Report: Rapes occurred during Hamas attack

Systemic and intentional sexual violence against women occurred during the 7 October surprise cross-border attack by the Hamas extremist group on Israel, an Israeli group said in a report.

The report released by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel this week said the Hamas attack “included brutal acts of violent rape, often involving threats with weapons, specifically directed towards injured women.”

“Many rape incidents occurred collectively, with collaboration among the perpetrating terrorists. In some cases, the rape was conducted in front of an audience, such as victims’ partners, family, or friends, to increase the pain and humiliation for all present,” it said.

“Some Hamas members pursued victims who escaped the massacre, dragging them screaming by their hair. The majority of victims were subsequently killed during or after the sexual assault,” it added.

The report, which was based on numerous confidential and public pieces of information, including testimonies, interviews with official and non-official first responders, information permitted for publication in various media outlets, and direct information received by the ARCCI, noted the sadistic practices of the Hamas militants.

“Many victims’ bodies were found mutilated and bound, with sexual organs brutally attacked, and in some cases, weapons inserted into them,” the group said.

“Some bodies were discovered deliberately booby-trapped. It is essential to note that the report details only information from identified sources permitted for publication, while analysis includes additional confidential information that cannot be disclosed publicly,” it added.

The report specifically stated that sexual and gender-based violence occurred “systematically” at the Nova Festival and the Kibbutzim.

It also noted “clear signs of sexual violence” in the bodies of female Israeli soldiers at the Shura camp.

Those who were held captive by Hamas testified to having experienced sexual assault while in captivity.

The report, which centered on the sexual violence against women in the 7 October attack, did not provide quantitative information “due to the nature of the events, most of which resulted in the victims’ deaths, making their full extent unknown and possibly unknowable.”

The 7 October attack left more than 1,400 Israelis dead, which further sparked the ongoing armed conflict in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the number of Palestinians killed in the war, which has now spread to Rafah, has reached more than 29,000.