A two-month investigation by The New York Times has uncovered horrific details of Hamas terrorists committing acts of sexual violence on October 7 2023.
Journalists at the US-based publication interviewed more than 150 people in Israel and analysed verified video footage, photographs, GPS data and evidence from mobile phones to conduct their extensive investigation.
Witnesses, survivors, soldiers and volunteer medics confirmed the accusations of Hamas committing sexual war crimes against Israeli women on October 7, the day the terrorist organisation launched a brutal attack on Israel, killing up to 1200 people. The attack was the deadliest day in the history of the Israeli state.
The New York Times identified at least seven locations where Israeli women and girls were sexually assaulted or mutilated on the day of the attack.
Although no victim survivors have spoken publicly of the attacks, the details that emerged from the evidence obtained by the publication are egregious.
One woman’s body, retrieved from the rubble of a besieged kibbutz, was found with several nails driven into her thighs and her groin. There were also two Israel soldiers found dead, who were shot directly in their vaginas, according to the evidence.
Hamas has denied all accusations of sexual violence following the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The terrorist organisation’s attack on Israel three months ago was met with a swift response by the Israel Defence Force (IDF). According to reports from Al Jazeera, around 21,978 Palestinians have been killed from Israel’s military operation in the Gaza strip.
Due to the rapid mobilisation of the IDF following Hamas’ shocking attack on Israel, Israeli police, according to The New York Times, admitted authorities were not focused on collecting semen samples from women’s bodies, requesting autopsies or investigating crime scenes where the alleged sexual violence occurred.
The global organisation UN Women were also slow to respond to allegations of sexual violence of Israel women and girls on October 7. It wasn’t until early December 2023, two months after the massacre, that UN Women acknowledged and condemned the atrocities.
The New York Times spoke with volunteer medics from ZAKA, the emergency response organisation in Israel who attended the crime scenes following the October 7 attacks.
Some told the publication the lack of photographic evidence of women’s and girls’ corpses, who were victims of sexual violence, was due to religious reasons, out of respect for the bodies. One volunteer told The New York Times, in “retrospect”, he regretted this decision.
Responses
Israeli and Jewish advocates have spoken publicly on the findings from The New York Times, including writer, editor and speaker Laura E. Adkins.
“The overwhelming evidence of sexual violence committed by terrorists who infiltrated Israel on October 7 document in a new @nytimes investigation is being met with denial,” Adkins wrote on X.
“Because ultimately, nothing — not a blockbuster investigation, not survivors testifying to the carnage they witnessed, not even substantial forensic evidence — will ever be enough to make Israelis human and worthy of sympathy in the eyes of many.
“In a worldview reduced to victim and oppressor, there is simply no space for it.”
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, wrote on X: “For the UN, Israeli lives DON’T matter!!
“Since the October 7 massacre, the UN has ignored Hamas’ rape and sexual violence, and has become an accomplice of the terror organization.”
For the UN, Israeli lives DON’T matter‼️
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) December 29, 2023
Since the October 7 massacre, the UN has ignored Hamas’ rape and sexual violence, and has become an accomplice of the terror organization. For those who are not biased against Israel, the truth is clear, as Golda Meir stated: if the Arabs… pic.twitter.com/OoyprcHtrB
Sheila Katz, the CEO of the US’ National Council of Jewish Women, also condemned the sexual violence on October 7.
“Hamas intentionally used rape as a weapon of war on Oct 7th in Israel,” she wrote on X.
“The harrowing details of these women’s final moments demand our collective condemnation to ensure that such atrocities are never ever repeated.”