Hamas Strategized Using Sexual Violence as a Tool of Warfare, Claims Israeli Activist

According to Israeli women's rights campaigner and lawyer, Prof Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Hamas had a deliberate plan to use sexual violence as a weapon of war. Halperin-Kaddari stated that she saw footage of women in multiple locations who showed signs of rape. The delay of some UN bodies to acknowledge these claims has caused anger. Israeli authorities have been gathering evidence of sexual crimes during the attacks. The scale of sexual violence carried out by Hamas is not yet clear, but Israeli police have collected over 1,500 testimonies. The attacks at the Supernova festival were particularly gruesome, as pictures and live footage streamed by the militants indicated. Police are investigating various forms of violence, including gang rape and sexual mutilation. Halperin-Kaddari shared eyewitness accounts of survivors who saw women being raped and a paramedic who treated a woman who had been raped by four men. She emphasized that there was a concentration of rape cases in a relatively short time period, suggesting a premeditated plan to use sexual violence as a weapon of war. Hamas denies these allegations, claiming that any sexual activity outside of marriage is forbidden by Islam. Israeli women's rights activists have been calling on international organizations to acknowledge reports of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, following the attacks. Halperin-Kaddari, who has been a member of a UN convention on discrimination against women, has been urging UN bodies to acknowledge these "crimes against humanity". She criticized the delay in UN response, stating that it took them more than seven weeks to acknowledge the sexual violence. Yael Sherer from the Survivors of Sexual Violence advocacy group mentioned that men were also victims of sexual violence during the attacks. Evidence is being gathered from survivors, eyewitnesses, and first responders who have been providing details of the violence. Sherer described how Hamas terrorists tried to disgrace and dishonor the victims in various ways, even after their deaths. An ongoing UN commission of inquiry is investigating war crimes on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, including sexual violence during the October attacks. However, Israel has not cooperated with the commission, viewing it as biased. The Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October resulted in the death of 1,200 people and the hostage-taking of around 240 others. Since then, more than 15,500 people have been killed in Israel's military campaign, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.