UN to blacklist Hamas for conflict-related sexual violence committed on Oct. 7, towards hostages - Sarah Ben-Nun

 

by Sarah Ben-Nun

A major player in these efforts that coalesced the evidence and built a pattern model was the Dinah Project, a group of legal and gender experts.

 

Homes in kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel, which were burned and ruined during the October 7 massacre, August 7, 2025.

(photo credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

Homes in kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel, which were burned and runied during the October 7 massacre, August 7, 2025.

(photo credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is set to name Hamas on the UN’s blacklist in his annual report on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), an advanced draft copy of the report that was distributed to members of the Security Council and seen by The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, shows. 

The list is specifically of parties “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.”

The key term here is “patterns,” as it indicates that acts of sexual violence committed by Palestinians in the Hamas-led massacre cross-border attack on October 7 were not incidental or random but intentional and deliberate acts of war.

The anticipated report precedes a scheduled special discussion on CRSV at the United Nations on Tuesday and references evidence gathered from UN Special Representative Pramila Patten during her mission visit to Israel, which included meetings with captivity survivors.

 

The mission included some of Patten’s staff, specialists trained in appropriate interviewing of survivors, a forensic pathologist, and an information analyst. Patten’s findings were published in March 2024.

The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 massacre, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, January 23, 2025. (credit: YANIV NADAV/FLASH90)

Though the report could not ascertain whether sexual violence was used as a war tactic, it established that such violence was systematic. Guterres wrote that Patten found “reasonable grounds to believe” that such attacks occurred on October 7.

 

This took place at several locations and included acts of rape and gang rape: “Several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered – mostly women – with hands tied, who had been shot multiple times, often in the head.”

The report reads, “Although circumstantial, such a pattern of undressing and restraining of victims may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.”

CRSV is notoriously hard to prove, as when such a wide-scale attack takes place, evidence gets destroyed along the way or mixed up in other aspects of the incidents. It is therefore hard to gather later and, due to the nature of the attacks, much harder to present as concrete evidence to eventually bring justice.

 

The report notes that Patten concluded that “the complexity and modus operandi of the attacks demonstrated a significant level of planning, coordination, and detailed prior knowledge of the targets selected.”

 

It further notes that her findings were corroborated by an independent commission of inquiry put out by the secretary-general in September 2024.

 

The commission of inquiry not only corroborated that these acts of violence were carried out but also named the locations it could verify: the Supernova music festival, Route 232, the Nahal Oz military base, Kibbutz Re’im, Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

 

Patten also found “clear and convincing evidence” that some of the hostages experienced various forms of sexual violence. These findings were corroborated as well by the second report, which specified “sexualized torture” against hostages.

Dinah Project led efforts in recognizing sexual violence by Hamas on Oct. 7

A major key player in these efforts that coalesced the evidence and built a pattern model was the Dinah Project, made up of five legal and gender experts – all women – who led the efforts in pushing for the violence to be recognized. The full report can be viewed at www.thedinahproject.org.

Based on widespread interviews with survivors and witnesses, as well as first responders and forensic staff, the report suggests expanding the traditional acceptable forms of evidence.

In the case of October 7, many of the victims were killed after they were attacked, while the survivors must bear the trauma of what they experienced, saw, and/or witnessed for the rest of their lives, challenging their ability to come forward.

 

Another challenge is that the forensic evidence required for justice “is difficult to obtain in crime scenes that remain war zones,” reads the Dinah Project report.

 

It suggested expanding the model to include and legitimize as evidence the accounts from survivors, eyewitnesses, earwitnesses, first responders, workers from the Shura military base, which served as the morgue, healthcare workers, therapists, and other open sources, like media.

 

In May 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, slain Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, slain al-Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif, and slain Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

 

The arrest warrants for the Hamas leaders specify, among other charges, “rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity.”

 

The Dinah Project called for Guterres to include Hamas on the blacklist.

 

“Such inclusion is a critical step toward establishing international accountability, affirming the gravity of the crimes committed, and sending a clear message that the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war will not be tolerated. It also serves as a vital act of recognition for the victims and affected communities, whose suffering must be acknowledged at the highest levels of the international system.”

 

The warrants, mission visits, the Dinah Project report, and the brave testimonies by survivors and witnesses have kept up the struggle to hold Hamas accountable for crimes of sexual violence.

 

Guterres, in his recommendations in the report, called for the “immediate, unconditional, and dignified release of all hostages, while ensuring their humane treatment and for humanitarian access to them pending their release.”

 

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Tuesday called on the UN to “focus on the horrific war crimes perpetrated by Hamas and on the immediate release of all of the hostages.” His comments followed a letter from Guterres warning that Israel may feature in the next report if “necessary measures” are not taken to prevent sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.

 

Fifty hostages remain held in captivity by Hamas after being kidnapped on October 7, along with about 200 others, mostly civilians. Recent reports indicate the alarming and starved state of the hostages, as talks on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal slowly drag on.

Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.

 

Sarah Ben-Nun

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-864103

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