“This violence targets beyond the individual victim—it strikes an entire community, turning a symbol of life into one of death,” said retired district court judge Nava Ben-Or, a co-author of the Dinah Project report on the severe sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists, during a Wednesday morning interview with Ynet.
Reflecting on her career handling grave cases, she described the report’s compilation as uniquely challenging. “It’s profoundly different because the phenomenon itself is distinct,” she said. “Sexual violence in war zones fundamentally differs from ‘ordinary’ sexual violence. It’s aimed not just at the victim but at their entire community.”
According to Ben-Or, this violence is not merely personal harm but a paralyzing message. “It says: we will attack what symbolizes life in human culture and destroy it by transforming it into a symbol of death,” she explained.
Addressing this phenomenon within the affected community involves confronting a collective wound, not just individual suffering. “It’s incredibly complex and difficult but it also counters the sense of helplessness by taking action,” she added.
On Hamas’s use of sexual violence as a tactical weapon, Ben-Or emphasized it was clearly systematic from the outset. “As soon as reports, rumors and statements emerged, and evidence from the ground accumulated, it was evident,” she said.
This was corroborated by a UN under-secretary-general’s report on sexual violence in war, which identified a recurring pattern across multiple sites, ruling out isolated incidents. “This wasn’t a sporadic attack by an individual during the invasion of Israel,” she noted.
Israel holds Nukhba terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre and rapes. Ben-Or explained that the comprehensive report serves two primary purposes: legal accountability and international awareness. Legally, it aids in shaping frameworks for prosecuting perpetrators when identifying specific culprits among detained terrorists is challenging and evidence evaluation is complex.
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Equally critical is the international dimension. “By showing these acts stem from genocidal indoctrination, blatant antisemitism and complete dehumanization of the attacked side, it becomes nearly impossible to portray Hamas terrorists as freedom fighters,” she said. “Freedom fighters don’t rape or sexually assault victims. Exposing these acts ensures the true picture isn’t distorted, so history records what happened.”
The report aims to influence global public opinion beyond Israel’s judicial system. “Wherever we speak, we’re heard with great respect,” Ben-Or said. “Even if you believe Israel is entirely responsible for the war, you cannot justify this type of terrorism. There’s no ‘but.’ It’s an unequivocal ‘no.’
"Sexual violence during an attack cannot be framed with political arguments.” The project’s message, she stressed, is not political. “Saying ‘yes, but’ implies there are cases where this horrific weapon is legitimate. Our clear stance, which we bring to the international stage, is heard.
"We speak not from a political perspective but from the most basic human one: this cannot be a weapon of war—not in Darfur, not in Congo, not against Yazidis, not in Ukraine and not in Israel.”
Nearly two years after the October 7 massacre, the Dinah Project report was fully published on Tuesday, revealing a harrowing picture of Hamas’s sexual violence during the attack and in captivity as a deliberate, pre-planned weapon.
Spanning 84 pages, it compiles evidence from a Nova music festival rape survivor, 15 former hostages, 17 eyewitnesses or earwitnesses to attacks, 27 rescue team members and extensive visual documentation.
The report details sexual violence at six locations—Nova music festival, Route 232, Nahal Oz base and the kibbutzim of Re’im, Nir Oz and Kfar Aza—along with assaults during captivity.
The Dinah Project underscores the calculated brutality of Hamas’s strategy, challenging narratives that downplay or justify such acts. Its dual focus on legal accountability and global awareness seeks to ensure justice for victims and clarity in the historical record, reinforcing that sexual violence as a tool of war is indefensible, regardless of context.