Editor’s note: This article contains descriptions of sexual violence.
The war in Gaza has produced a deep humanitarian crisis and, amid the wider violence and destruction, a series of recent reports have focused attention on allegations of sexual and gender‑based violence connected to the events of October 7, 2023 and their aftermath.
An Israeli non‑governmental group calling itself The Civil Commission published the results of a two‑year investigation led by Cochav Elkayam‑Levy. The commission says it reviewed thousands of photographs and videos and interviewed hundreds of witnesses of the October 7 attacks. Using what it describes as internationally recognized methodologies for documenting war crimes and sexual violence, the report concludes that Hamas “used sexual and gender‑based violence deliberately and systematically as an inherent part of a wider strategy of the attack,” primarily targeting women and hostages, and that minors also suffered grave abuses. The report is endorsed by several prominent political, legal and human rights figures. Hamas has denied these allegations.
The commission’s report includes survivor testimony and recorded accounts from released hostages. Some survivors recounted severe and harrowing assaults that occurred at sites such as the Nova music festival and at other locations where fighters encountered civilians and soldiers. The report details instances it says amount to sexual torture, mutilation and killings, often carried out in front of family members.
Separately, a 2024 United Nations overview by Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, found “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict‑related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred” during the period examined. Patten’s mission visited Israel and the occupied West Bank but did not enter the Gaza Strip because of hostilities; her team also reported allegations of degrading and sexualized treatment of Palestinians in detention, including invasive body searches, threats of rape, prolonged forced nudity, sexual harassment and abuse at house raids and checkpoints.
U.S. journalist Nicholas Kristof wrote an opinion piece drawing on interviews with people from the Palestinian territories who described sexual abuse by Israeli settlers or members of security forces. The Israeli Foreign Ministry strongly rejected such accounts, calling them “baseless lies” and accusing critics of mounting an anti‑Israel campaign.
A 2025 Save the Children report examining the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention found that more than half of the children interviewed said they had either witnessed or experienced sexual violence while detained. The report lists forms of abuse reported by children and lawyers, including inappropriate touching, forced stripping, humiliating acts, sexual harassment and threats, and in some cases sexual assault. Human rights organizations including B’Tselem, the Israeli Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights have published reports with testimonies alleging repeated sexual violence by Israeli soldiers or prison guards used as punishment.
Whereas The Civil Commission frames sexual violence by Hamas as a deliberate tool of war used during the October 7 attacks, other reporting and rights‑group documentation describe patterns of sexual abuse and degrading treatment in detention and during raids attributed to Israeli forces or settlers. The differing emphases reflect the broader and highly contested nature of the conflict and the difficulty of establishing a full and independent record.
UN investigators and others have cautioned that, because of the scale of the fighting, access restrictions and the stigma attached to sexual violence, the true scope of abuses may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known. Nonetheless, the recent reports give voice to survivors and witnesses and highlight the need for thorough, impartial investigations and accountability where violations are substantiated.
Edited by: Andreas Illmer, Shani Rozanes