Human Rights Watch accused Hamas and armed Palestinian factions of committing war crimes against hundreds of Israelis on October 7.
The organization said in its report that the October 7 attack was directed against the civilian population, and that their killing and detention of a number of them were the central goals of the planned attack, and it was not just an afterthought, a plan that went awry, or isolated actions.
“It is clear that on that day there were hundreds of violations of the laws of war that amount to war crimes,” Belkis Wille, Assistant Director of Human Rights Watch, said in a report by the organization that she presented during a press conference.
Willey added, “It is impossible for us to accurately determine (the number of) cases,” noting that among these violations are “attacks that targeted civilians and civilian targets, the intentional killing of detained persons, cruel and other forms of inhuman treatment, and crimes involving sexual violence.” Gender-based violence, hostage-taking, mutilation and theft of remains, use of human shields, and looting and pillaging.”
Hamas responded
On the other hand, the report quoted Hamas as responding to the Human Rights Watch report that the movement’s fighters received instructions not to target Israeli civilians and to abide by international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
But Human Rights Watch refuted this response, stressing that its investigations found in several cases evidence to the contrary.
In addition to the Hamas movement, which claimed responsibility for the attack, the report included other armed Palestinian factions on the list of parties accused of committing war crimes in the October 7 attack, especially including the Islamic Jihad movement.
Willie denied what Hamas and other factions claimed that the "worst violations" that occurred on the day of the attack were committed by impromptu Palestinian civilians who crossed from Gaza after the collapse of Israeli forces, and were not coordinated attacks deliberately committed by fighters of the factions that launched the attack.
“The truth is that civilians from Gaza were not the ones who committed the worst violations,” she said.
The report stressed the necessity of “holding perpetrators of serious crimes accountable,” stressing that “this is in the interest of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
Comments