Twomonth investigation based on 150 interviews, photos and videos shows how an extremist group raped Israeli women on October 7; Hamas denies allegations
A report (for subscribers) published on Thursday (December 28, 2023) by the North American newspaper The New York Times said that the extremist group Hamas weaponized sexual violence during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The NYT's extensive journalistic investigation lasted two months. The team interviewed more than 150 people, including witnesses, soldiers, doctors and experts in sexual violence cases. Photos, videos and GPS data from cell phones were also analyzed.
The conclusion is that cases of sexual violence were not isolated incidents. According to the newspaper Hamas extremists raped, abused and killed women and girls in at least seven parts of Israel in the October 7 attacks. Hamas denies the allegations, saying such practices violate the principles of Islam.
ATTENTION: The reports published by the NYT and described below are strong.
The newspaper reported it had access to photos and videos showing:
- the body of a woman in a kibbutz with dozens of nails in her thighs and groin area;
- The bodies of two soldiers killed at a base near Gaza appear to indicate that both were shot directly in the vagina.
Volunteer soldiers and doctors said they found more than 30 bodies of women and girls near the rave attacked by Hamas and where three Brazilians died and in the kibbutzim of Be'eri and Kfar Aza. The victims had open legs, torn clothing and signs of violence in the genital area. Some even suffered mutilations or were killed while tied up.
Survivors of the raid who managed to hide from Hamas told the NYT that they witnessed scenes of rape and saw extremists carrying severed heads of women. Below you will find 3 reports:
- sapphire, 24yearold accountant who spoke on the condition that her full name not be revealed here is the account this witness gave, according to an excerpt from the text of the NYT report: “The first victim she said she saw , was young.” Woman with red hair, blood running down his back and pants down to his knees. A man pulled her hair and forced her to bend over. Another penetrated her, Sapir said, and every time she flinched he plunged a knife into her back. She said she then saw another woman “shattered.” While one terrorist raped her, another pulled out a box cutter and slashed her chest, she said. “One keeps raping her and the other throws her breast to someone else and they play with it and throw it until it falls on the street,” Sapir said. She stated that the men cut this woman's face, which then disappeared from view. Around the same time, she said, she saw three other women being raped and terrorists carrying the severed heads of three other women. Sapir provided photos of her hiding place and her injuries, and police officers confirmed the accuracy of her statement and released a video in which she, with a blurred face, recounted some of the things the accountant had seen”;
- Raz Cohen, Security Advisor “Everyone [5 extremistas] gather around them. She stands. They start raping her. She screams. I still remember his voice, a wordless scream. Then one of them raises a knife and they massacre them”;
- Jamal Waraki, Volunteer at the NGO Zaka (specializing in rescue and first aid) “The hands [do corpo de uma jovem encontrada na rave atacada] They were tied behind their backs. She was bent over, half naked, her panties rolled up below her knees.”
According to the NYT, investigators from Lahav 433, an elite Israeli police unit, are collecting evidence of the rapes. However, there is still no approximate number of victims. Here are the reasons listed by authorities:
- most of the victims died;
- The bodies were buried as quickly as possible for religious reasons and were not subjected to an autopsy or examination that could have determined the presence of sperm.
- The Israeli police's initial goal was not to analyze a crime scene, but rather to expel Hamas from Israeli territory and identify the dead.
Hamas has denied that its members committed rape, but has not responded to these specific allegations collected by Israeli authorities and also described in the NYT report.
“We, the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas, firmly reject these baseless claims and fabrications aimed at inciting against the legitimate struggle of our people,” the group said on October 11, following US President Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu , Prime Minister of Israel He blamed the extremists at the time, without revealing full details now.
Read the full Hamas statement (PDF 152 kB).
NYTimes criticized
The NYT, the most important newspaper in the United States and one of the most influential in the world, has faced criticism in recent months from the Israeli community, which understood that the vehicle did not highlight Hamas' October 7 violence.
On December 24, 2023, the NYT published in its opinion section an article (subscriber link) by Gaza City Mayor Yahya R. Sarraj, who has held the Hamasappointed post since 2019. The publication of the text provoked a Wave of criticism on social networks (formerly Twitter) accused the newspaper of “promoting one of Hamas' leaders and allowing him to spread his propaganda.”
The NYT did not respond to criticism of Yahya R. Sarraj's article. But four days later, it released the detailed report dated December 28, 2023, two months in the making, detailing Hamas's use of sexual violence.