Amid severe criticism directed at women's and international health organizations for their silence on the sexual violence and rapes perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7, three doctors from HaEmek Medical Center and Rambam Health Care Campus penned a forceful editorial in "The Lancet," a leading global medical journal.
"Every passing day exposes the captives to violence and the danger of sexual assault," they wrote, "We implore all international health organizations, especially those committed to protecting women's health, to condemn the sexual violence by Hamas and to demand the release of all captives held in the Gaza Strip."
The article, released last month, sharply rebuked these organizations for their delayed response to the atrocities committed by Hamas, which had become evident much earlier. "It took UN Women nearly two months to issue a condemnation of the violent attacks by Hamas. The silence of health and women's organizations represents the hypocrisy and double standards of the liberal world toward the violation of women's rights in this conflict," the Israeli doctors stated, referencing an earlier UN resolution that classified sexual violence as a war crime and called for an absolute cessation of any sexual violence against civilians during conflict.
Authored by Dr. Noa Zafran, a senior obstetrician and head of the emergency medicine service in obstetrics, and Dr. Shira Bara'am, a senior doctor specializing in fertility impairment, both from HaEmek Medical Center, along with Professor Ido Sholt, who leads the Mother and Fetus Unit at Rambam Health Care Campus, the piece urges international professional groups to decisively condemn Hamas's actions and advocate for the swift release of the 133 Israeli captives in Gaza Strip.
"This letter was written well before the related article appeared in the 'New York Times' and before the issue began to attract wider attention," explains Dr. Baram. "It was written against the backdrop of persistent silence from women's organizations, a silence that is still evident. Recently, the UN released a list identifying areas at risk of sexual violence, yet Hamas was not mentioned on this list.
"The letter details the gathered testimonies regarding the sexual assaults that occurred on October 7. It includes a medical context and cites medical literature that classifies sexual violence as a war crime and discusses the enduring harm suffered by victims over time. There is substantial literature on this topic. The letter underwent several drafts; initially, the testimonies were quite limited. As more evidence came in, documenting it became increasingly challenging. Regrettably, the global scale of this issue is appalling."
No sitting idly by
"The idea originated from articles that started appearing in medical literature about the October 7 events. As physicians specializing in women's health, we felt it was crucial to address issues relevant to our profession," Zafran said. "We aimed to raise awareness and introduce the topic to the international medical community by attempting to publish an opinion piece in the international press.
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"The letter was drafted about two to three weeks after the events, coinciding with the emergence of the first testimonies. Our primary objective was to increase awareness among global health organizations, particularly those focused on women’s health." The letter was not published under the gynecological association's name but was instead a private initiative by three doctors who wanted to address the issue promptly.
Initially, the article was rejected by several journals, but Zafran does not necessarily see these rejections as a denial of the sexual assaults or as part of an ostracization of Israel from the research community, as some have suggested. "In the end, it was published in a leading newspaper. Receiving rejections is normal. It's the right of a newspaper to reject, and I can't definitively say it was rejected elsewhere because we are Israelis.
The article was eventually published, and we are pleased because it adds another voice calling to the international community. The World Health Organization has already defined sexual violence as a war crime, so you cannot have double standards and call what happened here a mere uprising. The letter calls for the international community to recognize the assaults on October 7 as war crimes. That is the essence of our call. It was important for us to make some noise and not just sit idly by."