CNN
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A new report by a group of Israeli researchers known as the Dyna Project found that 13 women and two men who survived Hamas prisoners of war, said they experienced or witnessed sexual violence while being held hostages in Gaza.
Dyna’s Project Experts – All Women – collected direct testimonies from one hostage from 15 hostages attempted rape during the 27 first responders who participated in the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, 17 eye and ear witnesses and the attack scene.
These testimonies, coupled with forensic reports and photographs and videos from the attack, concluded that Hamas used sexual violence in a broad and systematic “tactical” way as a “weapon of war.”
The report, published Tuesday, describes some of the survivors’ experiences.
Reports revealed that one woman was beaten and sexually assaulted at gunpoint. She said she was chained to the chain of her iron ankle for three weeks and was repeatedly asked about the timing of her menstrual cycle. The report details that many of the 15 former hostages have been threatened with rape in the form of forced marriages. Almost all of them said they reported some physical sexual harassment, including oral sexual harassment and unwanted emotionality in the private parts.
Israel accused the United Nations and international organisations, including its institutions, of ignoring the widespread sexual violence committed by Hamas and other extremist groups during the October 7 attack.
The Dyna Project is an Israeli group established following the attacks to seek justice for victims of sexual violence. It is made up of legal and gender experts, led by legal scholar Ruth Halperin Kadali and former chief prosecutor of the Israeli Defense Forces Sharon Zagagi Pinhas, and is operated under the auspices of the Ruth and Emmanuel Lachman Centre for the advancement of the University of Bar Iran at the University of Bar Iran.
The first official UN approval of the use of sexual violence during attack came about five months after October 7th. Subsequently, following the mission to Israel, a special representative of the United Nations on conflict sexual violence published a report that concluded there was reasonable basis for concluding conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations.
Hamas denied that extremists committed sexual violence in the past, and in a December statement said these were “bassed lies and allegations.”
The scale of the atrocities committed on the day of the attack meant the initial responders and investigators were overwhelmed. Jewish customs say that bodies must be buried as soon as possible after death, so the focus of the first responders, many of whom were Orthodox Jewish volunteers, was on restoring the remains, not researching.
In many cases, authorities were not able to gather enough forensic evidence as they were taking part in the scene while the attack was still ongoing. This often meant that there were no detailed records or photographs of the crime scene immediately afterwards. The report says that many of the victims of sexual violence were killed by the attackers, which resulted in the murder of the attackers.
Once some of the hostages were released, more time had passed and the victims were able to process their experiences, researchers were able to gather more comprehensive, direct evidence.
Researchers from the DINAH Project called for the crime to be recognized as a crime during the attack, saying that perpetrators must be held liable and internationally condemned.
