Current:Home > ContactWitnesses, evidence indicate Hamas committed acts of sexual violence during Oct. 7 attack -FundPrime
Witnesses, evidence indicate Hamas committed acts of sexual violence during Oct. 7 attack
NovaQuant View
Date:2025-04-09 03:17:49
It was just after 6 a.m. on Oct. 7 when the first missiles appeared in the sky, kicking off hours of violence in southern Israel as Hamas militants carried out a terror attack that killed at least 1,200 people.
Rami Shmael —who produced the Supernova music festival, where at least 260 people were massacred on Oct. 7— returned the following day and witnessed its aftermath.
"Outside two cars, there was also two young ladies, naked from the waist down," Shmael said. "One of the victims was gunshot down in the lower part of her body."
Shmael said there was "definitely" a difference between how the bodies of the male and female victims were found.
"What they did to these ladies from the waist down, it's not only rape," Shmael said.
Israeli investigators tell CBS News the priority after the Oct. 7 attack was identifying the victims, so they did not collect evidence of sexual assault. But they say there are eyewitness accounts, photos, interrogation statements and circumstantial evidence pointing to sexual attacks.
In a letter this week, a bipartisan group of 33 U.S. senators urged the United Nations to open an independent investigation into what the senators call "a growing body of evidence" that Hamas committed acts of sexual violence against Israelis.
A supervisor with the Israeli search and recovery team in charge of collecting the bodies showed CBS News some of the injuries he saw and documented, including women whose bodies had lacerations, stabbings and gunshots to their genital area.
The bodies were taken to an Israeli army base that served as a morgue, where Israeli Defense Forces volunteer Shari Mendes says she handled the bodies of female victims.
"Sometimes women were shot in the genitals," Mendes said. "They were shot in the breast. And we saw, a lot of women came in, sometimes just in underwear. The underwear was very bloody."
An IDF medic who did not want to be identified described to CBS News what he says he found in one kibbutz.
"The one on the floor, her legs are wide open," the medic said. "And she was shot at the back side of her head, and her pants are pulled down and there's a pile of semen on the lower part of her back."
In a statement to CBS News, Hamas said "we categorically reject false allegations of rape," calling the allegations "misleading propaganda."
Other militant groups and criminal organizations also took part in the attack, U.S. officials said.
Israeli investigators say most of the victims of sexual violence on Oct. 7 did not survive to tell their stories.
"I think every one of those cases struck me as just being a terrible message of hatred," Mendes said.
- In:
- Hamas
- Israel
- Sexual Assault
Lilia Luciano is an award-winning journalist and CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Small twin
- Ivory Coast’s president removes the prime minister and dissolves the government in a major reshuffle
- Nevada jury awards $228.5M in damages against bottled water company after liver illnesses, death
- 'The Exorcist: Believer' is possessed by the familiar
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Want flattering coverage in a top Florida politics site? It could be yours for $2,750
- Security questions swirl at the Wisconsin Capitol after armed man sought governor twice in one day
- 18 migrants killed, and 27 injured in a bus crash in southern Mexico
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Colorado funeral home operator known for green burials investigated after bodies found 'improperly stored'
Ranking
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, a rising political star, crosses partisan school choice divide
- Raid uncovers workshop for drone-carried bombs in Mexico house built to look like a castle
- AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa | Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2023
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Iowa Democrats announce plan for January caucus with delayed results in attempt to keep leadoff spot
- Retired Australian top judge and lawyers rebut opponents of Indigenous Voice
- Karol G honored for her philanthropy at Billboard Latin Music Awards with Spirit of Hope Award
Recommendation
New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
Changes coming after Arlington National Cemetery suspends use of horses due to health concerns
London's White Cube shows 'fresh and new' art at first New York gallery
Colorado funeral home operator known for green burials investigated after bodies found 'improperly stored'
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
German prosecutors say witness evidence so far doesn’t suggest a far-right leader was assaulted
Changes coming after Arlington National Cemetery suspends use of horses due to health concerns
Marching bands have been struggling with extreme heat. Here's how they're adjusting