Violations of International Law and Crimes Committed on October 7, 2023
- What violations of international humanitarian law and grave international crimes were committed on October 7?
- What research did Human Rights Watch carry out to determine violations of international law during the October 7 assault?
- How many people were killed during the October 7 assault?
- Did Human Rights Watch examine Palestinian armed group abuses against Israeli soldiers?
- What violations of international humanitarian law and grave international crimes has Human Rights Watch documented in Gaza since the October 7 assault?
Those Responsible
- Which Palestinian armed groups participated in the October 7 assault?
- Who is legally responsible for violations of the laws of war committed by armed groups linked to political movements?
- What role did civilians from Gaza who crossed into Israel play during the October 7 assault?
- What weapons were used by Palestinian fighters in their attacks on Israeli communities?
Aims of Human Rights Watch Report
Hostages
- How many hostages did Palestinian armed groups take to Gaza?
- What is hostage-taking under international humanitarian law?
- What international humanitarian law applies to hostages?
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
- What were the main Human Rights Watch findings regarding sexual and gender-based violence on October 7?
- How did Human Rights Watch investigate allegations of sexual and gender-based violence?
- Did Human Rights Watch interview any survivors of or witnesses to rape?
- How pervasive was sexual and gender-based violence on October 7?
Israeli Military Preparedness before the October 7 Assault
Responses of the Authorities
- What has Hamas said about the Human Rights Watch findings?
- What has Israel said about the Human Rights Watch findings?
International Investigations
Violations of International Law and Crimes Committed on October 7, 2023
Human Rights Watch research found that Palestinian armed groups involved in the assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law – also known as the laws of war – that amount to war crimes. These include deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects; willful killing of persons in custody; cruel and other inhumane treatment; crimes relating to sexual and gender-based violence; hostage-taking; mutilation and despoiling (robbing) of bodies; use of human shields; and pillage and looting.
Human Rights Watch also found that Palestinian armed groups committed a widespread attack directed against a civilian population, according to the definition required for crimes against humanity. This is based on the numerous civilian sites targeted and on the planning that Human Rights Watch documented went into the crimes. Human Rights Watch has further found that killing civilians and taking hostages were central aims of the planned attack, and not actions that occurred as an afterthought, or as a plan gone awry, or as isolated acts, for example solely by unaffiliated Palestinians from Gaza, and as such there is strong evidence of an organizational policy to commit multiple acts of crimes against humanity.
Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, an attack directed against a civilian population is defined as a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts of crimes against humanity, such as murder or unlawful imprisonment, pursuant to or in furtherance of a state or organizational policy to commit such an attack.
Human Rights Watch concludes that the murder of civilians and the taking of hostages – imprisonment in violation of fundamental rules of international law – on October 7, 2023, formed part of the attack and were crimes against humanity.
There should be further investigation of other potential crimes against humanity, including persecution against any identifiable group on racial, national, ethnic or religious grounds; rape or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; and extermination. These would amount to crimes against humanity if the acts amounting to these crimes were committed as part of the attack directed against a civilian population.
This report only covers the abuses committed on October 7; it does not examine the abuses committed during subsequent events including the treatment of hostages in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 94 survivors of the October 7 assault and another 50 people, including family members of survivors, of hostages and of those killed; first responders who collected human remains from the attack sites; medical experts who examined the human remains and provided forensic advice to the Israeli authorities; officials from the municipalities affected by the attacks; and journalists who visited the attack sites after the areas had been secured by the Israeli armed forces. Most of the survivors interviewed were Jewish Israelis; Human Rights Watch also interviewed Palestinians from Gaza, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and foreign workers from Nepal, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Researchers also verified and analyzed over 280 photographs and videos taken during and in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 assault, many of which were posted on social media.
