7 October Crimes against humanity, conflict crimes by Hamas-led teams

• Hamas-led armed teams carried out a variety of operations war crimes And crimes against humanity Civilians protest during the October 7 attack on southern Israel.
• The Palestinian warring parties committed extrajudicial killings, hostage-taking and alternative war crimes, and crimes against humanity of murder and false imprisonment.
• Governments that exercise influence over Palestinian armed groups should press for the early release of all civilian hostages.

(Jerusalem) – Hamas’ military wing – the Qassam Brigades – and at least four separate Palestinian armed groups committed various war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Human Rights Watch reports. Keep an eye on what is mentioned in the record left here. Governments with influence over armed groups should be pressured to immediately end the killing of civilian hostages, end ongoing war crimes, and bring those responsible to justice.

The 236-page report, “‘I cannot erase all the blood from my mind’: Palestinian armed groups’ attack on Israel on October 7,” documents several batch examples of serious violations of global humanitarian law by Palestinian armed groups. Groups at almost all civilian attack sites on 7 October. These include war crimes and murder, hostage-taking and other serious crimes against humanity. The human rights monitor also investigated the role of various armed groups and their coordination before and during the attacks. Previous human rights monitor reviews have addressed various serious violations by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7.

“Human Rights Watch’s research found that the Hamas-led attack on October 7 was designed to kill civilians and take as many hostages as possible,” said Ida Sawyer, situation and war director at Human Rights Watch. “The atrocities of October 7 should inspire a global call to action to end all abuses against civilians in Israel and Palestine.”

Between October 2023 and June 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 144 populations, including 94 Israeli and other civilians who witnessed the October 7 attack, victim society participants, first responders, and scientific experts. Researchers also verified and analyzed more than 280 photographs and videos taken during the attack and posted on social media or shared directly with human rights monitors.

On the morning of 7 October, Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups launched various coordinated attacks on civilian residential communities and social events, including against Israeli military targets in the part of southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip. Armed teams attacked at least 19 kibbutzim and 5 moshavim (cooperative communities), the towns of Sderot and Ofakim, 2 track galas, and a birthday celebration on the beach. The struggle lasted for a long time and sometimes even longer.

At several attack sites, Palestinian warring parties fired on civilians without delay, often in the immediate area, while they were attempting to flee, and fired on the population during the section. The attackers threw grenades, fired at shelters and rocket-propelled grenades at homes. They all set fire to properties, burned and suffocated the population, and forced those they shot or captured to evacuate. They took dozens of people hostage and killed others.

Nirit Hunvald, an attendant at Kibbutz Beeri, where 97 civilians were killed, described dragging a member of the rapid response team who had been shot to the kibbutz’s dental health center to be treated for his wounds: “ There was a trace of blood there. “I can’t erase it from my mind, all the blood.”

Agence France-Presse cross-referenced diverse information resources to determine that of the 1,195 people killed on October 7, 815 were civilians. The armed groups took 251 civilians and Israeli Defense Force personnel hostage and took them to Gaza. According to AFP, as of July 1, 116 people remained in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 42 of those killed. The bodies of the other 35 killed were returned to Israel.

The Izzy al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the Palestinian movement that has ruled the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007, led the attack. Human Rights Keep featured the participation of four alternative Palestinian armed groups in response to the headbands worn by the warring parties to denote their association and claims of accountability posted on their Telegram channels on social media.

Armed teams committed various types of violations rules of war This number is to fight crimes, including targeted attacks on civilians and civilian objects; deliberate killing of the population in custody; mean and alternative inhumane measures; crimes related to sexual and gender-based violence; hostage taking; mutilating and destroying our bodies; usefulness of human shields; And looting.

The general attack was carried out against the common citizen. Killing and taking civilians hostage was the central goal of a deliberate attack, no longer an afterthought, a plan gone awry long ago, or sovereign actions. Human rights monitors concluded that the deliberate killing and hostage-taking of civilians were crimes against humanity.

The human rights monitor stated that a variety of potential crimes against humanity require additional investigation, including persecution against any identifiable group on racial, national, ethnic or religious lines; Rape or alternative sexual violence of similar severity; And extermination, if once mass murder is calculated in order to “exterminate” a part of the people. If the crimes were part of an attack against civilians as part of an organizational policy to carry out such attacks, they would amount to crimes against humanity.

The Hamas government responded to Human Rights Watch’s questions, stating that its forces were motivated not to target civilians and to comply with global human rights and humanitarian law. In several cases, investigations by human rights monitors found evidence to the contrary.

Survivor accounts, as well as verified images and films, show Palestinian warring parties searching for and killing civilians around the attack sites from the moment the attacks began, indicating that the deliberate killing of civilians and The hostage-taking was deliberate and highly coordinated. ,

Within days of the attacks, the Israeli government cut off vital products and services to the people of Gaza and cut off access to all but gasoline and humanitarian aid. collective punishment – which is a war crime – compounding the effects of Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza for more than 17 years and its crimes of apartheid and oppression against Palestinians.

Immediately following the attacks in southern Israel, Israeli forces began intense aerial bombardments followed by farm incursions, which is still ongoing. According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 37,900 Palestinians were killed between October 7 and July 1, the majority of whom were civilians. Israeli forces have reduced large parts of Gaza to rubble, leaving most of Gaza’s population displaced and injured.

All conduct of armed conflict in Gaza and Israel must fully comply with global humanitarian law. Palestinian armed groups in Gaza must immediately and unconditionally release civilians held hostage. They should take appropriate disciplinary measures against participants responsible for war crimes and prosecute anyone facing World Court (ICC) warrants.

“Atrocities do not justify atrocities,” Sawyer said. “To stop the endless cycle of abuses in Israel and Palestine, it is vital to address the root causes and hold perpetrators of serious crimes accountable. “This is in the interests of both Palestinians and Israelis.”