June 19th is observed globally as the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. This year June 19th coincides with the release of the report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, examining possible human rights violations committed by all parties between 7 October and 31 December 2023. Read here to understand the significance of the COI’s findings of the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7.

Spotlight – June 19th / COI Report

 

  • June 19th is observed as the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. This day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 to raise awareness of the need to end conflict-related sexual violence and honor the victims and survivors.
    The date marks the adoption of Security Council resolution 1820 (2008), which recognized sexual violence as a tactic of war and a threat to international peace and security.
    The observance of this day underscores the importance of continuous efforts to eliminate sexual violence in conflict. It is a call to action for increased protection, accountability, and support systems to address and prevent these heinous crimes and their long-lasting impact on individuals and communities.

 

  • COI- The Commission of Inquiry (COI) – was established in May 2021, following another round in the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization, during which Hamas launched thousands of rockets at the Israeli civilian population. The Commission’s mandate and scope are unprecedented: it is an open-ended mandate to investigate “all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law” within “the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel”; it has no expiry date; and it is also mandated to “investigate all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity”. Thus, bias against Israel is inherent to its establishment. This bias is demonstrated by the selection of its members: Contrary to the requirement that Commission members be independent and impartial, all three members of the COI have a record of biased statements against Israel and of antisemitic statements, including questioning Israel’s right to be a UN member, referring to the “Jewish lobby”, etc.

 

The Official Presentation of the Report during the Human Rights Council Session Will Take Place on June 19th.

 

Highlights of the Report

This paper focuses on the parts relating to sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the report. We therefore do not address its overall one-sided and biased nature.
Despite its biased starting point, the COI report contains some significant findings that should be highlighted, as they complement the SRSG’s report and even go further in pointing to clear attribution of the October 7th sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) to Hamas.

Following are the most important findings of the COI report in that respect (original paragraph numbering maintained; emphasis added):

23. The Commission found that seven female soldiers were taken to Gaza as hostages and viewed footage showing that they had been subjected to physical and verbal abuse. Four female bodies found at Nahal Oz outpost were partially or completely undressed, two of which were isolated in separate rooms, showing signs of physical abuse and sexual violence.
24. The Commission found indications that members of the military wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed gender-based violence (GBV) in several locations in southern Israel on 7 October. These were not isolated incidents but perpetrated in similar ways in several locations and by multiple Palestinian perpetrators…
25. Hamas military wing rejected all accusations that its forces committed sexual violence against Israeli women. However, the Commission documented cases indicative of sexual violence perpetrated against women and men in and around the Nova festival site, as well as the Nahal Oz military outpost and several kibbutzim, including Kfar Aza, Re’im and Nir Oz. It collected and preserved digital evidence, including images of victims’ bodies displaying indications of sexual violence, a pattern corroborated by independent testimonies from witnesses. Reliable witness accounts obtained by the Commission describe bodies that had been undressed, in some incidents with exposed genitals. The Commission received reports and verified digital evidence concerning the restraining of women, including hands and sometimes feet of women being bound, often behind the victims’ backs, prior to their abduction or killing. Additionally, the Commission made assessments based on the position of the body, for example images displaying legs spread or bent over, and signs of struggle or violence on the body, such as stab wounds, burns, lacerations and abrasions.
….
90. In relation to the attack of 7 October in Israel, the Commission concludes, on reasonable grounds that members of the military wings of Hamas and of other Palestinian armed groups, as well as Palestinian civilians who were directly participating in the hostilities, deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, took hostages and committed SGBV against: civilians, including Israeli citizens and foreign nationals; and members of the ISF, including soldiers considered hors de combat, in many locations in southern Israel. These actions constitute war crimes and violations and abuses of IHL and IHRL.
91. The Commission concludes that civilians were intentionally targeted, that the attack was premeditated and planned over a significant period, reflecting a high degree of organisation and coordination, and implemented in several locations at or about the same time. The attacks were led and coordinated by Hamas and implemented by the military wings of Hamas and six other Palestinian factions, with the participation of some Palestinian civilians.
94. The Commission concludes that members of the military wing of Hamas and Palestinian armed groups targeted women, including by wilful killings, abductions, and physical, mental and sexual abuse. These crimes were deliberate and, in several cases, enforced with violence, intentionally causing great suffering and serious injury to the victims. The Commission particularly notes that women were subjected to GBV during the course of their execution or abduction. Women and women’s bodies were used as victory trophies by male perpetrators and the abduction, violence and humiliation of women, were put on public display, either on the streets of the Gaza Strip or online.
95. The Commission identified patterns indicative of sexual violence in several locations and concludes that Israeli women were disproportionally subjected to these crimes. The attack on 7 October enabled perpetrators to commit SGBV and this violence was not isolated but perpetrated in similar ways in several locations and by multiple Palestinian perpetrators. The Commission did not find credible evidence, however, that militants received orders to commit sexual violence and so it was unable to make conclusions on this issue. However, inflammatory language and disbelief around sexual violence, observed with both parties, risks silencing and discrediting survivors, further exacerbating trauma and stigmatization.

 

While recognizing its contributions to this issue, the report should be criticized for the false equation that it makes between Hamas’ gender atrocities and IDF’s alleged actions; for the double standard that it systematically employs towards Hamas and the IDF throughout the report; for failing to address critical evidence of the ongoing SGBV in captivity; and for failing to recommend the designation of Hamas as a terror organization and its inclusion in the black-list of organizations that commit SGBV, with all the consequences that should follow such designation.

The gravest demonstration of the double-standard in the COI’s treatment of Israel and the Hamas is in their unequal legal analysis of the same elements in the factual findings, leading them to conclude that while Israeli authorities and the IDF committed crimes against humanity in the nature of gender persecution targeting men and boys, Hamas only committed war crimes in the nature of SGBV against the hostages, and as to the SGBV found to be committed on October 7th, they do not even refer to it as war crime.

The report’s treatment of sexual and gender-based violence is particularly problematic, as it equates the actions of Hamas terrorists with alleged IDF misconduct, an assertion Israel strongly refutes. The COI’s approach is seen as minimizing Hamas’s strategic use of sexual violence while unfairly accusing Israel.

Additionally, the report neglects the indoctrination of violence within the Palestinian population and the multiple fronts from which Israel is attacked. The COI’s findings are viewed as exacerbating polarization, lacking independence and impartiality.