of naked and bloodied women filmed by Hamas on the day of the attack, and photographs of bodies taken at the sites afterwards, suggest that women were sexually targeted by their attackers".[7]

It was reported that some released hostages' testimonies indicated that both female and male hostages had been subjected to sexual violence by their captors while being held by Hamas in Gaza.[10][11][12] In late March 2024, Amit Soussana, a released Israeli hostage, told The New York Times that she had been sexually abused by her Hamas captor.[13][14]

The UN was initially criticised by some, including the Israeli government, for its alleged muted response to sexual violence.[15] In response Sarah Hendrik, an official from UN Women, one of the UN agencies subject to these criticisms, stated that "within the UN family, these investigations are led by the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights', and that her agency didn’t have the legal competence to determine culpability: ‘The Independent International Commission of Inquiry has the mandate to investigate all alleged violations."[16]

After pressure and an invitation from the Israeli government, the UN's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, declared a fact-finding mission to Israel, an unprecedented move for her office. As Azadeh Moaveni reported: "Her office didn’t have a mandate to investigate sexual crimes on the ground and had never undertaken such a mission before. I was told by multiple sources at the UN that her trip was a matter of fierce controversy within the organisation."[17] Patten's UN report was published in March 2024, and stated that there was "clear and convincing information" that Israeli hostages in Gaza experienced "sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment", that there are "reasonable grounds" to believe such abuse is "ongoing"[18][19] and there was also "reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang-rape, in at least three locations": the Nova music festival and its vicinities of Road 232 and kibbutz Re'im.[20][21][18][19]

The UN noted that the acts of sexual violence that were detailed in the report constituted "evidence [that] rises above 'reasonable grounds to believe' yet falls below 'beyond a reasonable doubt."[22] A "fully fledged" investigation would be needed to establish the latter.[23] The UN stated that the mission and report was not investigative in nature, but designed to collect and verify allegations.[19][24] Later on 24 April, the UN refused to acknowledge the rape allegations against Hamas, and didn’t include the group in the blacklist of state and non-state parties guilty of sexual violence in 2023 due to the lack of evidence.[25][26][27][23]

Ha'aretz summarized the media coverage: "On the one hand, pro-Palestinian websites are conducting an intensive campaign of denial, endeavoring to call into question the reliability of findings and testimonies. On the other hand, Israeli spokespersons latch onto every gut-wrenching report in their efforts to persuade the world of the truth of the atrocities that were perpetrated, and in some cases also invoke them in order to excoriate the enemy and score political points."[28] A high-profile report in the New York Times in December, titled "Screams Without Words", was especially widely criticized.

Witnesses described the perpetrators using shovels,[29] beheading victims, engaged in rapes, and even playing with severed body parts,[7] although a number of testimonies were subsequently discredited.[30][31][32] These acts were denounced as gender-based violence, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, aligning with the International Criminal Court's recognition of sexual violence as such.[33][34] Some of the released hostages reported sexual abuse having occurred during their time in Gaza.[35][36]

Israel accused international women's rights and human rights groups of downplaying the assaults.[37] Hamas denied that it committed any sexual assaults, and has called for an impartial international investigation into the accusations.[38][39] On January 2024, UN experts Alice Jill Edwards and Morris Tidball-Binz [de] said in a statement that the sexual violence acts amounted to war crimes which "may also qualify as crimes against humanity".[40]

On 12 April 2024, the European Union sanctioned military and special forces wings of Hamas and the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad due to their responsibility for the alleged sexual violence on 7 October. An asset freeze and travel ban were imposed on the Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades and the Nukhba Force.[41] The EU said the two groups' fighters “committed widespread sexual and gender-based violence in a systematic manner, using it as a weapon of war.”[42]

