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Sexual Abuse on October 7: The Campaign to Deny Atrocities & Defend Hamas

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

On March 4, the United Nations envoy on sex crimes during conflict presented a 24-page report on sex crimes perpetrated against Israelis during Hamas’ October 7 atrocities, and against hostages being held captive in Gaza.

According to the report’s findings, there is “clear and convincing evidence” that Israeli hostages suffered (and are likely continuing to suffer) in Gaza, and there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that rape and other acts of sexual abuse were committed by Hamas during its invasion of southern Israel.

This report is the latest confirmation that sex crimes were a tool in the arsenal of brutality that defined the events of October 7.

However, in the months that have followed the initial attack, there has been a movement of denial brewing in alternative media outlets and on social media, which calls into question the incidence of rape and sexual abuse of Israeli victims, accuses Israel of cynically exploiting claims of sexual abuse for military purposes, and seeks to redeem Hamas’ image in the eyes of their selective audiences.

Since December 2023, much of this denialism has focused on “debunking” the claims made by The New York Times in its front-page profile, “‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.”

This crusade against The New York Times’ account of the sexual crimes that occurred on October 7 has been spearheaded by far-left and anti-Israel online publications such as The Intercept, The Grayzone, Electronic Intifada, and Mondoweiss.

Central to these sites’ claims of “debunking” The New York Times’ narrative are pointed questions regarding the newspaper’s evidence, a disregard for the trauma experienced by those who witnessed acts of sexual abuse or were victims of it, and a dismissal of any evidence that does not meet their exceedingly high evidentiary standard.

As part of its investigation, The New York Times interviewed 150 people (including witnesses, soldiers, medical personnel, and rape counselors) and analyzed GPS information, video footage, and photographs.

Out of this litany of evidence, The New York Times profiled several people.

One of these was Gal Abdush, known as the “woman in the black dress,” who was killed on October 7. It is widely believed that due to the position of her body, she was the victim of sexual abuse prior to her murder.

In the wake of the publication of  the Times story, some of these “debunkers” have latched onto claims made by some of her siblings to Israeli television that she was not abused prior to her death.

For these skeptics, if The New York Times is incorrect about Abdush, it must unravel the newspaper’s entire narrative about sexual abuse on October 7.

First, it should be made clear that some in Abdush’s family (such as her mother) do accept the assertion that she was a victim of sexual abuse before her death.

Second, as noted by the X (formerly Twitter) account @daniela127, her family members may be trying to be protective of her dignity, especially as she was the mother of young children. This was alluded to in a Hebrew-language interview with her brother-in-law in January 2024.

Third, it is obvious to any rational person that a question about one piece of evidence does not automatically disqualify the whole case.

The Grayzone seeks to do the same thing with witness Raz Cohen, impeaching his testimony and thereby working to discredit the entire piece.

The far-left news site calls into question his testimony about witnessing a gang rape of an Israeli woman while he was hiding, pointing out that it took him two days from his first interview (October 9) to make any mention of this.

While most people would understand that in the immediate aftermath of an immense trauma it might take time for anyone to open up about their experiences, The Grayzone only finds a nefarious cause behind his testimony.

The psychology behind October 7 mass-rape denial is the same as Holocaust denial. They know the truth. What antisemites enjoy is planting seeds of doubt and watching us Jews plead our case. I’m not going to play that ancient game. They can fuck right off.

— Howard Lovy (@Howard_Lovy) March 5, 2024

Much like The Grayzone’s disregard for Raz Cohen’s trauma influencing his testimony, other “debunking” sites show little regard for the victims and other witnesses.

Mondoweiss finds it “convenient” that the few survivors of sexual abuse on October 7 are unable to talk to the press about their experiences due to their undergoing intense therapy and psychiatric treatment.

The anti-Israel site also calls for journalists to have access to all the evidence of sexual abuse, a grave breach of privacy that no victim of sexual abuse or rape in any other Western country would be subjected to.

Another way that these sites seek to “debunk” the New York Times piece and the Israeli charge of sex abuse during the October 7 attacks is by dismissing any evidence that does not meet their high evidentiary standard.

For example, Electronic Intifada dismisses most of the evidence since it was collected by the IDF (as they were one of the first on the scene). This is as absurd as dismissing evidence in a criminal case because you don’t like the police.

Likewise, Mondoweiss seeks to undermine Israel’s case by calling into question the lack of forensic evidence of rape and sexual abuse.

