HAMAS TERRORISTS' SEXUAL CRIMES HAS RESULTED IN A LEGAL EFFORT TO BRING THE RAPISTS OF CHILDREN THROUGH ELDERLY WOMEN TO JUSTICE

A mission of historic proportions: This is how Israel will get justice for the victims of Hamas' sexual atrocities

Evidence on rapes and sexual mutilation has been meticulously gathered by legal experts, specialists, and other activists. Israel Hayom spoke to women leading the effort.

 

By  Merav Sever 

Israel Hayom

Nov 20, 2023

 

 

A volunteer with the unit responsible for identifying female victims of the Hamas massacre has described what she had seen as "just abject cruelty": "Children through to elderly women have been raped. [There has been] forcible entry to the point where bones were broken."

 

What was whispered in the first weeks since the Oct. 7 massacre has recently come to the forefront as a whole host of governmental agencies began tackling this painful issue: The biggest rape investigation in Israeli history. 

The Israel Police's severe crimes unit, Lahav 433, has collected numerous testimonies from the Black Saturday massacre over the past month to be used in the legal proceedings that are to come, as well as for commemoration purposes.

"A significant share of the murders were committed by civilians," the investigators note.  For the first time, evidence has been gathered from members of the forensic teams, and the investigators in the Israel Police are trying to build a collective case against Hamas terrorists who were captured.

The evidence includes, among other things, information gathered through the interrogation of the terrorists, as well as testimonies of survivors. All these testimonies and evidence will serve as official evidence for the legal process when the time comes, as well as a testament to the atrocities. These are compelling testimonies that include horrifying descriptions of what people saw that day when they arrived at the scenes of death, which can prove that Hamas terrorists committed sexual offenses against women before executing them.

According to testimonies from ZAKA – a Jerusalem-based International Rescue Unit that operates a specially trained team of volunteer paramedics and search and rescue – there were also cases of sexual abuse against some of the men found. In some cases, intimate body parts of the victims were violated. One member of the ZAKA volunteers told investigators in a trembling voice that in many cases, "it was hard to tell whether it was a man or a woman."

For the preparation of this article, we spoke with members of Lahav 433 and the ZAKA and examined materials published to the public from the interrogations carried out by the Shin Bet security agency. We also spoke with the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, and leading women professionals in their fields dealing with the treatment of sexual trauma victims. From all the conversations and testimonies, a clear picture emerges: Hamas-ISIS monsters committed brutal acts of rape and harmed women during their assault. 

One of the women we spoke with is Professor Yifat Bitton, a law professor and the president of Achva Academic College, who has been researching violence against women, including sexual violence, for 25 years and has led legal cases to have the victims get compensation. "On the first day of the war, in the battle, my brother-in-law Chen Nachmias – a member of the Israel Police's special counterterrorism force – was killed fighting in Sderot," she reveals. "Although his death was determined at Barzilai Hospital, his body was transferred to the Shura Base and we couldn't find his body. During the search for him, which lasted several days, I became aware of the extent of the chaos.

 Professor Yifat Bitton, Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Attorney Ayelet Razin Bet Or, and Colonel (res.) former Chief Military Prosecutor Sharon Zagagi Pinhas 

 

"The army behaved as if it were only a war event. This means that the event was treated as a 'war zone'; it was not translated into a 'crime scene.' The guiding principle was identification, protection of the body, and immediate burial.

"Even the conduct in the Gaza border communities and the site of the music festival massacre, it was clear that there was no preservation of the scene and the bodies in the way that was required for interpreting the terrible crimes that were committed there. I began to make various inquiries with officials, it also emerged that there was very little gathering of forensic evidence, and some people who should have had their testimonies heard as witnesses were ignored. 

"For example, ZAKA and United Hatzalah were treated as auxiliary forces only, not as direct witnesses to the crimes committed. Today we know that in the face of the sheer volume of bodies they had to examine, these people ultimately became victims themselves. They experienced great trauma because they saw the horrors at the crime scenes. Nevertheless, many of them were not asked to provide testimony; freelancers began documenting the horrors and spreading the information long before the first responders were asked to testify. It would have been better, for example, to act through the leaders of these organizations to create some orderly process so that the evidence would be gathered. Unfortunately, there are ways to go before we reach our destination, and it appears that much of the evidence may have been forever lost or simply buried, literally."

 Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy  

 

Bitton points out that at the end of the first week of the war, a group of women who are experts in crimes against women and international law began discussing the complex situation regarding evidence and cross-checking information about how different investigative entities are conducting themselves.

"Victims of rape in crimes scenes like those of October 7 – where rape is intended to serve a purpose of national degradation – typically do not survive to tell their stories. We are determined to give voice to their cry so that get justice from the grave. This can and should be done at a historical-legal level through both civilian and criminal courts, in Israel and abroad," she says.

On the eighth day of the war, Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy had enough of watching the UN and key institutions that deal with women and children stay silent. Elkayam-Levy, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializes in international law, gender, and the protection of human rights, established the Commission on the Oct. 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, which has been collecting testimonies, images, videos, and other evidence of gender-based violence. Among other things, the commission engages with law enforcement and investigation authorities, including the police, Shin Bet security agency, and the State Attorney's Office, which handles criminal prosecutions in Israel.

"After forming the body, we started getting testimonies, videos, and pieces of information that paint a chilling and harsh picture of the harm to women and children," Elkayam-Levy explains. "It's important to note that we are not only dealing with sexual crimes. There has been severe and cruel violence against women that was beyond a sexual nature. The main goal is to identify those who can provide testimony, create a 'second circle' that can testify as to the crimes committed, formulate a general protocol for evidence collection, establish a digital evidence database, and raise awareness among international organizations about the crimes."

Q: What is known about the scope of sexual offenses?

"The scope is significant and painful. The perpetrators prepared and came with the intent to harm women, to torture them, to murder and systematically rape them. The testimonies must reach Israeli law enforcement and official authorities. This is a historic task with legal, national, and international implications. There have been severe crimes against humanity here, and there is still a massive and ongoing crime of holding captives, including infants, young children, and elderly people."

Q: We know at this stage that many sexual assault victims on October 7 were murdered, and their voices will never be heard again.

"Our goal is to ensure that justice is done, despite the terrorists' attempts to cover up their heinous acts. It's important to remember that, unlike other forms of abuse and atrocities we've heard about, the stigma of shame is still associated with sexual assault, and the toll the crime exacts on the victims is particularly high. This means that survivors will likely share their ordeal only in later stages of the trauma's processing."

Q: Do you also deal with hearing testimonies from victims or eyewitnesses?

"We have referred any party approaching us to provide testimony to the police. It is not our responsibility to collect testimonies; it could cause additional trauma and should only be done with the guidance of professionals. The important address for victims to receive assistance is the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel."

Q: What does your day look like since that Saturday?

"I have dozens of meetings and calls. I feel that our collective efforts, each focusing on her expertise, have a significant impact. Each one takes on the meaningful aspect in which she is an expert and directs efforts to assist in every action.

"One of the things we are doing now is establishing an archive of existing information, most of which has been circulated by Hamas and came up in testimonies given to various entities. We collect every piece of information, and Dr. Sarai Aharoni leads this effort in the commission, along with a special task force. Various experts in the commission, such as Prof. Yifat Bitton, Prof. Dana Pugach, attorney Ayelet Razin Bet Or, and others, are in contact with the police to guide and advise on the importance of investigating these crimes and on how to conduct trauma-focused investigations."

 Prof. Dana Pugach 

 

Elkayam-Levy shares that they have already achieved success with their numerous efforts this week, with a virtual conference at Harvard University that had thousands of participants. She read difficult testimonies that had been gathered by the commission and slammed the UN's tepid response to what happened to women in Israel on October 7 and the implications of this blatant silence, both in terms of protecting women in Israel and the trust in international institutions.

Ayelet Razin Bet Or, formerly the Director at The Authority for Advancement of the Status of Women in the Ministry of Social Equality, has been using her professional experience and close ties with government ministries and civil society to expose incidents of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, degradation, and humiliation based on gender.

She has also been collaborating with other experts in the commission to guide relevant authorities on handling trauma-sensitive responses in dealing with victims whom they might encounter as part of their medical or psychological therapy. 

