Amnesty published yesterday the report regarding the October 7 massacre. Keynote…

Amnesty published yesterday the report regarding the October 7 massacre. Keynotes:

● Main conclusion
Amnesty determines that Hamas and other terrorist organizations committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the October 7 attack and the period of holding hostages in Gaza.

● The main organizations involved
  1. Hamas and the military wing (Al-Qassam) – the primary responsible parties
  2. Islamic Jihad (Saraya al-Quds)
  3. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and other organizations to some extent
  4. Civilians from the Gaza Strip who crossed the fence participated in some of the acts.

● Killing and attacking civilians
More than 800 civilians were killed on October 7 (out of about 1,200 fatalities). Terrorists carried out targeted shooting at civilians, threw grenades into protected spaces and shelters, and shot at those trying to escape. In communities such as Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, Netiv HaAsara, Sufa, Holot, Re’im, and at the festival site, systematic massacres were carried out. Extensive documentation (helmet videos, security cameras, dashboards) shows wholesale killing of families, children, elderly, and festival-goers at Nova Festival.

Although a small portion of the fatalities were caused by Israeli fire (mainly cases of misidentification or application of the “Hannibal procedure”), the vast majority were killed by terrorists.

● Rocket and mortar fire
Thousands of inaccurate rockets were fired towards populated areas in Israel. At least 10 civilians were killed by rockets on the day of the attack (and about 15 in total by the end of 2023). The firing is defined as indiscriminate fire towards civilians, which is a war crime.

● Kidnappings and holding bodies
251 people were taken to Gaza, most of them civilians (including infants, children, and elderly). At least 36 bodies of dead people were kidnapped to Gaza. Amnesty unequivocally states: all hostages were held as bargaining chips, which is explicitly prohibited under international law. Hamas claimed it did not plan to take civilians, but the evidence completely disproves this.

● Physical, sexual, and psychological violence
Amnesty found multiple evidences of severe physical violence, beatings, dragging of civilians, kicking, and abuse of hostages on the way to Gaza and in tunnels. There is evidence of sexual assaults during the attack and captivity, including cases of rape, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation of female and male hostages. The minority of evidence has limitations (psychological difficulty of victims to testify, limited access), so Amnesty did not determine the full extent, but clearly states that severe sexual violence occurred, some of which was committed by the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Hostages were held in cruel conditions: prolonged binding, lack of food and water, isolation, systematic violence, torture, forced propaganda videos (violation of human dignity).

● Legal findings
Amnesty determines that there were war crimes including: murder of civilians, taking hostages, torture, sexual violence, use of civilians as human shields, looting and property destruction, indiscriminate firing, as well as crimes against humanity, because the attack was widespread, systematic, and directed against a civilian population. Acts included as crimes against humanity: mass murder, detention and torture, sexual violence, destruction of population groups in a certain area, and more.