The Israeli government has reported the deaths of 1,195 people stemming from the assault on October 7, including the later deaths of hostages in Gaza. Agence France Presse (AFP), which analyzed numerous Israeli government databases tracking the number of people killed and researched the killings of foreigners, assessed that 815 of the 1,195 were civilians, including 79 foreign nationals. Among them were at least 282 women and 36 children. AFP did not count soldiers, police, or members of community security or the rapid response teams as civilians, although police and members of the rapid response teams who do not have a permanent combat role are normally civilians under the laws of war.
Human Rights Watch was unable to confirm the cause of death of all civilians who lost their lives. In cases in which Human Rights Watch received information about the cause of death, the evidence indicates that only a minority of civilian deaths resulted from fighting between Israeli armed forces and Palestinian armed groups, including by Israeli forces. Human Rights Watch did not find evidence to support the claim that the majority of the deaths were caused by heavy weapons only used by Israeli forces and not by Palestinian armed groups.
Under the laws of war, combatants are subject to military attack. However, they are protected from mistreatment in custody, such as torture, sexual and gender-based violence and murder, and other violations of the laws of war, such as being used as hostages or human shields.
Because of a lack of access to the Israeli armed forces, Human Rights Watch in this report did not address abuses against Israeli soldiers on October 7.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have cut off essential services, including water and electricity, to Gaza’s population and blocked the entry of all but a trickle of fuel and critical humanitarian aid, acts of collective punishment that amount to war crimes and include the use of starvation as a method of warfare. The blockade exacerbated the humanitarian situation stemming from Israel’s 17-year-long sweeping restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza.
Israeli attacks in apparent violation of the laws of war and possible war crimes have hit large residential buildings, food aid distribution centers, medical facilities, schools, shelters, aid worker residences, universities, water infrastructure and wells, and reduced large parts of neighborhoods to rubble. Israeli forces have also unlawfully used white phosphorous in Gaza. Israeli authorities have ordered most of Gaza’s population to evacuate their homes, risking the war crime of forced displacement. As of July 1, at least 37,900 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and 87,060 others injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Since October 7, Palestinian armed groups have unlawfully launched thousands of rockets at Israeli communities, causing death, injuries, and property damage.
The serious crimes carried out by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups since October 7 are the legacy of decades-long impunity for unlawful attacks and crimes by all parties, including Israel’s crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.
Those Responsible
Human Rights Watch confirmed the participation of at least five Palestinian armed groups from Gaza in the attacks: Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades; the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Quds Brigades; the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s armed wing, the National Resistance Brigades or the Omar al-Qasim Forces; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s armed wing, the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades; and the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, formerly linked to the Fatah political faction.
These groups’ participation was confirmed in large part through a detailed analysis of the attackers visible in videos taken during the attacks, including CCTV and body camera footage, some wearing colored headbands linked to specific armed groups, as well as an identification of the Telegram social media channels belonging to specific armed groups on which the footage of abuse was posted, with the captions claiming responsibility for the acts shown.
Two additional groups – the Mujahideen Brigades and Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades – claimed to have participated in the assault, but Human Rights Watch was unable to independently confirm their participation. Another group, the Ansar Brigades, may also have participated in the attacks, but Human Rights Watch was unable to verify its participation, nor did the group release a statement confirming its involvement on October 7.
All of these groups were members of a “Joint Operations Room” in Gaza that during escalations in hostilities engage in training, planning, and carrying out armed operations against Israel.
Human Rights Watch found strong evidence of the participation of at least five Palestinian armed groups from Gaza in the attacks: Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, which led the assault; the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Quds Brigades; the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s armed wing, the National Resistance Brigades or Omar al-Qasim Forces; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s armed wing, the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades; and the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, formerly linked to the Fatah political faction.
Since 2007, Hamas has been the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip and engages in civil governance beyond its military component. Hamas and all the other political groups whose armed wings participated in the assault are ultimately responsible for the actions of their military forces. The Human Rights Watch reporting of the attacks focused on the actions of the groups’ fighters, who were members of their military wings and are referred to as such. Human Rights Watch was unable to determine the extent of information the military wings shared with their political branches about the October 7 assault.
