Israel has accused Hamas of committing abuses against large numbers of women. Hamas denies the allegations. From the first days after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Israel has accused Hamas terrorists of committing widespread sexual violence. The Israeli authorities say they are investigating reports of sexual assault and have compiled considerable evidence — from witnesses, emergency medical workers and crime scene photographs — that they took place. But they say it has been extremely difficult to collect the evidence because most of the victims are dead. Many activists say that too little credence has been given to what they believe was a pattern of widespread rape during the attacks by Hamas. The activists have complained that some news outlets questioned the veracity of the allegations and that international organizations like the United Nations were too slow to speak up about the issue. Jewish women’s groups have organized a conference to take place at the United Nations on Monday to focus attention on the issue. Hamas officials have denied the reports of sexual violence and said that any atrocities were committed by other armed groups that poured into Israel after Hamas fighters breached the barrier fence surrounding Gaza. But extensive witness testimony and documentary evidence of killings, including videos posted by Hamas fighters themselves, support the allegations. This is what we know. Israel Accuses Hamas of Mass Rape Meni Binyamin, the head of the International Crime Investigations Unit of the Israeli police, has said that “dozens” of women and some men were raped by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. “We are investigating sexual crimes against both women and men perpetrated by Hamas terrorists,” Mr. Binyamin said in an interview with The New York Times. “There were violent rape incidents, the most extreme sexual abuses we have seen, of both women and men. I am talking about dozens.” Editors’ Picks Penguins Take Thousands of Naps Every Day A Subway Ride at the Paris Olympics Could Cost You Almost Double A Harvard Professor Prepares to Teach a New Subject: Taylor Swift “This is an ongoing investigation,” Mr. Binyamin added. “I cannot get into details.” Mr. Binyamin said a team of investigators had gathered “tens of thousands” of testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the attack, as well as from soldiers and emergency medical workers. He said intelligence officers were combing through banks of video imagery and photographs of the Hamas incursion. They have not shared any information about interviewing victims of rape. Autopsies, forensic evidence and confessions from captured Hamas fighters also corroborate that sexual crimes were committed, he said. The Israeli authorities have released little information about specific crimes and victims but in mid-November, police officials shared a video of an Israeli woman who said she had watched Hamas terrorists gang raping a young woman whom they captured during a music festival in the Negev desert. The witness, whom the police did not identify, said she had been hiding during the festival and had seen Hamas terrorists taking turns raping a young woman, mutilating her and then shooting her in the head. Her testimony was consistent with other witness accounts from the music festival.
via nytimes: What We Know About Sexual Violence During the Oct. 7 Attacks on Israel