An independent Israeli commission has published its most comprehensive account yet of sexual violence committed during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks, concluding that rape, sexual torture and assault were systematic, widespread, and deliberately deployed as instruments of terror. The 300-page report by the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, established in November 2023 by an Israeli legal expert, draws on more than 430 interviews with survivors, witnesses, returned hostages and experts, as well as a systematic review of over 10,000 photographs and video segments — amounting to more than 1,800 hours of visual analysis — and forensic and official records from attack sites.
The commission identified 13 recurring patterns of sexual violence across multiple locations and phases of the attack, including at the Nova music festival — an outdoor rave in southern Israel where more than 370 people were killed — at residential kibbutz communities and at military installations. Witnesses describe gang rapes, sexual torture, genital mutilation, and executions carried out alongside sexual violence. Investigators also documented cases in which captors forced family members to commit sexual acts against one another, which the report describes as "a distinct pattern of violence targeting family members and exploiting familial relationships as instruments of terror." The commission found that sexual abuse of hostages held in Gaza continued for prolonged periods — in some cases for months — affecting both women and men.
The Civil Commission concludes that these acts "constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts under international law." Evidence has been preserved in a secure war crimes archive, with the explicit aim of supporting future prosecutions. The commission's chair, Cochav Elkayam-Levy, stressed the rigorous cross-referencing and fact-checking applied throughout, noting that no material from Israeli interrogations of detained suspects was used in order to preserve the investigation's independence.
Hamas has repeatedly denied that any sexual or gender-based violence took place during the attacks or against those held in captivity, and had not issued a formal response to the report's findings by Tuesday afternoon. Prior investigations had already raised serious concerns: a March 2024 report by the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, found "clear and convincing information" that rape, sexualised torture and degrading treatment had occurred against hostages in captivity.
The report's publication coincided with a separate New York Times investigation alleging widespread sexual violence by Israeli prison guards, soldiers and interrogators against Palestinian detainees — allegations strongly rejected by Israel's foreign ministry. The Civil Commission said its central purpose, beyond supporting legal accountability, was to ensure that the suffering of the victims — many of whom did not survive to testify, while others remain deeply traumatised — "will not be denied, erased, or forgotten." The October 7 attack, the deadliest day in Israel's history, triggered a war in Gaza that has killed more than 72,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable.