The investigation began several weeks ago following a report received by the police, revealing a suspected pattern of systematic behavior. The court approved the extension to allow investigators to continue their work and identify additional victims, if any exist. The Jerusalem District Police's Central Unit for Preventing and Combating Family Violence is leading the probe.

Police have issued a public appeal, urging anyone who believes they may have been a victim or witness to the suspect's actions to contact the Central Unit. Authorities are intensifying efforts to uncover the full scope of the alleged offenses.

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In a chilling video confession obtained by The Daily Mail, a father and son from Gaza have revealed to Israeli investigators how they killed and raped innocent civilians after taking part in the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7.

Video: Israeli interrogation of father and son confessing to rape and murder of civilians on Oct. 7

Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi, 47, and his son Abdullah, 18, were captured by IDF forces in Gaza and questioned about the atrocities they committed in a kibbutz near the border. The video footage shows the men detailing their actions, including murdering civilians in their homes, kidnapping others, and brutally raping women before shooting them.

In the weeks after the invasion that resulted in over 1,200 fatalities and prompted harsh Israeli retaliation in Gaza, details emerged about the horrific sexual violence committed by the terrorists.

Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi, a father of seven and Hamas Security Service member, along with his son and other terrorists, forcibly entered the Nir Oz kibbutz. Showing no remorse, Radi stated, "In each house where we found someone, we either killed them or kidnapped them." When questioned further, he confessed, "In the first house I found a woman and her husband, and we hit them with fire and killed them...they were in their late 40s." He then admitted to raping one woman, recounting, "She was screaming, she was crying, I did what I did, I raped her. I threatened her with my gun to take her clothes off, I remember she was wearing jean shorts, that's about it. I don't know what happened to her, I was there for fifteen minutes and then I left."

However, his son Abdullah claimed that his father killed the woman after they finished raping her. "My father raped her, then I did and then my cousin did and then we left but my father killed the woman after we finished raping her. Before this woman, we had raped another girl as well, I killed two people, I raped two people, and I broke into five houses," he told investigators.

The confessions corroborated the report released by Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, two months ago. After questioning several victims, she stated, "What I witnessed in Israel were scenes of unspeakable violence perpetrated with shocking brutality."

Patten visited four kibbutzim and morgues during her month-long visit earlier this year, speaking to 34 survivors. She described "a catalog of the most extreme and inhumane forms of killing, torture and other horrors."

Women who were at the Nova music festival were also victims of sexual violence related to the conflict during the attack on Oct. 7.

Commenting on the confessions video, an IDF spokesperson told MailOnline, "Over the past months, we've seen countless evidence of the brutal violence used by Hamas on October 7th, including harrowing acts of gender-based and sexual violence. These confessions further prove that any attempt to deny the horrors of Oct. 7, and discredit the testimonies of witnesses, survivors, and freed hostages, is part of a campaign to de-legitimize Israel, and to promote the justification of terrorism."

The spokesperson added that both father and son were in custody awaiting trial.

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Calls among ultra-Orthodox activists to break the code of silence regarding sexual abuse have been growing in the wake of the suicide of popular author Chaim Walder last month, and the subsequent suicide of one of his victims.

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Walder, 52, committed suicide after the Israel Police opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations against him. In an unusual move, a rabbinical court also announced it was looking into the case, citing dozens of testimonies had been heard against him.

Several days after his death, one of his victims, Shifra Horovitz, committed suicide, sending additional shock waves through the community where the handling of sex crimes is infamously lacking.

"Did a young woman sacrifice herself in order to be heard for things to move?" said Esty Shushan, founder of Nivcharot, ("Chosen") the only ultra-Orthodox feminist organization in Israel.

"All this big talk about feminism and gender equality overrides everything. Women must have the right to speak up and be heard after being silenced for so long, while this criminal blossomed," she said.

Nivcharot aims to promote the status and rights of ultra-Orthodox women and include them in political processes.

Roughly 320,000 flyers reading "We all believe the victims" were distributed in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods across Israel, a response to some rabbis asserting that any allegations of sexual assault against Walder or other prominent Haredi figures constitute "lashon hara" or malicious gossip – a practice forbidden under the Halacha, or Jewish law.

