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In a recent report, the NGO Human Rights Watch ( HRW), an organization that traditionally does n’t support Israel, confirmed war crimes committed on October 7 by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations. HRW concluded that it found that Gazans from these groups violated international humanitarian law, including” …deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, willful killing of persons in custody, cruel and other inhumane treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, hostage taking, mutilation and despoiling ( robbing ) of bodies, use of human shields, and pillage and looting”. HRW cites data from Agence France-Presse ( AFP), which according to HRW “…carried out a thorough process to evaluate quantities”, stating that 815 out of the entire 1, 195 deaths from the October 7 strike were human deaths.
According to the review, HRW conducted on-the-ground study in Israel in October and November 2023, and finally conducted isolated studies until June 2024. HRW interviewed a total of 144 folks, including 94 victims of the October 7 problems. HRW was able to check over 280 movies and pictures from the assault, including those secured from system, CCTV, cellphone and screen cameras. Key results are under.
Deliberate, planned crime of citizens. According to the report, Arab terrorists” quickly executed people in their guardianship.” Because of the numerous similarities between how killings took position across the assault sites, according to HRW,” the killings of civilians appear planned,” according to HRW, “because fighters started shooting civilians right away when the abuse first started at 6:30 a.m., and the military groups’ sound recordings and videos of the abuse posted on their Telegram channels were suggestive of a tactic operandi.” The document also indicated that while Hamas afterward stated that they had told the intruders to protect people, children, and citizens, this state was” contradicted by occasions” and “false”. Instead, witness testimony from survivors as well as photos and videos demonstrated” that the intentional killing and hostage-taking of civilians was highly coordinated and planned.”
Deliberate, planned hostage taking. Hamas itself acknowledged that one of its main goals was to take hostages, according to HRW. On October 7, the Qassam Brigades ( a Hamas group ) and other terrorist organizations held hostages a total of 251 people, 39 of whom were children. HRW stated that as of July 1, 116 hostages remained in Gaza, but at least 42 of those are deceased.
Rape and sexual assault. According to the report, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict came to the conclusion that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that gang rape and other forms of sexual violence occurred during the October 7 attacks in at least three locations,” based on interviews with witnesses. Additionally, the report cited a second investigation, conducted by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, that had “found indications that members of the military wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed gender-based violence ( GBV ) in several locations in southern Israel on October 7”.
Evidence of coordination between terrorist organizations. At least five terrorist organizations were involved in the October 7 attacks, according to HRW. The National Resistance Brigades ( of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ), the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades ( of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ), the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which are “previously linked to the Fatah political faction ), and the Quds Brigades ( of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad ), according to the report.
The report acknowledged the involvement of a number of terrorist organizations, aside from Hamas, but it claimed that the Qassam Brigades ( Hamas ) “led the attack and was the most active armed group” during the attack and that it was responsible for 10 or 13 border breaches that HRW has documented. Additionally, the report mentions the establishment of a” Joint Operations Room” to coordinate Israeli attacks by various Palestinian terror organizations in 2018. By September 2023, this Joint Operations Room included ten Palestinian terror groups: the Qassam Brigades, the Quds Brigades, Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, National Resistance Brigades, the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, Mujahideen Brigades, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades—Martyr Nidal Al-Amoudi Brigade, Martyr Jihad Jibril Brigades, and the Ansar Brigades. Additionally, the report discovered that ten groups, including the Qassam Brigades, took part in four separate rehearsals called” Strong Pillar,” which were coordinated by Palestinian terror groups.
Hamas ‘ claims that Israeli” settlers” killed” settlers” and that the Israeli military caused a large portion of the destruction from October 7 were unsupported, according to the report.
