A landmark report by the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes, released in May 2026, has concluded that Hamas and its collaborators used sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as a “calculated,” “systematic,” and “integral” strategy during the terror attacks on southern Israel and against hostages in Gaza.
Based on over 1,800 hours of analysis and more than 10,000 photographs and videos, the report identifies “clear and convincing evidence” of patterned sexual torture intended to maximize pain and humiliate the Israeli nation.
A central finding of the report is the strategic and “weaponized” use of filming. Hamas terrorists did not merely commit atrocities; they documented them in real-time to “glorify and amplify” the suffering. The report identifies the “filming and digital dissemination of SGBV” as one of thirteen recurring patterns of abuse.
Perpetrators used GoPros, body-worn cameras, and the victims’ own personal devices to livestream or record rapes, mutilations, and abductions. This content was often sent directly to the families of the victims or posted on community social media channels to maximize psychological terror. The report notes that these visuals turned “visibility itself into a weapon,” ensuring that the trauma extended far beyond the immediate physical act.
Even months after the initial attack, the report concludes that Hamas continued “digital abuse” by releasing staged footage of hostages in captivity. These videos, showing captives being taunted or tormented, were used to exert ongoing harm on the survivors’ families and the Israeli public. By presenting women’s bodies as “trophies of war,” the perpetrators used digital media to cement a collective trauma that the report says is intended to be remembered for generations.
The report, led by human rights expert Cochav Elkayam-Levy, draws from firsthand testimonies of more than 10 survivors and hundreds of interviews with first responders, forensic experts, and medical staff. It outlines a gruesome catalog of 13 specific patterns of SGBV, including:
Sexual Torture: This includes the intentional burning of genital areas and the forced insertion of objects into genitalia.
Kinocidal Acts: The report coined this term to describe “kinocidal sexual acts” — crimes intended to destroy the family unit. This includes forcing family members to perform sexual acts on one another or raping victims in front of their loved ones.
Mutilation and Postmortem Abuse: Forensic evidence and photographs showed dozens of victims shot or burned specifically in their intimate areas, often after they were already dead, as a final act of desecration.
Targeted Commands: Evidence recovered from the bodies of militants included Arabic-to-Hebrew phrasebooks with commands such as “take off your pants” and “spread your legs,” indicating that sexual assault was a planned component of the mission.
One of the most harrowing sections of the report details three separate incidents of gang rape at the Nova Music Festival. Witnesses described victims being “passed around” and screaming in ways described as “unheard of.” In many instances, the sexual violence was followed by immediate execution; witnesses recounted seeing women raped by multiple men before being shot in the head or mutilated.
The abuse continued in Gaza. The report includes previously unknown allegations involving two minors who were forced by their captors to perform sexual acts on each other while in captivity. Former hostages, such as Amit Soussana and Romi Gonen, have provided testimonies that corroborate the report’s findings of ongoing sexualized, cruel, and inhuman treatment in the tunnels of Gaza.
The report acknowledges the difficulties in gathering evidence, noting that the immediate aftermath was a chaotic active combat zone where standard forensic protocols were not always followed. This lack of initial forensic data was later “weaponized” by critics and deniers to discredit the survivors. Elkayam-Levy emphasized that the Civil Commission’s goal is to ensure this evidence — now carefully cross-referenced and geolocated — cannot be “denied, erased, or forgotten.”
The findings have been endorsed by various international figures and align with previous conclusions by UN Special Representative Pramila Patten, who found “reasonable grounds” to believe sexual violence occurred.
The Civil Commission concludes that these acts constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts. By documenting these atrocities in a digital archive, the researchers aim to provide a rigorous evidentiary record for future legal proceedings at the International Criminal Court and other bodies, ensuring that the victims are finally heard.
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