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"For an ultra-Orthodox man to speak out against a criminal of such stature is tantamount to opposing his own establishment," said Avigayil Heilbronn, founder of "Don't Be Silent," an online campaign launched six years ago.

"Ultra-Orthodox politicians talk about the tax on plastic disposables. This is the worst crisis within the ultra-Orthodox community since the inception of the state. The immense majority of our rabbis don't know the meaning of 'sexual abuse.' They just don't know. It's not malice or evil, but ignorance. They must learn, and now they are."

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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How should anonymous sexual assault complaints be treated in the Israel Defense Forces? According to Intelligence Services Minister Elazar Stern, they should be shredded. In an interview on Sunday, Stern said that as head of the IDF Military Directorate, he used to see to it that anonymous complaints were shredded immediately. "The paper shredder worked really fast," he put it.

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Unfortunately, the former IDF directorate chief is not the only one to have such an opinion. In 2016, then-head of the Israel Police Roni Alsheikh said with regard to sexual harassment complaints that "filing an anonymous complaint has become a way to settle scores… Therefore, from now on, the police will no longer investigate anonymous letters that raise suspicions of offenses committed by the police."

It is natural to question claims put forth in anonymous complaints. Especially, since they are sometimes filed ahead of the appointment of an officer to a senior position in a clear attempt to sabotage the process. And yet, the incredible ease with which some senior officials are willing to dismiss the anonymous complaints is outrageous and fundamentally wrong.

Anyone who thinks that the main motive behind filing an anonymous complaint is to "settle scores" completely dismisses an entire group of sexual abuse victims and legitimate claims of abuse of power.

Such a culture of silence and dismissal is crippling. No wonder the percentage of victims who choose to come forth by filing a formal complaint is minimal. As such, oftentimes complaining anonymously is the only way for the victim to stop being abused and prevent others from suffering the same fate.

Nowhere does it state that a complaint filed anonymously should immediately make its way to the shredder. On the contrary, as per the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, not only is an employer legally obligated to investigate an anonymous sexual harrassment complaint, he or she is also obligated to take steps to prevent sexual harassment even if no complaint was filed at all.

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Finally, there are ways to investigate an anonymous complaint to reveal whether it was filed in order to "settle scores." Facts can be authenticated by checking other materials that could support or refute the complaint, by questioning witnesses, reviewing security camera footage, and more. It is a long way from here to the shredder.

Adv. Efrat Nachmani-Barr was the Deputy Chief Military Advocate and the IDF representative in the Knesset during the enactment of the Law for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment.

Adv. Sharon Zaggi-Pinchas is a former IDF chief military prosecutor who led the reform in the military with regard to rights of sexual assault victims.

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ZAKA founder and chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav visited the headquarters of the Israel Police's Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit on Monday to speak on his own behalf in the investigation recently launched into allegations that he has committed multiple sex crimes against Haredi children and women.

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Meshi-Zahav arrived a day after the Israel Police made a formal announcement that an investigation had been opened into the allegations against him. A police officer met with him at the gate and informed him that the visit was irregular, as he had not yet been summoned to provide testimony, after which Meshi-Zahav left.

As of Monday, none of the alleged victims had filed official complaints with the police. The Israel Police have reached out to a few of the alleged victims, but most refused to come forward.

One of Meshi-Zahav's close associates said Monday that "he can't stand what the media is doing to him anymore."

"He denies the allegations against him in the media and feels a strong desire to know what is suspected of and give his version," the associate said.

Meshi-Zahav's attorney, Ephraim Dimari, said, "My client, believing in his innocence, took the unusual step and presented himself for questioning at Lahav 433. My client has nothing to hide, everything is malicious rumors."

Meanwhile, Zviki Fleishman and Shana Aharonson from the organization Magen, which provides mental health support to members of the Haredi community, who contributed to the Haaretz expose about Meshi-Zahav's alleged acts, also arrived at the Lahav 433 headquarters on Monday, where they handed over material regarding the alleged crimes, as well as the contact details of a few of the people who spoke to journalists and others who contacted Magen in the last few days since the story broke.

As the investigation progresses, a number of senior ZAKA officials and Haredi public officials are expected to be summoned to give evidence as the police attempt to determine whether or not they knew about the alleged acts and failed to report them.