Members of the political wings who participated in the planning, aiding or commission of abuses perpetrated during the October 7 assault would also bear legal liability and may be prosecuted for criminal offenses. Civilian leaders may also be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity as a matter of command responsibility when they knew or should have known about the commission of war crimes or crimes against humanity by persons within their chain of command and took insufficient measures to prevent them or punish those responsible.
Analysis of over 280 photographs and videos from the assault, as well as witness evidence, shows that apparently well-trained and armed fighters in uniform began attacking civilian populated areas immediately after they carried out a coordinated breach of multiple points of the barrier between Gaza and Israel. Survivor accounts along with photographs and verified videos show Palestinian fighters seeking out civilians and killing them across the attack sites from the first moments that the assault began, indicating that the intentional killing and hostage-taking of civilians was planned and highly coordinated.
While some attackers were wearing civilian clothing, Human Rights Watch could not determine whether they were civilians. In some cases, witnesses saw these individuals communicating with uniformed fighters, including in some instances using two-way radios that the fighters were using to receive orders. Moreover, fighters in non-state armed groups are not obligated under the laws of war to wear uniforms or other identifying insignia. As such, Human Rights Watch did not find that civilians from Gaza who opportunistically crossed into Israel were responsible for the most serious violations during the assault.
Palestinian armed groups carried out numerous attacks on civilians in their homes, in open fields, driving on roadways, or in public bomb shelters where they were subjected to gunfire from assault rifles, often at point-blank or very close-range, grenades, and shoulder-fired rockets.
Fires also destroyed a number of buildings and vehicles. Human Rights Watch documented Palestinian fighters setting fires in apparent attempts to drive civilians out of their safe rooms, either to capture or kill them. By law, all homes in Israel constructed since 1992 are required to have mamads or safe rooms inside them, designed to withstand rocket attacks.
In other cases, fires may have been the consequence of the use of small arms and explosives, which can cause the ignition of flammable materials, particularly when vehicles are attacked.
In a number of areas, fighting between Palestinian armed groups and members of community emergency response teams and Israeli security forces persisted for several days. Israeli military forces used helicopters, tanks and other armored vehicles, and heavy equipment, such as bulldozers, in their attempts to clear areas under attack of Palestinian fighters.
Aims of Human Rights Watch Report
Human Rights Watch has a mandate to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including during active armed conflicts. The organization conducts this work in an impartial manner, regardless of the victim or perpetrator.
In Human Rights Watch’s work on Israel and Palestine, and in conflicts more broadly, our core aims include civilian protection, accountability for victims of rights abuse, and countering mis- and disinformation with clear, contextualized facts. The principle of non-reciprocity is a foundational principle of international humanitarian law: -- abuses by one side can never justify abuses by the other.
Human Rights Watch’s investigation aims to capture the nature and extent of violations of international humanitarian law and serious international crimes committed by Palestinian armed groups across numerous attack sites on October 7. The report also examines the role of different Palestinian armed groups involved, and their coordination before and during the attacks. In doing so, it establishes a thorough, independent record of the crimes that occurred on October 7 and who is responsible for them.
Human Rights Watch’s report sets out detailed recommendations to Palestinian authorities and armed groups, the Israeli government, the UN Security Council and other states. These include a call on Palestinian armed groups in Gaza to immediately and unconditionally release civilians held hostage and for countries with influence with Hamas and the armed groups to also press for their immediate release. The report outlines critical steps that should be taken to ensure justice and reparations for victims, including through cooperation with international authorities.
Hostages
According to Israeli authorities and independent media outlets, Palestinian armed groups took as hostage 251 civilians and Israeli security force personnel and took them to Gaza following the October 7 assault. Those taken either remain as hostages in Gaza, have been released, or have been killed or died during the ensuing fighting.
As of July 1, 116 hostages were thought to still be held in Gaza, including 42 bodies that have not yet been returned of hostages who died or were killed, according to AFP. The bodies include those who were killed on October 7 but whose bodies the armed groups took to Gaza and those who were abducted but were killed or otherwise died in custody.
