An international outcry is growing as evidence emerges of widespread sexual violence by Hamas, as disclosed by the Daily Mail reporters Summer Goodkind and David Averre. The delayed acknowledgment of these crimes by certain international agencies has sparked criticism and heightened the urgency for accountability.
Israeli investigators are uncovering evidence of sexual violence during the October 7 attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. Both men and women were victims, according to the ARCCI (The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel). The unprecedented police inquiry seeks to expose a planned strategy to terrorize and humiliate victims.
David Katz, from the Lahav 443 criminal investigation unit, did not give a precise figure for the number of cases under investigation, but said the inquiry could take 'six to eight months'.
Yoni Saadon, 39, a survivor of the harrowing assault on the Nova music festival, provided a chilling testimony over the weekend. Concealing himself under lifeless bodies during the attack, he recounted witnessing distressing acts of sexual violence including rape against women at the festival grounds. The grim details he shared paint a horrifying picture of the atrocities that unfolded during that monstrous event. "I saw this beautiful woman with the face of an angel and eight or ten of the terrorists beating and raping her."
Eight weeks after the attacks in which more than 1,200 were killed and 240 taken hostage, there has been mounting evidence of widespread rape on October 7.
Haim Outmezgine, from ZAKA, who collects the remains of bodies said: "We collected 1,000 bodies in ten days from the festival site and kibbutzim. No one saw more than us. It was clear they were trying to spread as much horror as they could — to kill, burn alive, rape … it seemed their mission was to rape as many as possible."
