NewsBite

Sexual violence was rife on October 7, say new witnesses

Testimony from survivors and 15 hostages shows rape was used as a weapon of war, but most victims were ‘permanently silenced’ – either murdered during the assaults, or left too traumatised to talk.

The aftermath on October 12, 2023, at the site of the Nova music festival, where Hamas militants murdered and raped Israelis. Picture: Getty
The aftermath on October 12, 2023, at the site of the Nova music festival, where Hamas militants murdered and raped Israelis. Picture: Getty

Some were awoken in their beds in kibbutzim by shooting. Others were dancing at dawn at a music festival in the Negev desert. Among the approximately 1200 people slaughtered in the most brutal attack on Israel in its history were found the bodies of young women stripped and tied to trees and poles, shot through their genitalia and in the head.

Sexual violence was “widespread and systematic” during the October 7 attack, rape and gang rape occurring in at least six different locations, according to a report using testimony never heard before now. But most victims were “permanently silenced”, either murdered during the assaults or left too traumatised to talk. About 1200 people were killed in the attack.

The Dinah Project’s report, which will be published in Jerusalem on Tuesday, is based on first-hand testimony from 15 of the returned hostages from Gaza (only one of whom has spoken previously) and a survivor of attempted rape at the Nova music festival, as well as interviews with 17 people who saw or heard the attacks and with therapists working with traumatised survivors.

Abandoned and destroyed vehicles at the Nova festival. Picture: Getty
Abandoned and destroyed vehicles at the Nova festival. Picture: Getty

In the 20 months since the attacks, little has aroused more controversy than the issue of sexual violence, with claims and counterclaims leaving victims and their families feeling forgotten.

The aim of this report, put together by Israeli gender and legal experts and partly funded by the British government, is “to counter denial, misinformation and global silence” in what it says is “one of the most under-reported dimensions of the attacks” and “to set the historical record straight: Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war”.

“Clear patterns emerged in how the sexual violence was perpetrated,” it states, “including victims found partially or fully naked with their hands tied, often to trees or poles; evidence of gang rapes followed by execution; and genital mutilation.”

The attacks took place at the Nova music festival, Route 232, the military base at Nahal Oz, and three kibbutzim: Re’im, Nir Oz and Kfar Aza. Those taken hostage were also abused.

“Sexual violence continued in captivity, with many returnees reporting forced nudity, physical and verbal sexual harassment, sexual assaults and threats of forced marriage,” the report adds.

The project to collate all available evidence and “ensure recognition and justice for victims and survivors” was initiated by the feminist academic Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, director of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women, at Bar-Ilan University, working with Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, expert on international law and former chief military prosecutor of the Israeli army, and Nava Ben-Or, a retired judge, former deputy state lawyer and expert in the field of sexual abuse of children.

Relatives of victims of the October 7 attacks visit an installation bearing the photos of their loved ones who were killed or kidnapped at the site of the Nova festival, in Re'im, southern Israel in 2024. Picture: AFP
Relatives of victims of the October 7 attacks visit an installation bearing the photos of their loved ones who were killed or kidnapped at the site of the Nova festival, in Re'im, southern Israel in 2024. Picture: AFP

It is a response to anger at the inadequate response from international organisations such as UN Women in the light of reports of sexual violence by The Sunday Times and others; questions raised by false claims from first responders and from those who insist that, as an Islamic organisation, Hamas would not rape women (despite examples such as Islamic State and Boko Haram); and arguments that the issue had been “weaponised” by the Israeli government to justify its own atrocities in Gaza.

This was particularly hard for Halperin-Kaddari, who as a member of the committee for elimination of discrimination against women, had worked for years on cases of sexual violence overseas, such as the Yazidis taken as sex slaves by Islamic State and girls taken by Boko Haram in Nigeria. “We feel let down by other women round the world,” she said. “If the standard is to believe survivors and witnesses, there is no excuse to keep quiet. Yet in this case a different standard was employed and the victims were lost in politicisation. The fact so many kept silent or even denied what happened was devastating and a grave failure of international human rights.”

They named it the Dinah Project after the first rape victim in the Bible and the Torah, who is raped by a Shechem, son of a prince, after which Dinah’s brothers kill the men of his tribe and abduct their women. Dinah’s voice is never heard. In the same way, Halperin-Kaddari says the project aims “to be a voice for those who cannot or can no longer speak”.

Last year fact-finding reports were made by the United Nations special representative for preventing sexual violence, a UN independent commission of inquiry, and the International Criminal Court, all of which found indications of sexual violence and even gang rape. But the Dinah Project brings in new evidence including that of first-hand witnesses – 15 returned hostages who experienced sexual violence in captivity, only one of whom has spoken publicly: Amit Soussana, a lawyer held for 55 days. Two of them were male and one had all their body hair shaved.

Amit Soussana, right, hugs a friend near her house where she was kidnapped during the October 7th attack on the kibbutz. Picture: Getty
Amit Soussana, right, hugs a friend near her house where she was kidnapped during the October 7th attack on the kibbutz. Picture: Getty

Zagagi-Pinhas says that “sexual violence need not mean rape – also forced nudity, forcing some of the hostages to strip and shower while being watched or trying to force them into marriage”.

They also spoke to a victim of attempted rape at the Nova festival who took 17 months to come forward. “We know from therapists there are more but they are still too traumatised to speak,” she added. Others interviewed included 17 people who saw or heard attacks and described them in detail. They including two brothers who hid under bushes and Tali Biner, a nurse who hid inside a container. They described 15 incidents including gang rapes. Last, they spoke to 27 first responders “describing dozens of cases in different locations” as well as analysing evidence from photographs and videos.

“What we found makes clear that sexual violence including rape and gang rape took place in multiple locations,” Halperin-Kaddari said. “We found patterns of evidence,” Zagagi-Pinhas added. “Women found dead, naked and mutilated – with gunshots in their genitalia – and tied to trees. The fact that the same things happened in three to six locations can’t be coincidence but proof this was premeditated.”

“We see October 7 as a test case,” said Ben-Or, the retired judge. “Authorities are used to seeking justice on an individual case but here we have mass cases and most victims were murdered or too traumatised to speak which creates profound challenges for establishing accountability so we needed to come up with a new legal framework and new ways to prosecute.”

“Sexual violence in conflict is about destruction and dehumanising a community so the idea you have to find a specific perpetrator who harmed a specific victim is irrelevant,” she added. “To say ‘When I joined Hamas I meant only to murder women and children, but I am very much against rape’ is ridiculous. Everything that was done within the framework of the attack you are responsible for.”

The report calls for the UN secretary-general to send a fact-finding mission in the light of the testimonies and to include Hamas in the blacklist in the UN’s annual report of those designated for using sexual violence as a weapon of war.

The Times

Read related topics:Israel

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/sexual-violence-was-rife-on-october-7-say-new-witnesses/news-story/6d78aefc9e26a689ee4b83ce94c59368