Taking hostages is prohibited under international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime. Palestinian armed groups should immediately and safely release all civilians detained.
The 2016 Commentary of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 defines hostage-taking as “the seizure, detention or otherwise holding of a person (the hostage) accompanied by the threat to kill, injure or continue to detain that person in order to compel a third party to do or to abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release, safety or well-being of the hostage.” Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court similarly defines hostage-taking as a war crime.
Hostage-taking is also linked to other war crimes, including the prohibitions on using captive civilians as human shields, cruel treatment by threatening harm to hostages, and collective punishment. Taking hostages can also amount to the crime against humanity of unlawful imprisonment if conducted as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.
It is unlawful to treat any person, including captured combatants, as a hostage. Warring parties must treat captured combatants humanely. They may not be used to obtain a ransom or be detained in a place, such as a bridge or arms depot, to prevent an enemy attack. However, captured combatants can lawfully be included in prisoner exchanges with other captured combatants.
Human Rights Watch has not investigated the treatment of hostages in Palestinian armed group custody nor Israeli military efforts to rescue hostages. Human Rights Watch efforts to interview former hostages have not been successful.
A warring party must immediately and safely release anyone taken as a hostage who is being unlawfully held. In accordance with Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, while hostages remain in custody, they must be treated humanely, and be provided adequate food, water, and medical care. Where feasible, they must be detained in a place away from fighting.
A warring party that seeks to rescue hostages or others detained by the opposing party must abide by the laws of war. That is, attacks may not be expected to cause civilian loss of life and property disproportionate to the anticipated benefit of the attack, and unlawful methods of warfare, such as perfidy (feigning civilian status to carry out an attack), may not be used.
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
The extent to which acts of sexual and gender- based violence were committed during the October 7 assault will likely never be fully known. Many victims may have been killed; stigma and trauma often deter survivors from reporting; and Israeli security forces and other responders largely did not collect relevant forensic evidence from the attack sites or the recovered bodies. As such, Human Rights Watch has a limited understanding of the overall scale and nature of sexual and gender-based violence committed during the attacks.
Human Rights Watch’s investigation found evidence of acts of sexual and gender-based violence, including forced nudity, and the taking and the posting on social media, both without consent, of sexualized images. Human Rights Watch was not able to gather verifiable information through interviews with survivors of or witnesses to rape during the assault on October 7, and there is only one public account reportedly from such a survivor.
Human Rights Watch also refers to the findings of the office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and the UN Commission of Inquiry. The office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, which interviewed people who reported witnessing rape and other sexual violence, concluded that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the October 7 attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations.”
The UN Commission of Inquiry investigation “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,” and “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.”
Available evidence did not permit Human Rights Watch to draw conclusions regarding the specific identity of those who committed crimes involving sexual and gender-based, or whether these crimes were planned by the Palestinian armed groups who ordered the attacks.
Throughout the research conducted for the report, Human Rights Watch researchers inquired among those interviewed about sexual and gender-based violence. Researchers also spoke with service providers, lawyers, journalists, experts, and the Israeli government, with the goal of interviewing survivors and witnesses.
Human Rights Watch research on sexual and gender-based violence included a dedicated review by multiple experts of photos and videos collected.
Human Rights Watch sent a detailed information request to the Israeli government specifically focused on sexual and gender-based violence, asking to interview individuals employed by the Israeli government who might have relevant information and to review relevant documents and images in the possession of the Israeli authorities. It did not receive a substantive response to this request.
Human Rights Watch researchers attended a showing of the video compiled by the Israeli government of footage from the attacks with a particular view to understanding what information that video contained regarding sexual and gender-based violence. Much of the footage in that video compilation was material that Human Rights Watch had already obtained from other sources and was able to verify. Researchers also reviewed public reporting on sexual and gender-based violence and spoke with journalists covering the topic.
