In light of reports of a large number of alleged violent acts during the attack on Israel by the radical Islamic group Hamas, UN human rights experts have called for them to be prosecuted and punished.
“These acts constitute serious violations of international law,” said a statement today from the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, and the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, Morris Tidball-Binz.
According to the two independent experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, the incidents can be classified as war crimes and, “given the number of victims and the extensive planning and preparation, ” crimes against humanity.
“Harrowing” reports of sexual violence
Above all, the increasing number of reports of sexual violence is “shocking,” Edwards and Tidball-Binz explained. There are allegations of sexual torture, “including rape and gang rape, sexual assault, mutilation and shooting in the genital area.”
On October 7, hundreds of fighters from Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the US and the EU, entered Israel and committed atrocities, mainly against civilians. According to Israeli data, 1,140 people were killed, some brutally, and around 250 others were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip.