Israel's Foreign Ministry will distribute the difficult Association of Aid Centers for Victims of Sexual Assault report, detailing the systematic sexual abuse committed by Hamas during the massacre on Israel's South on October 7, to all Israeli embassies across the globe, it was announced Wednesday.
This is the first step of an extensive public diplomacy campaign, the aim of which is to fight international authorities's silence on the detailed evidence collected on systematic sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli citizens during the October 7 massacres.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed to translate the report published this morning as soon as possible and distribute the translated versions to the whole world with the help of Israeli embassies abroad.
"The horrors of October 7 continue to be revealed even many months later," said Katz, "the crimes of sexual violence, which find expression in this important report, will serve the State of Israel in its ceaseless war against the terrorist organization Hamas in the political arena."
Israel's plan to reveal Hamas's sexual crimes to the world
The Ministry stated that the translation of the report joins a wide range of activities conducted by the Foreign Ministry in recent weeks in order to raise international awareness of the issue of harm and violence by Hamas terrorists in Israel. Among other things, delegations were sent abroad in cooperation with civil society elements, other government ministries, and security agencies. In addition, the visit of the United Nations' special envoy on sexual violence, Pramila Patten, to Israel was arranged.
The difficult report published this morning, the most comprehensive so far conducted in Israel, includes dozens of confidential and visible information, including survivor testimonies, interviews with rescue and treatment forces, information that was allowed to be published, and inquiries. Many of the contents detailed in it are very difficult to read.
The report finds that the Hamas attack included violent acts of rape, with the threat of weapons, which in some cases were aimed at injured women. Many of the acts of rape were carried out in a group manner, with cooperation between the abusing terrorists. Often, the rape was carried out in front of an 'audience:' Spouses, family, or friends, in a manner designed to increase the pain and helplessness of all those present and to sow additional terror.
Hamas terrorists carried out a hunting expedition following young women and men who fled the site of the Nova music festival and, according to testimonies, dragged them by the hair while screaming. The acts targeted women, girls, and men.
Earlier this week, officials at the United Nations demanded that Palestinian claims about the alleged commission of sexual crimes by IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip be investigated. According to reports in American and British media, international officials claimed that they had "credible allegations of human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank by Israeli forces."