Following the attacks by Hamas terrorists, more and more details about the atrocities have come to light. The Israeli police are currently analyzing thousands of pieces of evidence. They show: Sexual violence was systematically used as a weapon of war.
It's not often that a senior Israeli police investigator fights back tears. With a trembling voice, Commander Shelly Harush told members of the Israeli parliament that the extent of the October 7 terrorist crimes was incomprehensible. Hamas terrorists used sexual violence to spread fear and terror. More and more eyewitnesses are reporting to the police what they saw during or after the attacks.
We are talking about horror, humiliation, mutilation, cruelty and that the terrorists did not differentiate between babies, small children, boys, girls, women, men, elderly people, soldiers and police officers.
“It was a mass destruction of anyone who crossed its path,” says Harush. Harush's unit number 433 in Lahav has collected more than 1,500 pieces of evidence of war crimes to date, in the largest police investigation of its kind in Israeli history. This makes it clear that terrorists systematically used sexual violence as a weapon of war. Researchers have already reached this conclusion.
Many eyewitnesses were murdered by Hamas
A recently released police video, which ARD was unable to independently verify, shows an anonymous survivor of the rave festival in Re'im being asked: “They forced someone to bend over. Then I understood that he was raping her. I remember of the movement. . Then he passed it on to someone else. The woman says she doesn't know what happened to her. The video ends. She wasn't the only one who saw a rape on October 7th. There are other witnesses who report similar things.
However, eyewitness accounts are rare because most victims of sexual violence are murdered. But there is also another reason, says Orit Sulizeano. She heads the Association of Crisis Centers for Rape Victims in Israel. “We in Israel know that it took decades for those who suffered sexual violence in the Holocaust to speak out about it. 60 years of silence. It happened, and the world needs to believe it.”
Anger at the silence of international organizations
There is great indignation among the Israeli population because international organizations such as the United Nations and the United Nations Association for the Strengthening of Women's Rights took around two months to even mention the word sexual violence on October 7th. On November 29th, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, commented on this in New York. “There are numerous reports of sexual violence during the attacks, which must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted,” Guterres said. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen accused Guterres of not doing enough to publicly condemn Hamas. He is not capable of holding the position.
UN-Women, the UN organization that works to strengthen women's rights, on December 1 condemned “Hamas' brutal attacks on Israel on October 7. We are alarmed by the numerous reports of sexualized gender-based violence during the attacks.” UN Women is now calling for all reports of sexual violence to be investigated and for the acts to be prosecuted. Victims' rights are the focus.
But the initial silence, lack of mention of the issue and belated recognition of sexual violence have already caused damage, says human rights expert Cochav Elkayim-Levy. She is co-founder of a non-governmental commission that collects evidence about the October 7th crimes against women and children. She says that for many survivors and their families, not being heard properly is a second trauma. This is increasing because many people feel that their own government did not do enough to free the hostages, says expert Elkayim-Levy. She specialized in international relations and human rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Criticism from hostage relatives of Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently being heavily criticized, especially by many relatives of the victims of October 7th. Recently, a woman shouted at him at a meeting between relatives and freed hostages and the cabinet. She shouted: “I have lived in the Gaza border area for 40 years. You promised more than once that Hamas would receive a fatal blow. You failed!”
However, Netanyahu also blames the international community for the failure. “Like you, I have heard about sexual violence and rapes of unspeakable brutality. But I must say that, until a few days ago, I had not heard of any human rights organization or women's movement. … I tell you, “Where are you? Are you quiet because these are Jewish women?” he said in early December.
Database collects clues
Because he wants to support law enforcement authorities, Elkayim-Levy wants to continue his work and continue collecting evidence and statements. The Commission to Expose Hamas' October 7th Crimes against Women and Children is compiling a database of clues – videos filmed by terrorists and victims. Including video of a barefoot woman with her hands tied in her hair being dragged out of a jeep. A terrorist shoots into the air and shouts “Allah is great”. The woman's pants are covered in blood between her legs. There are many more. Elkayim-Levy is convinced: “With the failure of the international community to recognize sexual atrocities, the victims and thousands of women in Israel are being left in the lurch.”
Furthermore, the credibility of international organizations has been undermined. Silence encouraged sexual violence not only in Israel, but around the world.
Freed hostages speak out about Hamas sexual violence
Both citizen movements and the Israeli police face a problem: although there are statements from rescuers, paramedics, coroners and even the terrorists themselves, much forensic evidence of rape was lost because appropriate testing was hardly possible in the hours following the attacks. Some of the freed hostages themselves have now provided valuable information.
Human rights activist Elkayim-Levy says young children have also been raped and killed. She has evidence of how the terrorists practiced saying “pants down” in Hebrew and obtained permission from Muslim clerics to rape women and children. The terrorists were apparently interested in systematic genocide. About degrading and extinguishing women because they represent the continued existence of the people in Israel.
Bettina Meier, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, December 7, 2023 6:55 pm