Hamas 'weaponised' sexual violence in 7 October attacks, Israeli investigation says

An independent, Israeli investigation has published harrowing details of "systematic, widespread" sexual violence by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during the attacks on 7 October 2023, and against hostages.

The 300-page report concludes that rapes, sexual assault and sexual torture were intended "to maximize pain and suffering".

While the UN and others have published reports on sexual violence during the attacks – in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – this is the most comprehensive.

It draws on 430 filmed interviews with survivors and witnesses, more than 10,000 photographs and videos filmed by attackers, and official records and material from attack sites.

Warning: This story contains graphic details of sexual and other violence

Hamas has repeatedly denied that sexual and gender-based violence took place during the attacks or against those held captive. An investigation by the UN's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict concluded there were "reasonable grounds to believe" sexual violence, including gang rape, had been committed.

Accounts of sexual violence emerged soon after the Hamas-led attacks, prompting an Israeli legal expert to set up the commission.

Witnesses quoted in the Civil Commission report describe hearing and seeing violent gang rapes at the Nova dance festival, where more than 370 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks. A male survivor also gives an account of being used like a "sex doll" by assailants. Many of those raped or apparently assaulted were shot in the head.

There are recurring accounts from the festival site, kibbutzim and military bases which were over-run of dead women found without their underwear, and corpses with genital mutilation.

The report says that "extreme forms" of sexual and gender-based violence "continued against hostages in captivity for prolonged periods, inflicted on both women and men". It describes the attacks as "the weaponization of sexual violence".

Some former hostages including Amit Soussana, Arbel Yehud, Romi Gonen, Rom Braslavski and Guy Gilbol Dalal have given public accounts of being sexually assaulted. However other victims have only spoken confidentially to medical staff, therapists and investigators.

The report includes many shocking new claims including that two young relatives were forced by their captors to perform sex acts on each other. That case is part of what the report says was "a distinct pattern of violence targeting family members and exploiting familial relationships as instruments of terror".

The Civil Commission found that the crimes carried out "constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts under international law." Its evidence, which is being kept in a secure archive, may aid future prosecutions.

In the immediate aftermath of the assault, some initial accounts of terrible violence shared by Israeli officials turned out to be false. Some important forensic evidence was also destroyed by first responders rushing to the crime scenes.

In interviews the report authors say this led them to be extra careful when it came to cross-referencing and fact-checking evidence they included. No evidence has been taken from Israeli interrogations of detained suspects to ensure the independence of the work.

The Civil Commission says its aim is also to create a historical record.

As many victims of sexual assault during the 7 October attacks were killed and others remain deeply traumatised, its report set out "to ensure that the suffering endured by the victims will not be denied, erased or forgotten".

The 7 October 2023 was the deadliest ever day in Israel. It triggered the deadliest ever war in Gaza, which has killed 72,742 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.