Warning: This article contains graphic content.
A new 300-page report details the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli women and children on Oct. 7 and in the months of captivity that followed, including forcing family members to commit acts of sexual abuse on each other.
The Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children spent two years documenting the terror group’s sexual violence, interviewing more than 430 witnesses and unearthing more than 10,000 photos and nearly 2,000 hours of footage of the atrocities committed against victims of 52 different nationalities.
The report, “Silenced No More: Sexual Terror Unveiled,” makes clear these were no random acts of brutality.
“The report reveals that sexual violence was a deliberate strategy, carried out with exceptional cruelty,” said international law expert and commission founder Dr. Cochav Elkayam‑Levy.
The commission identified 13 distinct patterns of sexual and gender-based violence, including gang rape; sexual torture, including intentional burning and mutilation; executions following or committed in conjunction with sexual violence; postmortem sexual abuse, humiliation, and desecration of bodies; threats of forced marriages; public displaying and parading of women and children; and sexual violence in the presence of or near family members.
“The repetition of these patterns demonstrates that the crimes were not isolated acts of brutality but formed part of a broader operational method used during the attack and its aftermath,” the report states.
“The men pulled a woman from the vehicle … forcibly removed her clothing, and raped her … They repeatedly stabbed her, killing her … They continued to rape her after her death.” – Raz Cohen, Nova music festival survivor
Abuse of Families
Among the most disturbing findings is what the report calls “kinocidal sexual violence” — “crimes deliberately aimed at torturing and destroying the family as a cohesive social and emotional unit.” This distinct pattern of violence targeted family members and exploited familial relationships as an instrument of terror.
“In several documented incidents, victims were sexually assaulted or humiliated in the presence of relatives, and in one of the documented cases family members were coerced into participating in acts of abuse against one another.”
Further, the investigation found that as a weapon in its terror campaign, Hamas filmed and distributed across social media video of abuse, torture, and murder. In numerous cases, families first discovered the horrific fate of their loved ones via those Hamas videos and images. In some cases, Hamas even posted the material on the victims’ own social media accounts.
“These acts weaponize the deepest human bonds to maximize pain and psychological devastation,” the report stated. “They exacerbate emotional distress and trauma beyond the initial acts and often create multigenerational trauma.”
“It’s these little things that break you. When you have no control over your body and no control over how to take care of your body.” – Former hostage Agam Goldstein, 17
Seeking Justice
“What we have witnessed is deep hatred to humiliate us and terrorize us as a people, as a nation, as women, as vulnerable people who found themselves in captivity and in a prolonged hell,” Elkayam‑Levy told The Times of Israel.
The commission reached the legal conclusion that “these crimes constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts under international law.”
It calls the prosecution of these crimes an “urgent priority” and is pushing for accountability through domestic Israeli proceedings, as well as through sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for carrying out or materially supporting the Oct. 7 attack and its aftermath.
It specifically calls for Israel to establish a “specialized chamber or panel of judges dedicated to the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes committed on October 7th and during captivity.”
“No prosecution will reflect the depth and breadth of what happened,” Elkayam‑Levy told Israeli news site Ynet.
Still, commission CEO Merav Israeli‑Amarant declared, “Institutional international recognition creates the beginning of justice.”
“You hear it. It’s right next to you. You hear the screams . . . and then you hear silence.” – Darin Komarov, Oct. 7 survivor
