The Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children released what it describes as the most comprehensive report to date documenting sexual and gender-based violence committed during the October 7 attacks and throughout the captivity of hostages.
Titled Sexual Terror Unveiled: The Untold Atrocities of October 7 and Against Hostages in Captivity, the report presents the findings of a two-year independent investigation into crimes allegedly committed by Hamas and affiliated perpetrators.
According to the Commission, the evidence demonstrates that sexual violence was not incidental or isolated, but systematic, widespread, and deliberately integrated into the attacks and subsequent hostage captivity. Drawing on thousands of hours of visual material, testimonies from survivors and witnesses, forensic analysis, and legal assessment, the report concludes that these acts may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts under international law.
The Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children’s investigation was built around an independently constructed war crimes archive established immediately after the October 7 attacks.
Over the course of two years, researchers systematically collected and analysed a vast body of material, including more than 10,000 photographs and video segments, over 1,800 hours of visual documentation, and more than 430 testimonies and interviews. The archive also incorporates survivor and witness accounts, testimonies from released hostages and family members, open-source intelligence and social media evidence, satellite imagery, real-time communications, and perpetrator-recorded footage.
The Commission states that many of the materials were gathered in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and include content that has since been removed from online platforms or is no longer publicly accessible. By preserving early evidence and integrating it into a verified archive, the report seeks to provide a comprehensive factual record of events.
The investigation further notes that victims identified in the archive include individuals from 52 nationalities in addition to Israeli victims.
One of the report’s central findings is that the violence followed identifiable and recurring patterns across multiple locations and stages of the attacks.
The Commission identified thirteen recurring forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and gang rape, sexual torture and mutilation, forced nudity, executions associated with sexual violence, postmortem sexual abuse, sexual assaults committed in the presence of family members, and acts of humiliation and degradation intended to terrorise victims and communities.
The report argues that the repetition of these acts across different sites indicates organised and patterned conduct rather than isolated criminal behaviour.
Among the findings, the Commission highlights documented cases in which victims were assaulted in front of relatives. In at least one case, family members were allegedly coerced into committing acts of sexual abuse against one another. The report introduces the term “kinocidal sexual violence” to describe violence aimed at destroying family structures by weaponising familial bonds.
According to the report, this newly proposed legal concept could contribute to future developments in international criminal law concerning conflict-related sexual violence.
The report further concludes that sexual violence did not end on October 7 but continued throughout periods of captivity.
Drawing on testimony from released hostages, relatives, and other supporting evidence, the Commission documents allegations of sexual assault during captivity, prolonged humiliation and degradation, sexualised torture, threats of sexual violence, and psychological abuse connected to sexual coercion.
The findings state that both women and men were subjected to abuse during captivity, in some cases over extended periods lasting months.
By documenting abuse across the entire sequence of events — from the initial attacks, through abduction and transfer, to prolonged detention — the report expands the evidentiary record beyond the day of the attacks themselves.
A major focus of the investigation is the deliberate recording and dissemination of violence through digital platforms.
The report states that perpetrators allegedly filmed, livestreamed, and distributed images and videos of the attacks, including sexualised violence, in order to amplify fear and humiliation. According to the Commission, images and videos were circulated online and, in some cases, sent directly to victims’ families.
The report characterises this dissemination as part of the violence itself, arguing that the repeated circulation of graphic material prolongs trauma, hinders rehabilitation, and extends the impact of the crimes far beyond the original attacks.
Researchers describe the strategic use of social media and digital platforms as a distinctive feature of the October 7 atrocities, transforming visibility into a mechanism of terror.
Based on its analysis, the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children concludes that the documented acts amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts under international law.
The report argues that the scale, coordination, and repetition of the violence demonstrate a widespread and systematic attack against civilians in which sexual violence was deliberately employed as a method of terror.
In addition to documenting evidence, the report provides what it describes as a prosecution-oriented legal framework aimed at supporting future investigations and accountability mechanisms.
The Commission calls for specialised prosecutorial mechanisms for sexual and gender-based violence, survivor-centred and trauma-informed investigative approaches, international recognition of the findings as part of the historical record, continued preservation of evidence for future legal proceedings, and greater global efforts to combat denial and erasure of conflict-related sexual violence.
The report also seeks to identify responsibility not only for direct perpetrators, but also for individuals who may have planned, ordered, facilitated, or amplified the crimes.
According to the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children, the archive and report are intended to serve both legal and historical purposes.
By consolidating testimonies, visual documentation, forensic evidence, and legal analysis into a single evidentiary framework, the Commission states that it aims to preserve the historical record, support future prosecutions, and deepen international understanding of conflict-related sexual violence.
The report emphasises that documenting these crimes is essential for justice, recognition of victims, and prevention of future atrocities.
Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Founder of the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children, described the investigation as a difficult but necessary effort to preserve evidence and ensure that survivors’ experiences are documented.
“For two years, we have listened to survivors and witnesses, painstakingly examined the evidence, and confronted material that is often beyond comprehension. We have worked to preserve this evidence within a dedicated war crimes archive, to ensure their voices are heard and that the world knows what happened,” she said.
“The report reveals that sexual violence was a deliberate strategy, carried out with exceptional cruelty. Now is the time to act, to confront the truth and ensure it is heard. We cannot prevent future atrocities if we ignore, deny, question, or look away from them.”
She added that documenting the crimes is necessary both to honour victims and to strengthen future efforts aimed at prevention and accountability.
The Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children’s report represents one of the most extensive attempts to document allegations of sexual and gender-based violence connected to the October 7 attacks and hostage captivity. Through a large-scale archive, survivor testimonies, visual evidence, and legal analysis, the investigation argues that sexual violence formed a systematic component of the attacks and continued throughout captivity.
The report’s findings are likely to play an important role in future legal, historical, and international discussions surrounding accountability, conflict-related sexual violence, and the documentation of atrocities in armed conflict.
As international institutions, legal experts, and human rights organisations continue to examine the evidence, the report seeks to establish a permanent historical and evidentiary record intended to support future prosecution, remembrance, and prevention efforts.