In a situation where a victim approaches with symptoms suggesting sexual assault, for example, it is crucial to identify the background before providing an adapted and delicate response and to refer them to professionals specialized in treating such trauma. In the legal context, Bet Or keeps in contact with law enforcement to ensure that the issue of gender-based violence receives the necessary attention, both in criminal and international aspects.

"It's important to understand that the law enforcement agencies face an unprecedented and extensive challenge, and it is still organizing and gearing up for handling this task," she explains. "There is an inherent conflict between the pace of criminal proceedings and the public's right to know, especially in a situation where Israel's advocacy efforts in the world help it maintain legitimacy for continued military operations. It's an unsolvable tension, but it's important to handle it cautiously and not disseminate unverified information that may cause irreversible damage."

Q: What is the focus of your work?

"What I've been doing since October 7 is essentially identifying gaps. I go to places where the system has not yet reached and shed light by connecting between relevant entities in the system, devising guidelines or honing them, providing specialized training, or addressing secondary trauma. First and foremost, the task is to locate and map information, including identifying professional groups likely to shed light on the events, with an emphasis on medical professionals, ZAKA, law enforcement, and others. In addition, I focus on the precision and fine-tuning of responses for victims in all systems, emphasizing trauma-conscious treatment to avoid causing additional trauma and assist in healing and recovery."

According to Bei Or, "In the early days of the war, I started receiving inquiries from various sources, such as the government and the media, asking if I knew of testimonies of sexual violence during the atrocities. I began reaching out to various entities, and indeed, I received indications that there were such cases, but mostly these were rumors that passed from ear to ear, bits of information from foreign letters, hints from the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, and so on.

 Orit Sulitzeanu  

 

"At that time, the entire country was still in shock and numb. The enormity of the disaster was just starting to become clear. As the days passed, indications increased and strengthened. For example, testimonies from paramedics who evacuated bodies that left no room for doubt about the sexual abuse they had undergone, President Biden who spoke about a severe violent event and sexual humiliation of intimate organs of a woman, parts of investigations of terrorists admitting that their mission included rape and more.

"We had hoped that this was misinformation, a misunderstanding of the situation, or confusion in recounting the events. However, the testimonies continued to accumulate, and every description was more atrocious than the previous one. As much as we refuse to believe, we know that in wars, the body of women is part of the battlefield, and gender-based violence is a common means of psychological warfare, humiliation, degradation, and sometimes even ethnic cleansing.

"Now, more than a month later, we understand that what little we managed to extract is nothing compared to what is starting to be revealed. Within the horrors of human actions, extreme sexual violence took place with a brutality that we could not imagine."

Creating collaboration

Professor Pugach, who is from Ono Academic College and the Israeli Society of Victimology, independently explores the subject and collaborates with the commission. She has offered the authorities, together with her colleagues, including Professor Keren Gueta, to share the knowledge and connections they have abroad on trauma-informed policy. Despite discussions with various officials, they are still awaiting responses.

"In the Israeli Society of Victimology, we organize webinars with experts from around the world to bring this knowledge to Israel, hoping that official entities will also attend," she says. "In Israel, it is a shocking first event of its kind, but globally there have been extensive cases of widescale assaults on civilians, and we can learn from those who dealt with it.

"In former Yugoslavia, for example, estimates speak of tens of thousands of rapes during the war, resulting in the birth of thousands of children. Even recently, in Ukraine, there have been reports of numerous sexual assaults on women and men. Countries have developed mechanisms and expertise so that they can identify the assaults and assist the victims.

"Just this week, we organized a webinar with Professor Vesna Nikolic, the founder of the Victimology Society of Serbia, in collaboration with the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel. Around 130 Israeli professionals participated, learning about Serbia's experience in dealing with rapes on such scale. The goal is to create more such collaborations and learn from the world.

"On a personal level, I have always dealt with legal aspects of heneious crimes. When the picture became clear, it was evident that professional expertise was needed and get harnessed for the benefit of the general population, including professionals. In the Israeli Society of Victimology, we initiated contact with the Ministry of Justice and the State Attorney's Office to discuss proper practices. At the same time, we initiated the webinar series. In practice, my personal day-to-day life has completely changed, demanding that I do a deep dive into international material and collaborate with colleagues, as well as think of various initiatives that it would be premature to discuss now." 

Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, head of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women's Status at Bar Ilan University and former vice-chair of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), has been using all of her professional experience to work on the subject. She also collaborates with international bodies, aiming to inform the world about the atrocities women in Israel experienced and to demand action.

"I left all my regular activities as a professor and researcher, and my entire day is practically devoted solely to the sexual crimes committed by Hamas and activities for the release of the kidnapped," she says. "My day revolves around endless calls on the phone, on Zoom, WhatsApp, emails across the globe, interviews, and writing blogs, all centered around these issues.

"On the morning after that Saturday, as the scope of the massacre was becoming clear, it was evident that sexual assaults and violence had also occurred. On the same day, Professor Frances Raday from the Hebrew University and I drafted an appeal to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, of which we were both members in the past, and to a whole host of international figures dealing with human rights.

"On Monday at two in the morning, the first working day of the week for international bodies, we sent out an appeal to condemn the massacre and calling for assistance in releasing the kidnapped, and on the same day, I also contacted the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, with whom I served in the UN committee. I reported to her what was known to us at the time to encourage her to come to Israel as part of her mandate and report on what happened.

"The activity is expressed in sending letters and calls for support and action both to colleagues in academia outside Israel and to international bodies, as part of academic activism in Israel and under the auspices of the Commission on the Oct. 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children

"There is immense importance in obtaining official recognition that some of the most heinous crimes in the category of sexual crimes occurred here. Under international law, this category's crimes are considered crimes against humanity and perhaps even amount to genocide. This is all the more important in the face of the growing denialism that is already happening. The data from a New York Times poll, according to which nearly half of young people in the United States believe the massacre is fake, is just mind-boggling."

Q: What are your main goals?

"Our activity is crucial to achieving official recognition by international bodies of the crimes committed by Hamas. This has enormous implications on several levels, primarily for the kidnapped: International pressure from global bodies will influence Hamas' willingness to release them. Hamas is also concerned about global public opinion.

"In addition, there is importance from the perspective of global public opinion, which currently fluctuates between severe condemnation of Israel without any reference to Hamas, to absolute denial of everything that happened. People need to appreciate the true nature of the atrocities that occurred here; it is important for the continued legitimacy of any action by Israel in Gaza.

"Beyond public opinion, it is not yet clear what legal steps will be taken and where, but in any case, there will be tremendous importance to any official international investigation report that reveals the truth. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has already announced an investigation of Hamas' actions. There is also universal jurisdiction; countries worldwide can prosecute crimes against humanity even if committed in other countries. We need to reach a situation where anyone associated with Hamas fears coming to these countries. It also has financial implications for Hamas members and the transfer of funds worldwide."

The way Halperin-Kaddari sees it, like many Israelis, especially women, is that the shock from attacks only worsened because of the confused response of the world, primarily from human rights organizations and women's groups.

"I feel a difficult sense of abandonment and even betrayal," Halperin-Kaddari says. "I knew it would be difficult, and I knew we had a short window of time to garner sympathy, but I did not expect to experience what is happening now – the denial of all that happened on October 7."

Q: Betrayal from the world? The UN?

"I know how UN human rights bodies work from the inside. I was a member of the committee for 12 years, including four years as the vice chair. I know that they always seek balance. These bodies are always bound by the formula of a similar symmetry, but this time, I thought, that the severity of the crimes would transcend all this." 

"The extreme cruelty shown in the atrocities, their real-time footage, their scope in such a short period, and above all – the taking of civilians, women, children, and infants as prisoners; I did not think all this would be met with silence, that all they would settle for is 'expressing sorrow for the harm to women and children on both sides of the conflict.'

"Certainly, the suffering of women and children in Gaza is terrible, and human rights organizations should address it.  However, there is no room for such symmetry. What Hamas did on October 7 was something else, unprecedented by any standard. The fact that it is human rights organizations – especially those whose mandate is to promote women's and children's rights and protect them from violence, especially in situations of armed conflict – turn a blind eye to it is just beyond the pale."

