Yael Sherer (Kohav Yair 1982) has spent more than a decade reviewing evidence of sex crimes and consulting on health policy, legal issues, and emergency situations in countries around the world, from Ukraine to the Balkans. It all started with a personal experience that led her to believe there was no protection for victims like her. As director of the Sexual Violence Victims Advocacy Group in Israel, founded in 2019, Scherer admits she has never before encountered crimes as devastating as those committed by Hamas on October 7, according to data collected through various means by the government, the Armed Forces. police and Israeli rescuers. “Never before have corpses been desecrated in this way, and we have not seen rape of women as well as men in this region,” Scherer says in a telephone conversation with Independent.

Just 24 hours later Shabbat Unfortunately, they contacted Yael Scherer from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Health, the Army and her organization’s police to advise them on the sexual crimes they were documenting. It tells how Hamas and Islamic Jihad invaded Israel from different points.

There are several scenarios where evidence of sexual crimes has been discovered.: Army bases near the border, cities near the Strip, and two music festivals in the area. There were also looting and attacks by civilians. In addition, Hamas special units infiltrated vehicles in Sderot, Ofakim and Netivot. In this case there were no kidnappings. “The slogan was to kill everyone you could. There was no sexual violence there,” he says.

According to the documentation he was able to review, Scherer argues that the terrorists planned the attack and committed the sex crimes because they were aware of the damage that sexual violence causes to society. The damage is beyond the scope of action at this point and is left to the witnesses and survivors. As the attack continued for many hours, the abuses spread further, affecting Jews, Bedouins, Arabs alike, and committing atrocities such as beheadings and mutilations. “The invasion was designed to kidnap as many soldiers and as many minors as possible,” he notes. There weren’t many kidnappings at the festival. “They know that soldiers and children have value in negotiations.”

Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists shared images on their social networks of the attack that killed at least 1,200 civilians and kidnapped another 240 on October 7. Films of those captured or killed in clashes with Israeli forces now bear witness to their atrocities. “They themselves documented their violations and desecrations, although they now deny it,” he notes. “How then to explain that teenagers appeared chained to a bed and naked? Or men tied to a chair, without clothes and with signs of rape?” – he asks. There were also victims who recorded what happened and the information was recovered from their devices.

They found bodies with blood on the genitals or with mutilated genitals. “Some attacks are carried out ‘posthumously’, in other cases the victims were still alive.”

Yael Scherer, director of the advocacy group for victims of sexual violence in Israel

Hundreds of bodies were found at crime scenes, such as the esplanade where the Nova festival took place. Those who arrived first to help the survivors, such as emergency personnel and security forces, recorded what they saw there. “They found bodies half naked from the waist down or completely naked, tied to pieces of furniture and without clothes, or corpses with their hands behind their backs. There were also blood on the genitals, or mutilated or damaged genitals, or genitals. In some cases, attacks openingin others, the victims were still alive,” explains the director of the Sexual Assault Survivors Advocacy Group.

Evidence was also found in bodies autopsied at the Shura military base. Forensic scientists and dentists found mutilated bodies, bleeding or with traces of semen, as well as genitals torn from the bodies. Many of the bodies took several weeks to be identified because they were found in poor condition. A report from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, a non-governmental organization that fights discrimination and tries to improve health conditions in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Israel, cites the testimony of Sarah, a reservist at the Shura base: “I saw “women raped.” , from teenagers to old women, with penetrations so brutal that bones were broken. I also saw amputated genitals.”

The investigation also quotes Itzik Batach, a volunteer with body search and rescue group ZAKA, as testifying to the discovery of a naked and bound couple at Kibbutz Be’eri, where the terrorists were particularly rampant. The paramedic also reported hitting the girl, who was lying on her stomach, half naked, with her legs spread and with traces of semen on her back. “She was executed after being raped,” according to her investigation.

Survivor accounts are scant, and most come from those who escaped death as best they could by hiding out at a music festival in the Negev Desert. “These people witnessed gang rapes and subsequent executions,” says Yael Scherer. According to an NGO report, they cut off one woman’s breasts and then played with them like toys.

The terrorists raped the girls, and after the abuse they killed them… and laughed. They laughed all the time. I can’t forget how they laughed.”

Nova Festival Survivor

In a document from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, one of the survivors, who was rescued by hiding behind a bush, says: “The terrorists, originally from Gaza, raped the girls. And after mistreating them, they killed them.” stabbed them with knives… And they laughed. They laughed all the time. I can’t forget how they laughed.” Researchers found traces of a drug called Captagon, which contains fenetylline and is considered a jihadist drug. Rami Shmuel, the festival’s organizer, confirmed that where the event took place there were “naked women with their clothes forcibly removed and their legs spread apart.”

Yael Scherer admits there is little evidence of direct survivors, but they are men and women and some minors. We have not yet spoken to them directly because they are in a state of great physical and mental fragility. We will have to wait time to listen and analyze their evidence. Some victims take years to realize what happened to them.

Broken Lives, Broken Communities

“In this case, it’s even more serious than ordinary sexual assault because when something like this happens, you have the opportunity to talk about it or not. But this is not so, because there are witnesses to what happened to them,” he notes. Added to this is the fact that their communities have been destroyed. “They have lost friends, colleagues or been kidnapped. They are displaced and cannot return to their homes. This makes recovery difficult, although I believe it is possible.”

Only the army has information about the released hostages, of whom there were 105 during the truce, which lasted only a week. There is great concern about the prisoners still in the hands of Hamas, especially with little hope that there will be any possibility of exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners in the near future. The Physicians for Human Rights report acknowledges that there is a risk that those still in Hamas’ hands will be subjected to sexual violence. For Scherer, the release of all hostages must be a priority. “It is true that before October 7 there was already a ceasefire. “I don’t know what a ceasefire means anymore, but everyone’s return is important.” Israel has just admitted that its bombings killed three hostages.

In its findings, the NGO, while acknowledging that work remains to be done to know the extent of the damage, “there is sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation into crimes against humanity.” To date, no international investigation has been carried out because, according to Scherer, firstly because Israel considers the selected team to be biased, and also because the police investigation is still ongoing.

“The terrorists who participated in the October 7 attack and were arrested in Israel must be brought to justice. The collected evidence will be presented there and they will have the right to defend themselves. We may not share this documentation with others. Israel is a democratic state,” he declares.

Until now, it was enough for them to kill people, and the more, the better. On October 7, things went further. Now they were looking for humiliation.”

Yael Scherer

Scherer witnessed brutal rapes in Ukraine, the Balkans, Congo and other conflicts in East Africa. “But this kind of sexual violence has not been seen in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Less widespread. And such mutilations and desecration of corpses had never been observed here before. It has more to do with what he practiced. Al Qaeda or ISIS. Our societies, Israeli and Palestinian, respect death and consider bodies sacred. And it was broken. It’s a big difference. Until now it was enough to kill people, and the more the better. October 7 passed further, soiling the corpses in this way. It was not enough for them to kill, as in other times. Now they were looking for humiliation. It’s really devastating.” Scherer fears this will not be the last time Hamas and Islamic Jihad commit such atrocities. “They’ll do it again. Maybe not in Israel. In Europe. Or in the United States.”