Fresh testimony from survivors and witnesses demonstrates that Hamas terrorists systematically employed sexual violence during their October 7 assault on Israel, according to a comprehensive new investigation that documents previously unreported accounts of rape and sexual abuse. The Sunday Times revealed that the upcoming Dinah Project report presents evidence from 15 returned hostages who experienced sexual violence in captivity, with only one having spoken publicly before now.
The investigation, conducted by Israeli gender and legal experts with partial funding from the British government, found that sexual violence was "widespread and systematic" during the attack that killed approximately 1,200 people. According to The Sunday Times, the report establishes that rape and gang rape occurred in at least six different locations, though most victims were "permanently silenced" – either murdered during the assaults or left too traumatized to speak.
The Sunday Times reported that the Dinah Project will be published Tuesday in Jerusalem, representing the most comprehensive documentation of sexual violence during the October 7 attack. The report draws from first-hand testimony of 15 returned Gaza hostages, a survivor of attempted rape at the Nova music festival, and interviews with 17 people who witnessed or heard the attacks, along with therapists treating traumatized survivors.
The project aims "to counter denial, misinformation and global silence" regarding what researchers describe as "one of the most under-reported dimensions of the attacks." The report states its mission "to set the historical record straight: Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war."
"Clear patterns emerged in how the sexual violence was perpetrated," the report documents, "including victims found partially or fully naked with their hands tied, often to trees or poles; evidence of gang rapes followed by execution; and genital mutilation."
The documented attacks occurred at the Nova music festival, Route 232, the Nahal Oz military base, and three kibbutzim: Re'im, Nir Oz and Kfar Aza. The report reveals that sexual abuse extended beyond the initial assault locations.
"Sexual violence continued in captivity, with many returnees reporting forced nudity, physical and verbal sexual harassment, sexual assaults and threats of forced marriage," the investigation adds.
Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, director of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University, initiated the project to "ensure recognition and justice for victims and survivors." She collaborated with Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, an international law expert and former chief military prosecutor of the Israeli army, and Nava Ben-Or, a retired judge and former deputy state attorney specializing in sexual abuse cases.
The research responds to criticism of inadequate responses from international organizations like UN Women following reports of sexual violence by The Sunday Times and other outlets. The project also addresses questions raised by false claims from first responders and arguments that Hamas, as an Islamic organization, would not commit rape – despite examples from Islamic State and Boko Haram.
Some critics argued that the sexual violence issue had been "weaponized" by the Israeli government to justify its actions in Gaza. This criticism particularly affected Halperin-Kaddari, who had worked for years on international cases of sexual violence, including Yazidis taken as sex slaves by Islamic State and girls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
"We feel let down by other women round the world," Halperin-Kaddari said. "If the standard is to believe survivors and witnesses, there is no excuse to keep quiet. Yet in this case a different standard was employed and the victims were lost in politicization. The fact so many kept silent or even denied what happened was devastating and a grave failure of international human rights."
The project takes its name from the first rape victim in the Bible and Torah – Dinah, Jacob's only daughter, who was raped by Shechem, son of a prince. After the assault, Dinah's brothers circumcised and killed the men of his tribe and abducted their women, but Dinah's voice was never heard. Halperin-Kaddari explained that the project aims "to be a voice for those who cannot or can no longer speak."
Previous fact-finding reports by the United Nations special representative for preventing sexual violence, a UN independent commission of inquiry, and the International Criminal Court all found indications of sexual violence and gang rape. However, the Dinah Project introduces new evidence including first-hand witness testimony from 15 returned hostages who experienced sexual violence in captivity.
Among the hostages, only one has spoken publicly: Amit Soussana, a lawyer held for 55 days. Two of the hostages were male, and one had all their body hair shaved, according to the report.
Zagagi-Pinhas explained that "sexual violence need not mean rape — also forced nudity, forcing some of the hostages to strip and shower while being watched or trying to force them into marriage."
The researchers also interviewed a victim of attempted rape at the Nova festival who required 17 months to come forward. "We know from therapists there are more but they are still too traumatized to speak," Zagagi-Pinhas added.
The investigation included interviews with 17 people who witnessed or heard attacks, providing detailed descriptions of the violence. These witnesses included two brothers who hid under bushes and Tali Biner, a nurse who concealed herself inside a container. They described 15 incidents including gang rapes.
Additionally, researchers spoke with 27 first responders who described "dozens of cases in different locations" while analyzing forensic evidence from photographs and videos.
"What we found makes clear that sexual violence including rape and gang rape took place in multiple locations," Halperin-Kaddari stated.
"We found patterns of evidence," Zagagi-Pinhas added. "Women found dead, naked and mutilated — with gunshots in their genitalia — and tied to trees. The fact that the same things happened in three to six locations can't be coincidence but proof this was premeditated."
She reported that "dozens" of bodies of young women were stripped and some were tied to trees or poles. "Many of the witnesses we spoke to talk of the victims being shot and them still trying to rape a dead body," she said.
The report's primary objective is demanding justice, providing what Halperin-Kaddari describes as "a blueprint for how to secure justice in cases of mass atrocities when many of the victims are dead and it is impossible to point at a specific perpetrator."
"We see October 7 as a test case," said Ben-Or, the retired judge. "Authorities are used to seeking justice on an individual case but here we have mass cases and most victims were murdered or too traumatized to speak which creates profound challenges for establishing accountability so we needed to come up with a new legal framework and new ways to prosecute."
"Sexual violence in conflict is about destruction and dehumanizing a community so the idea you have to find a specific perpetrator who harmed a specific victim is irrelevant," she added. "To say 'When I joined Hamas I meant only to murder women and children, but I am very much against rape' is ridiculous. Everything that was done within the framework of the attack you are responsible for."
The report calls for the UN secretary-general to send a fact-finding mission in light of the testimonies and to include Hamas in the blacklist in the UN's annual report of those designated for using sexual violence as a weapon of war.
