Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday highlighted findings by a civil commission on sexual violence by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, sharing a video display in New York City’s Times Square.
The ministry cited testimony that hostages were assaulted in front of relatives and that minors were coerced into sexual acts, saying the abuses “cannot be denied, erased or forgotten.”
The Civil Commission on Oct. 7 Crimes Against Women and Children released its report on May 12. It is based on a two-year investigation spanning 10,000 photographs and videos, 430 testimonies and interviews and more than 1,800 hours of footage, including footage recorded by the terrorists.
“Across homes, roads, shelters, the Nova music festival, military bases, and during captivity in Gaza, Hamas and its collaborators used sexual violence as a widespread and systematic tactic,” the report’s website states. “These were not isolated incidents. They followed recurring, organized patterns across multiple locations and phases of the attack, including during abduction, transfer, and prolonged captivity.”
In Times Square, the Civil Commission’s findings on Hamas’ sexual violence are impossible to ignore:
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 20, 2026
“Hostages were assaulted in front of their loved ones, and young relatives were forced to commit sexual acts on each other.”
It cannot be denied. Erased. Or forgotten.
Silenced… pic.twitter.com/OszDinJb99