Since the expose ran, more men and women have spoken to the media, claiming to have been sexually assaulted by Meshi-Zahav, and alleging that he had threatened them to keep them from disclosing what had happened.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the affair in an interview with Army Radio on Monday and said he "hoped it isn't true."

"Sexual molestation of women and children is something that should brought to justice," he said.

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Co-founder and chairman of the ZAKA volunteer emergency response organization, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, was accused Thursday of sexual assault, rape, and abuse by six people in a report by the Haaretz daily, which said there are likely many more cases.

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The allegations against Meshi-Zahav, who is a prominent figure in the ultra-Orthodox community who earlier this month was awarded the Israel Prize's lifetime achievement award, were made by both men and women, some of whom were minors at the time of the alleged events.

Meshi-Zahav denied the allegations. "The claims are baseless; I don't know how I'll be able to rehabilitate my good name in light of the irrevocable damage caused to me."

According to the Haaretz report, Meshi-Zahav "paid" his alleged victims with money and other gifts – and also with prostitutes for sexual trysts that he would join. The report also alleged that one of Meshi-Zahav's female family members occasionally partook in these encounters.

Some of the young women allegedly exploited by Meshi-Zahav, according to the report, called him a "righteous person" and testified that he supported them financially. They also, however, detailed sexual acts he performed on them, including acts of degradation.

Meshi-Zahav took advantage of his status, power, money, and even the organization he heads to commit sexual assault, the Haaretz report said.

One alleged victim said he forcibly undressed her and raped her after offering financial aid. The woman said that while Meshi-Zahav forced himself on her, he threatened, "If you talk, a ZAKA jeep will run you over."

One of Meshi-Zahav's alleged male victims claimed the Zaka chairman sexually molested him at the synagogue where they prayed together, when he was only five years old.

Another said Meshi-Zahav repeatedly abused him when he was a teen, only realizing years later he was his "escort, a prostitute in the full sense of the word," he told Haaretz.

The report said several other women have testified that he masturbated in front of them and touched them sexually.

Of the six allegations reported, the earliest is from 1983, and the latest from 2011. At least one case reached police, but was closed in 2014 due to a lack of evidence.

A source who spoke to Israel Hayom confirmed the general veracity of the Haaretz report, without confirming any of the allegations specifically. The source said many residents of several ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem knew of Meshi-Zahav's actions but did not say anything or report him to authorities.

"It's a shame that the acts attributed to Meshi-Zahav will now stain the entire Haredi community, especially seeing as how he hasn't belonged to it for many years now," the source told Israel Hayom.

The source also told Israel Hayom that after it was announced that Meshi-Zahav had won the Israel Prize's lifetime achievement award, he asked a prominent figure in the Haredi community how to deal with the problematic situation. The prominent figure, according to the source, told him: "The fact that you chose him to [light the torch] on Independence Day is your problem; [in the Haredi community] he doesn't count."

In his denial of the allegations, Meshi-Zahav added: "My request to receive elementary information and basic details was rejected. I asked to meet, and was rejected. I demanded to respond to the [Haaretz] report, which is essentially a 'targeted assassination,' within two hours.

"I will say generally that it appears Haaretz has fallen prey to elements with commercial and economic interests [who wish] to cause me harm. They are joined by extremist elements from the Haredi world, who are affronted by my unique path [in that world]. These elements have launched a campaign of vengeance against me, among other reasons because my children enlisted in the IDF, two of them in combat units, because after lighting the Independence Day torch I said, 'To the glory of the State of Israel,' and now, after the announcement that I won the Israel Prize.

"Added to this is my occasional criticism about some of the more extremist leaders in the Haredi sector. Ever since it was announced I would receive the Israel Prize, I have been targeted with various threats via telephone. Following the death of my parents, I received phone calls expressing joy at their passing. I was spit on in the street. I received other threats, too, some of which I sent to Haaretz as well. To my sorrow, this is part of the price I pay for the path that I chose."

Meshi-Zahav was a vocal critic of some of the ultra-Orthodox leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, as some prominent community figures downplayed the virus.

Founded in 1989, ZAKA is one of Israel's most recognizable emergency response groups and has responded to various disasters in other countries.

In addition to providing emergency response services and assisting in search and rescue operations, ZAKA also helps in the grim task of finding and identifying body parts following terror attacks, air crashes and other disasters.