Although forensic evidence of sexual abuse during war is normally rare, the Israeli government was initially focused on identifying bodies rather than collecting evidence for criminal cases. The fact is that many bodies were retrieved in an active war zone, and the scale of victims was much larger than the police laboratory could handle by itself. Despite this, Mondoweiss appears to view these as convenient excuses meant to hide the fact that there were no instances of sexual abuse and rape during October 7.

I read the attempt to discredit the NY Times reporting on Hamas’s systemic sexual violence so you don’t have to. You should, so you can see the full extent of the depravity & misogyny enabled & required by antisemitism. But here are the highlights. https://t.co/VAKoPIee8C

— daniela (@daniela127) March 3, 2024

Concurrent with the attempt to delegitimize the case that there was a rash of sexual abuse and rape is an attempt to absolve Hamas of any wrongdoing.

For these observers, even if sexual abuse did take place during the massacre, it was certainly not perpetrated by Hamas, the noble Palestinian resistance movement dedicated to fighting the evil Jewish state.

Both freelance British journalist and anti-Israel activist Jonathan Cook and The Intercept seem to largely absolve Hamas of any guilt in this regard and re-focus it on the deluge of Palestinian civilians that followed the initial wave of Hamas terrorists into southern Israel.

The Grayzone and Mondoweiss even go one step further, using the opportunity to not only call into question the use of sexual abuse by Hamas terrorists, but also to seemingly glorify those who took part in the October 7 invasion.

In its questioning of The New York Times, The Grayzone ponders whether it’s “plausible that a group of hardened Hamas commandos suddenly paused their surprise attack, which was focused on taking as many captives as quickly as possible, stood in a circle and gang raped a woman, one after another, while Israeli forces mobilized to attack them?”

For The Grayzone, it appears to be inconceivable that these “hardened Hamas commandos,” who also engaged in the butchering of 1,200 people and the war crime of kidnapping roughly 250 others, would engage in the demeaning tactic of sexual abuse. While sex crimes are not uncommon in wartime, The Grayzone judges it to be absurd that Hamas terrorists would stoop to such a level.

For its part, Mondoweiss claims that not only did Hamas members not engage in sexual abuse, but the Islamist terrorist organization is known to treat women properly, based on the calm comportment of those hostages who were freed in November 2023 as they were released to the care of the Red Cross.

While there have been published videos of captured Hamas terrorists admitting to sexual abuse and rape, and there has been testimony that the released hostages were sedated prior to their release (along with the fact that many still have relatives in Hamas captivity), Mondoweiss disregards these pieces of evidence as “absurd” and discounts their validity.

For a publication that seems intent on attaining the facts regarding October 7, it seems that it only cares for the facts that are convenient to its narrative and disregards the rest.

It should be noted that these Western media outlets are echoing the same sentiments expressed by Hamas itself, alleging that Hamas members can’t have engaged in these acts as they are against “Islamic values and culture.” At the same time, Hamas also regarded the October 7 massacre as “glorious.”

For those who seek to invalidate the claim that sexual abuse occurred on October 7 and “debunk” The New York Times’ in-depth profile, the allegations of abuse and rape are part of a campaign by the Israeli government to validate its military actions in Gaza.

While the mass killings and kidnappings of October 7 would have been enough to warrant a military response against Hamas in Gaza, The Intercept, Jonathan Cook, The Grayzone, and Electronic Intifada all claim that these allegations are central to Israel’s case for “ethnic cleansing” and “mass killings” in Gaza.

For these alternative outlets and their eager audience on social media, the attempt to discredit the sexual assault claims is not a mere search for the truth, but is part of a concerted effort to invalidate Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and to rehabilitate Hamas’ image in the West.

Thus, these “debunking” efforts are an effective propaganda tool on behalf of a tyrannical terrorist organization that perpetrated the worst single day in Jewish history since the Holocaust.

And as long as these efforts are allowed to maintain a veneer of credibility, they will help pave the way for future Hamas atrocities.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post Sexual Abuse on October 7: The Campaign to Deny Atrocities & Defend Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire

Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.

Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.

Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.

Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”

As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.

“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.

Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.

The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.

Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.

Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.

Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel

People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas

Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.

“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.

“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.

Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.

The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.

In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.

“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.

In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.

Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.

In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.

“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”

Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.

Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.

To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.

In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.

Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.

Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.

The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.

The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns

Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak

The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.

Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.

With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.

The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.

Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.

Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.

According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.

With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.

In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.

The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.

Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.

The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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