HRW report concludes that five Palestinian groups led by Hamas participated in the October 7 attack

Hamas’ military wing, the Ezedin al-Qassam Brigades, and at least four other Palestinian armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on Wednesday. This humanitarian organization therefore demands that the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague take into account not only Hamas, but also the other factions when investigating the events. The action was planned in advance and “extremely coordinated” so that hundreds of militants, after breaking through the border fence from the Gaza side or arriving by sea or paragliders, launched themselves on at least 26 civilian areas in southern Israel such as communities, the cities of Sderot and Ofakim, and music festivals.

The aim that day was to kill civilians and capture as many people as possible, says Ida Sawyer, director of crisis and conflict at Human Rights Watch. Palestinian fighters fired directly at civilians, often at close range and as they tried to flee or simply passed through the area, the report says. The attackers also threw hand grenades, shot at shelters and used rocket-propelled grenades at homes. They also set fire to houses, burned and suffocated people and forced others out so they could later shoot them or capture them. The NGO has also documented summary executions.

In addition to Hamas, members of the armed wings of Islamic Jihad (the Al Quds Brigades), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (the Omar al Qasim Brigades), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades) and the Fatah party (the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades) took part in the massacre. They were identified by the insignia worn by the fighters and by an analysis of the claims posted by each group on social media. One of the report’s conclusions is that “it was not really Gaza civilians who perpetrated the worst abuses,” he explained at a meeting. on-line Prior to the publication of the report, Belkis Wille, deputy director of HRW’s Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division and one of the authors of the field research

They committed, according to HRW, “numerous violations of the laws of war that constitute war crimes, including attacks against civilians and civilian objects; intentional killing of persons in custody; cruel and other inhuman treatment; crimes of sexual and gender-based violence; hostage-taking; the mutilation and dispossession of bodies; the use of human shields; and pillage and looting.”

The report adds, however, that “further investigation is needed into other possible crimes against humanity” such as “persecution against any identifiable group on racial, national, ethnic or religious grounds; rape or other sexual violence of comparable gravity; and extermination.”

“The atrocities of October 7 should prompt a global call to action to end all abuses against civilians in Israel and Palestine,” adds Ida Sawyer. For the moment, both sides are still trying to secure a ceasefire in Egypt and Qatar with the help of international negotiators. In the entire war, there has only been one week of truce, the last one in November.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that the state will not investigate what happened until the war is over, and that only then will the details of the security breach that allowed Hamas to attack be fully known and those responsible held accountable. The latest time he refused to launch an investigation was on Tuesday during a meeting with relatives of military victims of the Hamas attack, according to Erez Price, father of soldier Noa Price, who expressed his disagreement with the president’s refusal, according to the newspaper. Haaretz.

The attacks that took place that day were the worst attacks of this kind in Israel’s 76-year history, with some 1,200 dead and some 250 civilian and military hostages. They also sparked the current conflict, in which more than 38,700 people have already died in Gaza due to attacks by Israeli troops. HRW calls on governments with influence over these armed groups to press for the urgent release of the civilian hostages, whose capture constitutes war crimes, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

The investigation “I can’t erase all the blood from my mind”: Palestinian armed groups attack Israel on October 7The 236-page report, for which 144 people were interviewed, 94 of whom were witnesses, documents dozens of cases of serious violations of international humanitarian law by the Palestinian attackers. They include war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In recent months, HRW has already reported on the numerous and serious violations committed by Israeli troops in Gaza during this conflict as a “war crime” that represents the worsening of the “collective punishment” of the blockade of the territory that Gazans have suffered for 17 years and that joins the “apartheid and persecution.” One of the heads of this NGO had already detailed to Morning Express last month the difficulty that Israel poses in blocking access to independent investigations inside the Strip. “Atrocities do not justify atrocities,” says Sawyer, referring to the endless cycle of violence in the area.

Captive soldiers

When the NGO’s report calls for the immediate and unconditional release of civilian hostages, it makes a distinction with the military captives of October 7, who also exist, although HRW has not investigated the assault on military bases that day. According to international humanitarian law, “no one can be used as a hostage, not even soldiers” who “are actually prisoners of war,” explains a spokesperson for the NGO when asked about this. “Therefore, Palestinian armed groups must abide by the law and not use Israeli soldiers as hostages. They can be detained as prisoners of war” and “treated humanely and released at the end of hostilities,” he adds.

A total of 815 of the 1,195 people killed on October 7 were civilians, according to Agence France Presse, which was cited in the report. Armed groups took 251 civilians and members of the Israeli security forces hostage. Today, 116 people remain in the Strip, including the bodies of at least 42 people who have been killed, according to the same agency. The bodies of 35 other people have already been returned to Israel.

The HRW report comes out just days after the Israeli army presented the results of a report of the events to the residents of Kibbutz Beeri, one of the communities hardest hit on October 7. In the report, they acknowledge that they failed in their duty to protect them. A hundred people were killed, almost 10% of the population. The place was the scene of a battle lasting between 12 and 15 hours between Palestinian fundamentalists and residents. An army tank even fired on one of the houses where Hamas militants were holding several residents. It is not clear how many of the approximately 1,200 dead that day fell to Israeli fire, although the vast majority died at the hands of Palestinian armed groups, explains Belkis Wille. She adds that, despite arriving in Israel three days after October 7, the authorities prevented them from accessing the attacked areas and it took them a month to do so.

The residents of Beeri, some of whom are furious, according to local media, are demanding that the matter be taken further and that a commission of inquiry be set up with real answers and accountability, according to a statement issued after receiving military spokesmen at the hotel where they are temporarily staying on the shores of the Dead Sea.

In May, the ICC Prosecutor’s Office requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three members of the Hamas leadership, including the political chief in Gaza, Yahia Sinwar.

In October, Israel showed a 43-minute video behind closed doors to foreign media, but none of the local media, containing images of the Hamas carnage, some of which were extremely harsh. Most of the footage was from cameras carried by the attackers themselves, some from the victims, and images from security cameras or traffic in the places attacked. Military spokesmen took advantage of the occasion to argue that the victims of this attack cannot be compared to the thousands of dead from its bombings on the Strip. For the report presented today, HRW has analysed 280 photographs and videos from the attack on 7 October.

In response to questions from the NGO, Hamas responded with a nine-page report that gave “instructions not to attack civilians and to comply with human rights and international humanitarian law.” This is the opposite of what HRW’s investigation concludes.

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