Orit Sulitzeanu, the CEO of the executive director at the Association of Rape Crises Centers in Israel, told Israel Hayom that the organization has received information from therapy providers that relates to the survivors of the massacre, as well as eyewitness testimonies of f sexual violence. "The information started coming in the first days after the brutal massacre and continues to arrive," she says, while simultaneously lambasting non-professionals who demand "graphic evidence."

"It is important to say that I have noticed that among some in the public, there is a distorted obsession with finding stories of sexual assault," she emphasizes. "I call it war pornography, part of which stems from voyeuristic and unhealthy motives. Just as it is always difficult to provide evidence of rape because it usually does not leave a physical trace on the human body, we still believe, just as in war. There is a distorted and challenging discourse that if someone does not stand up and loudly recount that she was raped by Hamas terrorists, people will not believe that it indeed happened.

"We have to put the burden of proof; we must believe that there were rapes and sexual assaults and that it will take a lot more time, if at all, for this information to come out. Therefore, we must not rush and we must let those who have been harmed take their time to recover and heal from the severe trauma. There is an elusive pursuit after 'a smoking gun', some horrifying story that will be told loudly and openly. It must be understood that this might never be found; we need to give things time to unfold, a lot of time. Even incidents of sexual exploitation in the Holocaust were sometimes revealed 60 years later because it is so difficult to share such incomprehensible stories and experiences."

Creating stability out of chaos

Colonel IDF (res.) former Chief Military Prosecutor Sharon Zagagi Pinhas, who currently works as a lawyer specializing in criminal law and representing victims, has also been involved since October 7 in assisting numerous inquiries on the matter that have crossed her desk.

"From the professionalism and experience I have gained, I work to highlight what seems to be 'blind spots' in the system, to illuminate things and try to correct them," she explains. "We experienced an event of a magnitude we had never encountered before, and the question is whether the state knows what the investigation should achieve and what is supposed to happen at its conclusion. Will the evidence collected in the investigation be used for a criminal trial in Israel? Will a special tribunal be established to handle the proceedings? Does the state also want international proceedings? Can victims use the investigative materials to sue for damages? And will the state focus only on proving the overall trend, or will it let every victim's voice be heard by presenting all the particular evidence relevant to their case?"

Q: Why is it important to know the answers to these questions now?

"Because the purpose of the investigation is what determines everything:  Who is being investigated, how they are being investigated, what evidence is required, and more. In the court system, rules must be followed; otherwise, evidence might be deemed inadmissible and the investigation will have been in vain. What's worse – our enemies and potential suspects will try to impeach the evidence and challenge their credibility.

"This is an investigation that has no precedent – both in terms of the nature of the horrifying acts and in their cruelty, as well as in the number of victims. We must not delude ourselves into thinking we can just conduct a fast-track investigation. It won't be a quick and easy investigation... We must assume that a significant proportion of the terrible acts have yet to be uncovered. This will require a lot of resources. Has the state allocated the necessary resources for this matter? In addition to that, how does the state ensure that the rights of victims will be preserved through it all? How do we protect them from an investigative process that may significantly exacerbate the trauma they are already dealing with? How do we ensure that the voices of all victims, including those who are no longer alive, will be heard? How will we honor the request of those who will choose not to come forward and share their story?"

Q: What is the main challenge for investigators in approaching such an investigation?

"The main challenge is that the investigation examines events that occurred under the veil of terror under the fog of terrorism and, to a large extent, in the middle of a conflict zone. It is very difficult to conduct an investigation under such conditions, hampering the collection of evidence on the ground and extracting testimonies of witnesses, as well as obtaining documentation such as videos and photos. Even the element of time is critical; efforts must be made to locate the evidence as quickly as possible, preserve it, and link it to individual events. A structured and organized mechanism must be established to deal with it. We have the right to receive an answer to the question of what the state is doing in this matter. And perhaps most importantly - where do the rights of the victims stand amid all this?

"Will there be proper training on how to substantiate testimony from victims who have undergone an inconceivable trauma? Are there contact people whose role is to assist victims in dealing with investigative authorities? And what about the day after? Can victims access the materials collected about them for their own legal use? In a regular case, the state poses many difficulties for victims seeking this. What will happen in this case?

"The answers to all these questions will ensure that the investigation is thorough, that within this great chaos, there will be at least some stability for the victims. The State of Israel owes this to each and every one of them."