A new report released on Tuesday (8) by DINAH PROJECTan initiative that seeks justice for survivors of sexual violence in conflict zones, denounces how Hamas systematically used rapes as a weapon of civilians during the massacre of October 7, 2023.
The document entitled “In search of justice: October 7th and beyond” is the first report to offer legal direction based on international law to identify and seek justice to victims who were violated during the surprise attack of terrorists who began the current war in the Gaza Strip.
According to the DINAH PROJECTHamas has made a broader campaign of terror, collective humiliation and dehumanization of Israeli society by committing sexual crimes.
A former reoffense kidnapped by the terrorist group on October 7 who reported being a victim of sexual violence, 31-year-old Ilana Gritzewsky attended the meeting in Jerusalem and spoke during the report. She remained in captivity in the hands of terrorists for 55 days, being released during the first ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in November 2023.
“I remember they hit me and I shouted, and then everything was dark. When I woke up, it was half naked, surrounded by terrorists,” she said.
“They hit me. I had a hell. My bones were broken, but that doesn’t compare to the psychological pain I felt. No one should go through what I went through,” Gritzewsky continued.
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, legal expert at Bar-Ilan University and co-author of the report, highlighted the importance of denouncing the use of sexual violence in conflicts as a weapon to dehumanize targets. “Sexual violence in conflict is a weapon. It’s not random, not only directed to individuals and is not unintentionally. It’s time for the international community to treat it as such.”
The document was prepared in conjunction with other authorities such as the retired judge Nava Ben-Ror and Colonel Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, former military chief of the defense forces of Israel (FDI).
O DINAH PROJECT He began producing the report shortly after the massacre of October 7, 2023, gathering all the evidence and information available on Hamas terrorist sexual crimes during the attack and later in captivity against the hostages.
One of the document’s authors, former FDI-chief of the FDI Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, said one of the biggest obstacles to producing a report like this is that “sexual crimes during the war are-forgive me-a ‘perfect crime’.”
According to her, this is because “perpetrators can trust the silence of their victims, either because it murder them, as was the case of most victims assaulted on October 7, or by survivors due to the trauma and shame inherent in the crime that they often do not talk about it.”
The document gathers reports of victims, eyewitnesses, rescuers, workers of the Military Base of Shura, which served as a morgue, health professionals and therapists, as well as photos and videos captured during the massacre.
The initiative, mostly formed by women, seeks to press Israel’s government and judiciary to apply the doctrine of collective responsibility to process terrorists for sexual crimes such as humanity crimes and urge UN Secretary-General to add Hamas to the list of organizations that use sexual violence as a weapon of war, according to previous resolutions of the Security Council.
Still, the DINAH PROJECT It aims to create a legal structure that can be used internationally to open processes on sexual crimes committed at war before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague and other UN Human Rights bodies. See the full report Neste Link.
