Israeli Commission Reports Systematic Sexual Violence During Hamas Oct. 7 Attacks

The Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women, Children and Families released a 300-page investigation this week that concludes sexual and gender-based violence against women, men and children was integral to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

The report states that in some cases the violence continued during captivity in Gaza. USA Today reported that the commission documented accounts of gang rape, sexual torture, forced nudity, mutilation, victims assaulted in front of family members, and victims filmed by attackers.

Researchers did not attempt to quantify the number of sexual violence incidents, citing the scale of the attack that killed approximately 1,200 people and the ongoing difficulty of verifying cases.

The commission hired forensic specialists to authenticate videos and other materials. It used geolocation-supported datasets and cross-referenced victims' stories with witness accounts to ensure accuracy. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, a 42-year-old Israeli human rights lawyer and advocate for Israeli women, led the commission.

She began saving videos and images in the hours after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks while sitting beside her father’s hospital bed. Elkayam-Levy lives in Modi'in, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with her husband and four children.

The commission stated the acts could constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal acts under international law. It called for prosecution of the crimes with evidentiary and legal foundation for an investigation. The commission highlighted the need for gender-competent frameworks to address these crimes.

The report has been reviewed and endorsed by legal scholars, professors, tech experts and ambassadors from around the world. The commission did not share the photos and videos in its report to protect victims and their families. "We identified the specific patterns of abuse that Hamas committed so we can share it with leaders and experts around the world," Elkayam-Levy says.

"When people think of sexual abuse, they think of rape. It was more than that. It went beyond," Elkayam Levy tells USA TODAY. " "I don’t think we have enough words to describe the hell that the hostages have endured," she said.

Elkayam-Levy worked with trauma specialists and archivists while reviewing material, at times spending mornings reading to her then 2-year-old son before turning to videos of sexual assault and witness accounts of bodies found burned, mutilated or shot, including victims who were naked or partially dressed with gunshot wounds to the face and genital area.

One woman who hid during the attack at a music festival described hearing multiple assaults. "You hear the screams, and then you hear silence," the account said, recalling the moment gunfire followed.

Elkayam-Levy said she felt overwhelmed at points, crying after reviewing morgue photographs and struggling to recover from listening to testimonies. USA TODAY first reported in December 2023 that Hamas used sexual violence in the Oct. 7 attacks and while they held hostages.

At the time of the USA TODAY investigation, Hamas denied the accusations of sexual violence. Hamas has said allegations of sexual abuse have been part of an attempt by Israel to distract from the war's death toll. The Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry says 70,000 people in Gaza were killed.

It took almost five months after the Oct. N. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict to publish a report that found sexual violence occurred.

Early reports of sexual violence during the attacks were met with skepticism in some quarters. Romi Gonen was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, when she was 23 years old. She was released in January 2025.

Gonen was sexually abused and humiliated before being released. The mother of hostage Romi Gonen told Elkayam-Levy how important the report is. "Her mother said we have to continue to talk about these things and the reality of what happened on Oct.

7," Elkayam-Levy recalled. The commission hopes its report will silence those who doubted survivors' stories.