In a shocking revelation, an Israeli women’s rights campaigner and lawyer, Prof Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, has exposed Hamas’s premeditated plan to employ sexual violence as a weapon of war during the October attacks. This revelation has sparked anger over the delayed acknowledgment of these claims by some UN bodies. The Israeli police have collected over 1,500 testimonies from witnesses and medics, shedding light on the scale of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas. The evidence includes pictures and live footage from the Supernova festival, which reveal the gruesome nature of these attacks, ranging from gang rape to the sexual mutilation of murdered victims.
Prof Halperin-Kaddari provides firsthand accounts in support of these claims, including survivors who witnessed women being raped by multiple men and a paramedic treating a woman who had been raped. Footage and pictures from multiple locations also exhibit a pattern of mutilation and suggest that rape was committed before the victims’ execution. These incidents, concentrated within a short span of time, indicate a premeditated plan to use sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Hamas, however, denies these allegations, with an official stating that any sexual relationship outside of marriage is forbidden in Islam. Israeli women’s rights activists have been urging international organizations to publicly acknowledge these reports of gender-based violence. Despite their efforts, it took more than seven weeks for UN bodies to explicitly mention sexual violence. Prof Halperin-Kaddari recently visited the UN in Geneva to draw attention to these crimes against humanity, highlighting the delay in their response.
The Survivors of Sexual Violence advocacy group confirms that men were also victims of sexual violence during the October attacks. Evidence is being gathered from survivors, eyewitnesses, and first responders, revealing the extensive extent of these atrocities. The violent acts committed by Hamas included postmortem abuse, kidnapping, and mistreatment of victims of all ages, with many tied to furniture using zip ties.
An ongoing UN commission of inquiry, which investigates war crimes on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, will focus on the sexual violence perpetrated during the October attacks. It is worth noting that Israel has not cooperated with this commission, deeming it biased.
The attack by Hamas on Israel led to the death of 1,200 people, while approximately 240 individuals were taken hostage. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, has resulted in the deaths of over 15,500 people. The motivations and origins of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza remain a complex and deeply rooted issue.
