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Hamas Raped and Massacred Israeli Women; Is There a Way to Hold Them Legally Accountable?
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
As a former Special Victims Prosecutor, the plight of victims of sexual violence is one that I am both familiar with and sensitive to. The trauma suffered by these victims is some of the worst that a human being can endure.
The phrase “believe women” became a rallying cry during the #MeToo movement, and on the left. So the deafening silence from those quarters about the sexually violent crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has been particularly disappointing.
The Geneva Convention specifies that “women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honor, in particular against rape or any form of indecent assault.”
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court states that “rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, or any other form of sexual violence” is a crime against humanity.
Yet, ironically, November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, when UN Women launches an annual UN-wide campaign — and there is not a whisper of condemnation emanating from the hallowed halls of the UN about the hideous sexual violence committed by Hamas against Israeli women. This, despite mounting evidence that rape was systematically used against Israeli women as a tool of terror on October 7.
A glossary of translated phrases from Arabic to Hebrew was recovered from Hamas terrorists that included instructions such as “Take your pants off.” There is a disturbing video from October 7 of a young Israeli girl being dragged by her hair with her hands bound behind her back in Gaza. Her crotch area is visibly stained with blood. A harrowing account was just released by Israeli police of a witness who watched as Hamas terrorists gang raped a woman before shooting her in the head. There are numerous accounts of Israeli girls and women being found murdered, with their pants and undergarments completely removed.
In implementing rape as a tool for terror, Hamas committed war crimes.
What recourse exists to prosecute Hamas for these crimes? I spoke with George P. Fletcher, the Cardozo Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia Law School and preeminent expert in international criminal law about this prospect.
“There is little doubt that Hamas has committed innumerable war crimes,” Professor Fletcher said. “Rape is considered a crime against humanity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and it violates the Geneva Conventions. It is related to genocide because it changes the population by producing offspring.”
Aside from the rape abuses, Hamas’ “charter would be Exhibit A in a prosecution for genocide” Professor Fletcher said, referencing Article 7 of Hamas’ 1988 charter, which calls for the killing of Jews.
Given its anti-Israel bias, and that the ICC has tried to haul Israelis into court under trumped up charges, going to the ICC for justice seems like a horrible mistake. Israel says it will try Hamas war criminals; but what can be done elsewhere?
Professor Fletcher offered a creative and promising alternative to the ICC: the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). While it doesn’t have the geopolitical gravitas of the ICC, “the ATCA allows foreign nationals the ability to sue in US Federal courts for violations of international law, particularly human rights violations,” Fletcher said. I pressed Professor Fletcher on the risks involved in a potential counter-suit for Israeli violations of international law. He responded that, “The concern about a counter-suit is litigious harassment, not the merits. Let them bring their case. A full hearing of the evidence is good for Israel.”
There are a number of logistical issues such a case raises. For example, how would Hamas be served with the complaint? If a judgment for violation of international law were reached, what kind of penalties could be levied and how would it be enforced? If Hamas has assets in the US, then they could be frozen as a result of a judgment against it. But it is unclear whether Hamas has any such assets or US bank accounts.
Professor Fletcher suggested that victims of Hamas’ war crimes sue Iran as well, since there is ample evidence that “Hamas are agents of Iran.” Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and pairing Hamas and Iran as co-defendants would highlight this fact. Moreover, it would be easier to enforce a judgment against Iran than it would an amorphous terrorist group in Hamas.
Given the inordinate frequency with which it condemns Israel, the United Nations may not be a hospitable environment for Israeli victims of Hamas war crimes to get justice. US Federal courts might provide a better forum for them to do so. In whichever way the victims of October 7 seek justice, it is clear that they will need to be creative in their approach.
Kenneth Blake is a former Special Victims Prosecutor at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY. He is a Government and Critical Thinking teacher at St. Vincent de Paul High School in Petaluma, CA.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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