The first official report of its kind “leaves no possibility of it being denied or ignored” by the international community, according to its authors.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
The evidence is clear that Hamas’ sexual sadism during its October 7 invasion of Israel was a strategic choice, said an official report publicized Tuesday as the first of its kind. The statement revealed that the terrorists even forced families to watch their horrific acts.
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel studied dozens upon dozens of witness and survivor testimonies and interviews with rescuers and medical professionals who treated victims, some of which have not been made public. Its conclusion was unmistakable.
“The report, which will be submitted to the decision makers at the UN, leaves no possibility of it being denied or ignored,” said Association head Orit Sulitzeanu. “The terrorist organization Hamas has chosen to harm the State of Israel with two clear strategies – taking citizens hostage and sadistic sex crimes.”
The document describes how the terrorists raped men, women and underage girls, in group attacks and one by one, in their rampages through Gazan envelope kibbutzim, towns and the Nova music festival near the border. Often, the sexual violence was committed in front of the victims’ spouses, family or friends, in a way designed “to intensify the impact on the victims themselves and their environment, which was unable to prevent the harm [being inflicted],” said the report.
In most cases, the victims were murdered after being raped, but some were murdered while the heinous acts were being perpetrated. The dead continued to be violated, with both women’s and men’s genitalia being horrifically mutilated in ways described in heart-wrenching detail in the report.
The document also makes clear that the sexual violence is continuing even now, against at least some of the 103 hostages still left alive in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. Many of the female abductees who were among the nearly 80 Israeli women and children released in a late November deal with Hamas have spoken out about the abuse they experienced. They likewise spoke of what they knew their Hamas captors were inflicting on their friends, and have repeatedly stated that there is no doubt it is ongoing among those who were left behind.
“It is no longer possible to remain silent,” Sulitzeanu said with finality. “We expect the international organizations to take a clear position. It is impossible to stand on the sidelines. Remaining on the other side will be remembered as a historic stain on all those who chose to remain silent and deny the sexual crimes committed by Hamas.”
Many women’s groups have refused to condemn Hamas even though Israeli accounts of the terrorists’ deliberate use of sexual violence emerged early on in the war sparked by the Hamas invasion in which 1,200 people were massacred. These accounts were backed by investigative reports by such respected news organizations as The New York Times. Those that did speak out did so only after weeks or months of pressure by Jewish groups and prominent media personalities.
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