Two-month investigation reveals new details showing how Hamas terrorists systematically used sexual violence during the October 7 massacre.

 

A newly-released two-month investigation by The New York Times has uncovered horrific, painful new details, proving that during Hamas' brutal massacre on the morning October 7, its attacks against women were not isolated events but part of a larger pattern.

The investigation relies on video footage, photographs, GPS data from mobile phones and interviews with more than 150 people, including witnesses, medical personnel, soldiers and rape counselors. In it, the Times identified at least seven locations where Israeli women and girls were seen sexually assaulted or mutilated.

The investigation also examines the accounts of four witnesses, who described the horrors in graphic detail, as well as several soldiers and volunteer medics who described over 30 bodies found both at the site of the music festival near Re'im and in two kibbutzim. All of the victims were in a similar state, showing signs of abuse in their genital areas, with their clothes torn off, and more. The Times also viewed footage of two dead IDF soldiers - women who had been shot in the genitals.

Due to the nature of the matter and to avoid as much as possible exposure to Hamas' psychological warfare, Israel National News - Arutz Sheva will not include details of the scenes.

One of the most important testimonies is that of Sapir, a 24-year-old accountant, who hid from the terrorists after being shot in the back and was witness to the rape and murder of at least five women. She has provided investigators with graphic testimony, and a friend hiding near her has confirmed that she was witness to the horrors.

Sapir said that in addition to the violent rapes and other mutilation, she watched the terrorists slice the face of one of their victims, and saw terrorists carrying the heads of three other women.

Another testimony is that of Raz Cohen, a young Israeli man who attended the festival and also found cover from the terrorists. From his hiding place, Raz said that he saw five men wearing civilian clothing and carrying knives, and one carrying a hammer, dragging a "young, naked, and screaming" woman across the ground.

"I still remember her voice, screams without words," he told the Times. "Then one of them raises a knife, and they just slaughtered her."

Captain Maayan, a dentist who worked at the identification center, said she had viewed the bodies of at least 10 female soldiers from Gaza observation posts with signs of sexual violence.

Volunteer medics and soldiers who arrived in Kibbutz Be'eri and Kibbutz Kfar Azas spoke of at least 24 bodies of women and girls who were "naked or half naked, some mutilated, others tied up, and often alone."