The Civil Commission established by Israeli doctor and human rights activist Cochav Elkayam-Levy, which is investigating the crimes committed by Hamas against women, children, and families on October 7, 2023, has just published a 300-page report to serve as evidence that the terrorist group used the rape of women and men before murdering or kidnapping them, sexual violence, and the mutilation of corpses as a systematic strategy in its attack.

The work carried out by professors and non-governmental researchers is based on hundreds of testimonies from victims and professionals, and on the analysis of 10,000 photographs, satellite images, and videos — in many cases recorded by the terrorists themselves. It was advised by international experts including the International Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Center and former Canadian Minister of Justice, Prof. Irwin Cotler; the Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone, Prof. David Crane; and the President of the American Muslim and Multi-Faith Women’s Council AMMWEC, Anila Ali.

The report completes the work begun in 2023 by the Dinah Project, led by Ruth Halperin, Professor of International Law at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, and published in 2025 under the title “A Quest for Justice.” In that case, preliminary investigations were submitted to the United Nations and led to a visit to Israel by the Special Representative of the Commission on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten. The organization included the massacre and the allegations in its Annual Report for 2024, which clearly and verifiably acknowledged the existence of sexual violence and systematic rapes — and identified Hamas as a group credibly implicated in perpetrating crimes against humanity.

Last week, The New York Times published a detailed report on the findings led by Elkayam-Levy. The following day, it published a one-and-a-half-page op-ed with four photographs by Nicholas Kristof, focusing on allegations by Palestinian victims and non-governmental organizations regarding rapes and torture involving sexual violence committed by the Israeli army.

These acts were alleged to have been committed against Palestinian civilians, prisoners, and detainees in various settings — both in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and following the Hamas attack and the war in Gaza. The collection of testimonies was compiled by non-governmental organizations such as Euro Human Rights Monitor and Save the Children, although the United Nations has not acknowledged the existence of a strategy of sexual violence on this front, and Israel has categorically denied the incidents.

The issue is not that a prestigious outlet like The New York Times conveys to the public the need to denounce and prosecute war crimes as horrifying as those described, wherever they occur — and that it does so with the utmost rigor, guided by the judgment of its professionals and the right to free speech.

The issue is that public opinion and certain political leaders use their messages to criminalize specific governments while failing to acknowledge and prosecute crimes against humanity committed by deranged terrorist groups like Hamas. Any excesses or brutality by Israeli security forces against Palestinian civilians should be strongly denounced — as is done in news reports, documentaries, by activists, and by international organizations — and those responsible should be brought to justice in a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

The issue is that a significant segment of public opinion and many political and social media leaders have simply not spoken out about the sexual violence and war crimes committed by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, and in the days following the barbaric assault.

The reports by professors and activists from the Civil Commission and the Dinah Project will have beneficial consequences for the future. And the journalistic work of rigorous media outlets will continue to guide democratic societies in finding ways to contribute to the construction of a more stable and equitable Middle East — free from terrorist and criminal violence, with the Palestinian people’s right to a state established, and Israel’s right to security guaranteed.