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Hamas Sexual Violence ‘Systematic and Deliberate’, Says Israeli Report Submitted to UN
The personal belongings of festival-goers are seen at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Oct. 12, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel on Wednesday published an extensive report submitted to the UN detailing the sexual violence occurring both during the October 7 Hamas assault and afterwards against hostages, and stating that the attacks were executed in a systematic, deliberate and sadistic manner.
The 35-page report examined hundreds of pages of evidence including medical reports and testimonies by witnesses, survivors and first responders, much of which has not been made public.
A statement by the group said the report constituted “the first official research since October 7, consolidating evidence and providing conclusions”, including the fact that Hamas used rape as weapon of war.
“Several testimonies, interviews and additional sources indicate the use of sadistic practices by Hamas terrorists, aimed at intensifying the humiliation and fear of sexual abuse,” the report said. “Many victim’s bodies were found mutilated and bound, with sexual organs brutally attacked, and in some cases, weapons were inserted into them,” it said.
The report said that in several cases, families were forced to watch the terrorists carry out acts of sexual violence on their family members.
Orit Sulitzeanu, CEO of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, said the report left “no room for denial or disregard.”
“The terrorist organization Hamas chose to harm Israel strategically in two clear ways – kidnapping citizens and committing sadistic sexual crimes,” Sulitzeanu said. “Silence is no longer an option. We expect international organizations to take a clear stance; we cannot stand on the sidelines. Silence will be remembered as a historical stain on those who chose to remain silent and deny the sexual crimes committed by Hamas.”
Several of the 80 Israeli women and children released in a late November truce with Hamas have spoken out about the sexual abuse they experienced, and have described meeting other female hostages still in captivity who had been sexually assaulted.
In many instances, victims were murdered following their rape, but some were killed during the act itself. The report details with distressing clarity how the deceased were further desecrated, with the genitalia of both females and males grotesquely disfigured. Women were tied to trees, dragged by their hair, and had organs, including sexual organs, amputated. The report also details the rape of men.
The report was released a day after Israel rejected as “dispicable” a statement released by the UN Human Rights Commissioner alleging sexual abuse by Israeli forces on Palestinian women in Gaza. The UN statement, which cited UN monitors who have denied sexual violence on the part of Hamas, did not provide any evidence and neither did it explain how it carried out its investigation. It took UN Women to post a condemnation of the October 7 atrocities, and even then the tweet was deleted shortly thereafter.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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