- Hamas-led armed groups have carried out numerous attacks. war crimes And crimes against humanity against civilians during the October 7 assault on southern Israel.
- Palestinian fighters have committed summary executions, hostage-taking and other war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity such as murder and wrongful imprisonment.
- Governments with influence over Palestinian armed groups should press for the urgent release of all civilian hostages.
(Jerusalem) – Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, and at least four other Palestinian armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Governments with influence over the armed groups should press for the urgent release of civilian hostages, an ongoing war crime, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The 236-page report, “‘I Cannot Wipe All the Blood from My Mind’: The October 7 Assault by Palestinian Armed Groups on Israel,” documents dozens of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Palestinian armed groups at nearly every site of the October 7 civilian attacks. These include war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as killings, hostage-taking, and other serious violations. Human Rights Watch also examined the role of various armed groups and their coordination before and during the attacks. Previous Human Rights Watch reports have documented numerous serious violations by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7.
“Human Rights Watch’s research shows that the Hamas attack on October 7 was aimed at killing civilians and taking as many people hostage as possible,” said Ida Sawyer, crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “The atrocities of October 7 should spark a global call to action to end all abuses against civilians in Israel and Palestine.”
Between October 2023 and June 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 144 people, including 94 Israelis and other nationals who witnessed the October 7 attack, family members of victims, first responders, and medical experts. Researchers also verified and analyzed more than 280 photographs and videos taken during the attack that were posted on social media or shared directly with Human Rights Watch.
On the morning of 7 October, Palestinian armed groups led by Hamas carried out numerous coordinated attacks, including on residential neighborhoods and civilian social events, as well as Israeli military bases in the southern Israeli area bordering the Gaza Strip. The armed groups attacked at least 19 kibbutzim and 5 moshavim (cooperative communities), the towns of Sderot and Ofakim, 2 music festivals, and a beach party. The fighting lasted for much of the day, and in some cases longer.
In many of the locations of the attacks, Palestinian fighters fired directly at civilians, often at close range, as they attempted to flee, and at people passing through the area in cars. The attackers threw grenades, shot into shelters, and fired rocket-propelled grenades at homes. They set fire to homes, burned and suffocated people, and forced out those they had shot or captured. They took dozens of people hostage and summarily executed others.
Nirit Hunwald, a nurse from Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 civilians were killed, recounted how she dragged a member of the rapid response team who had been shot into the kibbutz’s dental clinic to treat his wounds: “There was a trail of blood. I can’t erase it from my memory, all that blood.”
Agence France-Presse cross-checked multiple sources of data to determine that 815 of the 1,195 people killed on October 7 were civilians. Armed groups took 251 civilians and Israeli security forces hostage and took them to Gaza. As of July 1, 116 of them remained in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 42 of those killed, according to AFP. The bodies of another 35 people killed were returned to Israel.
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the Palestinian movement that has ruled the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007, led the attack. Human Rights Watch confirmed the involvement of four other Palestinian armed groups, based on the headbands the fighters wore to indicate their affiliation and claims of responsibility they posted on their Telegram social media channels.
Armed groups have committed numerous human rights violations laws of war which constitute war crimes, including attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects; intentional killings of persons in custody; cruel and other inhuman treatment; crimes involving sexual and gender-based violence; hostage-taking; mutilation and dispossession of bodies; use of human shields; and pillaging.
This widespread attack targeted a civilian population. The killing of civilians and the taking of hostages were the primary objectives of the planned attack, not an afterthought, a plan gone awry, or isolated acts. Human Rights Watch concluded that the planned killing of civilians and the taking of hostages constituted crimes against humanity.
Other potential crimes against humanity that require further investigation, Human Rights Watch said, include persecution against any identifiable group on racial, national, ethnic, or religious grounds; rape or other sexual violence of comparable gravity; and extermination, if it is a massacre aimed at “destroying” part of a population. These crimes would amount to crimes against humanity if they were part of an attack against a civilian population, as part of an organizational policy to commit such an attack.
Hamas authorities responded to Human Rights Watch’s questions by saying that their forces had been instructed not to target civilians and to respect international human rights and humanitarian law. In many cases, Human Rights Watch’s investigations found evidence to the contrary.
Survivors’ accounts as well as verified photographs and videos show that Palestinian fighters searched for and killed civilians at the attack sites from the very beginning of the assault, indicating that the intentional killings and hostage-taking of civilians were planned and highly coordinated.
Days after the attacks, Israeli authorities cut off essential services to the population of Gaza and blocked the entry of everything except a trickle of fuel and humanitarian aid, representing a loss of $100,000. collective punishment – which constitutes a war crime – compounding the impact of Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza for more than 17 years and its crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.
Immediately following the attacks in southern Israel, Israeli forces launched an intense aerial bombardment and then a ground incursion, which continue. More than 37,900 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed between October 7 and July 1, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israeli forces have reduced large areas of Gaza to rubble and left the vast majority of Gaza’s population displaced and in danger.
All parties to the armed conflict in Gaza and Israel must fully respect international humanitarian law. Palestinian armed groups in Gaza must immediately and unconditionally release civilians held hostage. They must take appropriate disciplinary measures against members responsible for war crimes and surrender for prosecution any person wanted on an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Atrocities do not justify atrocities,” Sawyer said. “To end the endless cycle of abuses in Israel and Palestine, it is essential to address the root causes and hold perpetrators of serious crimes accountable. This is in the interests of both Palestinians and Israelis.”
News Source : www.hrw.org
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