UMVA has learned that a chilling new report has uncovered the systematic deployment of sexual and gender‑based violence as a core weapon in the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel.
The investigation reveals that these atrocities were not random acts of cruelty but a calculated strategy, woven into the fabric of the massacre to terrorize, degrade, and dominate victims and their communities.
Investigators combed through the wreckage of the Nova Music Festival, remote kibbutzim along the Gaza border, fortified Israel Defense Forces bases, and the harrowing conditions of hostages, documenting horror at every site.
At least thirteen recurring forms of abuse emerged, ranging from rape and sexual torture to targeted shootings of genital areas and even post‑mortem violations.
Reviewing the graphic evidence took an extraordinary toll on the team, who sifted through gruesome images alongside forensic experts, confronting humanity’s darkest moments day after day.
Driven by a refusal to let denial silence the victims, the investigators pressed forward, determined to force the world to see the full scope of the suffering.
One testimony describes a woman brutally assaulted before being decapitated, while another recounts a victim dragged from a vehicle, pinned to a wall, repeatedly raped, and stabbed even after death.
The report also details grotesque scenes where a man’s genitals were severed and left beside a woman clutching them, a grotesque tableau meant to humiliate and dehumanize.
Female bodies arrived at morgues with shattered pelvises, blood‑soaked underwear, and foreign objects such as grenades and nails embedded in intimate areas, underscoring the savage intent to inflict maximum degradation.
Male hostages were not spared; several described forced sexual assaults in showers and humiliating acts carried out under armed threat, including a captor pressing his genitals against a victim’s anus.
Former captive Rom Braslavski recounted enduring relentless torture, bondage, and sexual abuse, emerging with a scarred body after four months of near‑clinical death before a brief respite of medical care.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the commission concludes that sexual violence was an integral component of the attacks and of the subsequent captivity, demanding urgent international accountability.
The recommendations call for targeted sanctions against perpetrators and their supporters, a comprehensive gender‑focused prosecutorial strategy, and the creation of a specialized judicial chamber to handle these crimes.
Victims hailed from 52 different nations, a stark reminder that the horror reverberated far beyond the region, binding the global community to a shared responsibility.
With a solid evidentiary archive now secured, the conversation has shifted from questioning the existence of these crimes to confronting their devastating consequences and ensuring they are never forgotten.