  1. ^ a b Rubin, Shira (25 November 2023). "Israel investigates an elusive, horrific enemy: Rape as a weapon of war". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Sexual Violence Evidence Against Hamas Is Mounting, but the Road to Court Is Still Long". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT28 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The battle to highlight crimes against women in Hamas' attack on Israel". ctech. 22 November 2023. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Women in War Under International Law". en.idi.org.il (in Hebrew). 2023. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ Lawless, Jill (5 November 2023). "How international law applies to war, and why Hamas and Israel are both alleged to have broken it". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Williamson, Lucy (5 December 2023). "Israel Gaza: Hamas raped and mutilated women on 7 October, BBC hears". BBC News. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference dsurvivor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference d2survivor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Israel readies for pregnancies in female hostages raped by Hamas". The Jerusalem Post. 14 January 2024. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  11. ^ Prinsley, Jane. "Women and men are being raped by Hamas says released hostage". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  12. ^ Sokol, Sam (23 January 2024). "'Right now someone is being raped in a tunnel': Knesset hears of Hamas sex crimes". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  13. ^ Kingsley, Patrick; Bergman, Ronen; Boxerman, Aaron; Kershner, Isabel (26 March 2024). "Israeli Hostage Says She Was Sexually Assaulted and Tortured in Gaza". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  14. ^ Davidovich, Joshua; Silkoff, Shira (26 March 2024). "Released hostage Amit Soussana tells NYT she was sexually assaulted by Hamas captor in Gaza". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  15. ^ Sherwood, Harriet (6 December 2023). "UN condemnation of sexual violence by Hamas 'too little, too late', says Israel". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  16. ^ Moaveni, Azadeh (9 May 2024). "What They Did to Our Women". London Review of Books. Vol. 46, no. 09. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  17. ^ Moaveni, Azadeh (9 May 2024). "What They Did to Our Women". London Review of Books. Vol. 46, no. 09. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  18. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Borger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference likely was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Reasonable Grounds to Believe Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Occurred in Israel During 7 October Attacks, Senior UN Official Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". press.un.org. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  21. ^ Lederer, Edith M. (4 March 2024). "A UN envoy says there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe Hamas committed sexual violence on Oct. 7". AP News. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  22. ^ "UN report: 'Convincing' proof of sexual crimes against hostages, proof 'reasonable' of Oct. 7 rapes - JNS.org".
  23. ^ a b "UN envoy says there are 'reasonable grounds to believe' Hamas committed sexual violence during October 7 attacks on Israel". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference grounds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ "UN fails to black list Hamas for rape, Israel condemns decision while US is silent". The Jerusalem Post. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Israel fumes as UN secretary-general leaves Hamas off sexual violence blacklist". Times of Israel. 23 April 2024.
  27. ^ Eichner, Itamar (23 April 2024). "UN Secretary-General excludes Hamas from conflict-related sexual violence list". Ynetnews. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  28. ^ Rozovsky, Liza (18 April 2024). "15 Witnesses, Three Confessions, a Pattern of Naked Dead Bodies. All the Evidence of Hamas Rape on October 7". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  29. ^ Lamb, Christina (3 December 2023). "First Hamas fighters raped her. Then they shot her in the head". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  30. ^ Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel; Scahill, Jeremy (29 February 2024). "Between the Hammer and the Anvil: The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  31. ^ Rabinowitz, Aaron (31 January 2024). "Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?". Haaretz. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  32. ^ Gupta, Arun (27 February 2024). "American Media Keep Citing Zaka — Though Its October 7 Atrocity Stories are Discredited in Israel". The Intercept. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  33. ^ "Women in War Under International Law". en.idi.org.il. 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  34. ^ Lawless, Jill (5 November 2023). "How international law applies to war, and why Hamas and Israel are both alleged to have broken it". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  35. ^ Kottasová, Ivana (6 December 2023). "What we know about rape and sexual violence inflicted by Hamas during its terror attack on Israel". CNN International. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024. Since then, dozens of hostages have been released from Gaza as part of a truce between Israel and Hamas and some have also mentioned sexual abuse during their testimonies.
  36. ^ "Biden calls reports of Hamas raping Israeli hostages 'appalling,' says world can't look away". Associated Press. 6 December 2023.
  37. ^ Mednick, Sam (5 December 2023). "New signs emerge of 'widespread' sexual crimes by Hamas, as Netanyahu alleges global indifference". AP News.
  38. ^ Lubell, Mayan (5 December 2023). "Israeli accounts of sexual violence by Hamas rise but justice is remote". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  39. ^ Fossum, Jack; Fossum, Sam (10 December 2023). "Blinken calls sexual violence inflicted by Hamas 'beyond anything I've seen'". CNN. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  40. ^ "UN experts demand accountability for sexual torture during Hamas attacks". Reuters. 8 January 2024. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024.
  41. ^ "EU sanctions Hamas wings over sexual violence on Oct. 7". Reuters. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  42. ^ "EU sanctions Hamas wings over sexual violence on Oct. 7". Al Arabiya. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.