JERUSALEM,— A new report published Tuesday by researchers at Bar-Ilan University outlines grave sexual violence carried out by Islamist Hamas militants during the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli communities, offering legal strategies to support future war crimes prosecutions.
The detailed report draws from eyewitness testimonies, forensic material, and video recordings, citing 15 separate cases of rape, mutilation, and abuse, involving at least 17 witnesses.
Among the incidents described are gang rapes, genital mutilations, and bodies found nude, handcuffed, or with gunshot wounds to their private parts.
The researchers argue that these acts amount to systematic war crimes and urge both domestic and international legal bodies to take immediate action.
“We believe this evidence presents a clear legal path to bring charges, even if the specific identities of perpetrators remain unknown,” said Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a co-author and legal expert.
The findings were formally presented to Israel’s First Lady, Michal Herzog, on Tuesday.
The authors, part of the university’s Dinah Project focusing on gender and law, said their goal was to push the United Nations to list Hamas among those using sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Several released hostages also previously reported witnessing or enduring sexual assaults while held by Hamas in Gaza.
These claims, widely reported in Israeli and international media, have been consistently denied by Hamas. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim dismissed the report, saying it wasn’t worth a comment.
However, the evidence aligns with multiple survivor accounts and documented cases from Israeli authorities and medical teams.
Earlier this year, a U.N. report accused Israel of using sexual violence in Gaza—a claim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called false, anti-Israel, and antisemitic.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva responded to the U.N. Commission of Inquiry, saying it was politically biased and that October 7 victims would never receive justice from such a body.
The university researchers said their legal model aims to assist both Israeli and international courts in prosecuting such crimes, regardless of Hamas’s continued denials.
There has been no official statement yet from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office regarding the report.
(With files from Reuters)
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