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The panel's decision last week that found Malka Leifer fit to stand trial marked a major breakthrough in a years-old case that has strained relations between Israel and Australia and antagonized members of Australia's Jewish community.

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In its announcement, the Justice Ministry said the psychiatric panel had "unanimously and unequivocally" concluded that Leifer had faked mental illness in order to avoid extradition.

"The prosecution believes that the psychiatric panel's definitive conclusions have removed the obstacles that stood in the way of any significant progress in this case," the ministry said.

"The psychiatric panel's findings lead to the inevitable conclusion that over the past five years, the court and the mental health system have fallen victim to a fraud perpetrated by Leifer and her supporters."

Leifer faces 74 counts of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by three sisters who say they were abused while she was a teacher and principal at the ultra-Orthodox religious school they attended in Melbourne. In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer left the school in Australia and returned to Israel.

After Australia filed an extradition request, Leifer was put under house arrest in 2014 and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process. But that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn't fit to stand trial.

Leifer was again arrested in early 2018 after police found evidence that she had faked her mental incompetence. The court asked for another psychological review, whose findings were announced last week.

In a statement, Leifer's lawyers accused the government of rushing forward with a decision before the legal process runs its course and said her human rights are being trampled because of "diplomatic considerations."

The repeated delays in the case have strained relations with Australia, one of Israel's closest allies. Leaders of Australia's pro-Israel Jewish community have also expressed frustration.

Those frustrations have been amplified by the alleged involvement in the case of Israel's ultra-Orthodox deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman. Israeli police have recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust against him for suspicions that he pressure ministry employees to skew Leifer's psychiatric evaluations in her favor. Litzman denies wrongdoing.

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Victoria state Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth ordered Codey Herrmann, 21, to serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars for the brutal killing and sexual assault of 21-year-old Aya Maasarwe in January.

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"Women should be free to walk the streets alone without fear of being violently attacked by a stranger," Hollingworth said. "She had no opportunity to flee or escape."

The victim had been studying at La Trobe University in Melbourne for the previous five months as an exchange student. She was on her way from a comedy club to her student accommodation on campus when she was attacked.

Video: Reuters

Maasarwe's relatives sobbed in the public gallery as the judge recounted details of the killing.

"It was a savage attack with a crude but effective weapon which immediately rendered her unconscious," the judge said, noting Maasarwe had been alone, small in stature and unsuspecting.

He then set her body on fire to destroy evidence, which "showed utter contempt of her dignity," the judge said.

Prosecutors had applied for the killer to be imprisoned for life. But Herrmann's lawyer Tim Marsh told the court his client deserved some leniency because he had a personality disorder stemming from a severely traumatic childhood and this had warped his view of the world.

Maasarwe's father Saeed reacted to the sentencing, asking his daughter be remembered as someone who loved everybody, regardless of their background.

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A judge set the start of the trial for Oct. 2 and released the woman on bail, finding it "proper and fair" to free her after she had spent nearly two months in police detention.

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The woman surrendered her travel documents to police and must appear at a Nicosia police station three times weekly. She has also been placed on a stop list, prohibiting her departure. She posted bail of 5,000 euros ($5,500) in cash, while her father who was present in the courtroom guaranteed a bond of 15,000 euros ($16,600).

Her defense lawyers say that investigators used "oppression" to make her retract the allegation that she was gang-raped at an Ayia Napa hotel last month. Cypriot authorities strongly deny that the retraction was coerced, saying that she volunteered the statement in writing.

"The teenager's case is that she has not lied about being raped and the oppression was used by the Cypriot police in order to get her to retract her rape allegations," said Michael Polak, director of the group Justice Abroad which is assisting in the woman's legal defense.

"The purported retraction is unreliable because of what happened in the police station."

Polak said the defense team will present evidence at trial that the woman had not lied about being raped.

Five Israelis were initially freed on July 25 after no evidence was found linking them to the case. The remaining seven were released three days later after police said that the woman retracted the rape allegations.

Polak called the case a "test" of the Cypriot legal system's adherence to Cypriot and European conventions and said that defense lawyers would ask Cyprus Attorney General Costas Clerides to drop the case "after considering the facts."

The British woman's legal expenses are being funded by donations raised on an online platform.

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