Human Rights Voices

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Palestinian Authority/Gaza, December 4, 2023

Gang rapes, beheadings, genital mutilation: Survivors recall unspeakable Hamas atrocities

Original source

World Israel News

As hostages returned to Israel during last week’s ceasefire share details of the atrocities they witnessed during the October 7th invasion, alongside testimonies by other survivors of the Hamas massacres, there is growing evidence that the Gaza-based terror organization conducted an orchestrated campaign of sexual terror and physical mutilation.

While signs of rape and torture were evident since the immediate aftermath of the October 7th invasion, physical evidence gathered from the scenes of the various massacres and testimony from witnesses appears to corroborate claims by a number of captured Hamas terrorists that they were encouraged to rape Israeli women and girls and to behead their victims to instill fear.

Yoni Saadon, a 39-year-old a foundry shift manager and father of four, was one of the survivors at the Supernova music festival outside of Re’im, where at least 364 partygoers were slaughtered by Gaza terrorists.

Speaking with The Sunday Times, Saadon recalled the grisly atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, including decapitation and gang rape.

Hiding under the dead body of a women shot during the initial attack, Saadon smeared her blood on himself to convince passing terrorists he too was dead.

An hour later, Saadon witnessed a young woman begging to be killed as she was gang raped by at least eight Hamas terrorists.

“I saw this beautiful woman with the face of an angel and eight or ten of the fighters beating and raping her. She was screaming, ‘Stop it — already I’m going to die anyway from what you are doing, just kill me!’ When they finished they were laughing and the last one shot her in the head.

Later, hiding in some bushes, Saadon saw another young woman decapitated with a shovel after she resisted attempts by two terrorists to rape her.

“They had caught a young woman near a car and she was fighting back, not allowing them to strip her. They threw her to the ground and one of the terrorists took a shovel and beheaded her and her head rolled along the ground.”

Shelly Harush, an Israel Police commander tasked with investigating the sexual terrorism committed on October 7th, shared some of the horrifying details of testimonials collected by witnesses and search and rescue teams, who often found undeniable signs of sexual assault and torture.

“It’s clear now that sexual crimes were part of the planning and the purpose was to terrify and humiliate people,” Harush told the Times.

“As a Jewish mother the mind and soul cannot bear,” Harush continued, describing “girls whose pelvises were broken they had been raped so much.”

Some of the sexual abuse was evident in video footage released by the Hamas terrorists themselves, including videos of women who had been stripped, including some with blood visible on their underwear.

When volunteers from ZAKA, the rescue and recovery organization, began collecting the victims’ remains, however, it became clear the scope of the sexual assaults was far greater than initially believed.

Many of the murdered women and girls were found stripped partially or completely naked, and many had clear signs of sexual violence, including bloody genitalia.

“We didn’t understand at first,” said Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, who is leading a civilian probe into sexual terrorism during the October 7th invasion.

In some cases, the murdered victims bore signs of sexual mutilation, including gunshot wounds to their genitals.

“Their faces were in anguish and often their fingers clenched as they died,” said Shari, 60-year-0ld Jerusalemite who volunteered to help identify the victims’ remains and prepare them for burial.

“We saw women whose pelvises were broken. Legs broken. There were women who had been shot in the crotch, in the breasts.”

“There seems no doubt what happened to them.”