Amnesty: Hamas committed extensive abuses and war crimes against civilians

A new report confirms that civilians were systematically murdered, taken hostage, and subjected to severe violence during Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

An extensive report from Amnesty International describes how Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups subjected civilians in southern Israel to murder, kidnappings, torture, and sexual violence during the attacks on October 7, 2023. The organization assesses that many of the abuses constitute both war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that it was primarily Palestinian fighters who killed the vast majority of the civilian victims.

Amnesty writes in the introduction to the report that more than 800 of the approximately 1,200 people killed on this day were civilians, including at least 36 children. The attacking groups – dominated by Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades – carried out systematic and indiscriminate attacks on residential areas, music festivals, and public escape routes, according to the report.

Used as human shields

In several kibbutzim, armed men are documented shooting into houses, shelters, and at fleeing individuals, often at close range. In the village of Be’eri, 101 civilians were killed – including nine-month-old baby Mila Cohen, who was shot to death in her mother’s arms.

Infant burned alive and beheaded by Hamas.

Amnesty describes testimonies and video footage showing how attackers also used civilians as human shields, and how both elderly people and children were shot or burned inside where they had taken shelter. At the Nova festival, where 378 people were killed, it is described how people were chased in forests, ditches, and bomb shelters while fighters placed roadblocks to stop fleeing individuals.

Mass hostage-taking

A total of 251 people were taken to Gaza, most of whom were civilians – including small children and people over 80 years old. Hamas has publicly denied intentionally taking civilians hostage, but Amnesty states that there is an “overwhelming amount of evidence” contradicting these claims.

The report describes how people were dragged out of shelters, often in shock or seriously injured. One of the most talked-about cases concerns 22-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was captured after losing one arm in an explosion.

Video shows armed men loading him and several other civilians onto a pickup truck, where a man is pulled by the hair and beaten before being taken away. At least 48 of the hostages died in Gaza, with several, according to Amnesty, being killed by their captors.

Physical, psychological, and sexual torture

The report documents how civilians and soldiers captured on October 7 were subjected to severe violence both in Israel and later in Gaza. Several individuals were abused in front of their children or forced to endure threats and humiliation.

Amnesty also accounts for cases of sexual violence, both during the attacks and in captivity. One man testifies that he was gang-raped at the Nova festival. An Israeli woman, Ilana Gritzewsky, has recounted that she was subjected to physical and sexual abuse when taken to Gaza, and another woman – Amit Soussana – has testified that she was forced to perform a sexual act under threat of a weapon in captivity.

The organization’s overall assessment is that these actions meet the criteria for torture, and in several cases, also crimes against humanity, as they were part of a widespread and systematic attack on a civilian population.

During the initial hours of the attacks, Palestinian armed groups fired between 3,000 and 5,000 rockets and grenades, most of them without guidance systems. At least ten civilians – many of them children in Bedouin communities without warning systems – were killed by strikes in residential areas. Amnesty classifies this as indiscriminate attacks, prohibited under international humanitarian law.

War crimes and crimes against humanity

After analyzing hundreds of videos, interviews, and testimonies, Amnesty concludes that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups were responsible for the majority of the deaths and abuses – and that their actions meet the legal criteria for:

• Murder and extermination
• Torture and cruel treatment
• Hostage-taking
• Enforced disappearances
• Serious sexual violence
• Direct attacks on civilians and civilian property

The organization states that the abuses were both extensive and systematic, and thus qualify as crimes against humanity.

Demand for accountability and investigations

Amnesty directs clear demands towards Hamas, other armed groups, and the Palestinian authorities to acknowledge the abuses, return the bodies of the detained, and enable independent legal processes. The organization also criticizes shortcomings in the Israeli authorities’ evidence gathering, leading to relatives lacking information on how their loved ones were killed.