Human Rights Watch attempted to identify and contact survivors of and witnesses to acts of sexual and gender-based violence committed during the October 7 assault. Researchers were able to make contact with several people who had described their experiences witnessing acts of sexual violence to the media, but who did not agree to be interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch researchers did not press these individuals to agree to an interview. Recounting this type of experience can be deeply retraumatizing, particularly doing so repeatedly. Human Rights Watch standards on ethical research require researchers to avoid harm to interviewees and potential interviewees.
There are reasonable explanations for why there have only been a few accounts by witnesses to sexual violence during the attack, and only one account in the media from a person who identified herself as a survivor of rape during the attack. Documenting gender-based violence, including sexual violence, is often a difficult task. Survivors often face deep trauma and may not feel that discussing their experiences is conducive to their well-being. Services designed to support survivors as they cope with the impact of the rape are often lacking or hard to access. The responses of the authorities are often inhospitable to rape survivors and may be unlikely to lead to justice. Survivors also often fear – and face –deep stigma. Some of the accounts of sexual violence on October 7 describe rape victims being killed, which means the victims can never tell their stories.
People who lived through the violence committed on October 7 are often deeply traumatized; many witnessed violence committed against their loved ones, lost their partners, children or parents, or are awaiting the release of loved ones who are being held as hostages.
People taken hostage may include individuals who witnessed or experienced sexual violence during the attacks on October 7, whose accounts were also unavailable during their captivity. For hostages who have been released, the trauma of kidnap and experiences during captivity may have created additional barriers to them recounting what they experienced or witnessed on October 7.
Human Rights Watch does not know and will likely never know the full picture. In addition to the factors that may affect the willingness and ability of survivors and witnesses to come forward, there were also important gaps in the collection of forensic evidence. An Israeli police spokesperson discussing sexual violence with the media said that authorities had “zero autopsies.”
All sexual and gender-based violence is unacceptable and should prompt urgent support to victims and survivor-centered investigation, justice, and reparations.
Israeli Military Preparedness before the October 7 Assault
Human Rights Watch has a mandate to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. As a result, we only examine issues of security preparedness when we have reason to believe this could amount to a violation of these laws.
In early 2024, the Israeli military opened investigations into the events prior to and through the immediate aftermath of October 7 including multiple individual probes into the actions of the military during the Palestinian armed group attacks on October 7 until October 10. The Israeli state comptroller also opened a separate investigation, but in June, Israel’s high court suspended the probes into the military and domestic intelligence agency in response to legal filings by a Jerusalem-based NGO that claimed the probes would undermine the military and the public trust.
Responses of the Authorities
Hamas responded to questions submitted by Human Rights Watch with a nine-page letter, which can be found in full in an annex to the report.
Several Hamas leaders have spoken publicly about the October 7 assault, including by praising the operation that day but distancing the group from the abuses committed. An English-language document titled “Our Narrative... Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” issued by the Hamas Media Office on January 21, 2024, stated that the attacks only targeted Israeli military sites and fighters, avoided harming civilians, and cited chaos on the breached fence areas. However, Human Rights Watch research refutes the Hamas claim that on October 7 its forces did not seek to harm civilians; rather, it was part of the plan from the outset.
Between January and March 2024, Human Rights Watch sent letters to various Israeli authorities, including the Prime Minister’s Office, Israeli armed forces, Israeli Police, Police Unit Lahav 433, Ministry of Health, and Office of the State Attorney requesting information about the government’s investigations into crimes committed during the October 7 assault.
Human Rights Watch received responses from the Israeli Police, the Office of the State Attorney, and the Israeli armed forces between February 1 and May 23. None of the responses included any substantive information into the government’s investigations or information obtained. A representative from the Israeli Police said that they were not obligated under Israeli law to provide this information. The Office of the State Attorney said that it did not have this information and referred Human Rights Watch to other authorities. The Prime Minister’s Office requested an extension to respond to the letter, committing to do so by July 17, 2024. Human Rights Watch will publish relevant information that the government shares on its website.
International Investigations
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, confirmed that since March 2021 his office has been conducting an investigation into alleged atrocity crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem since 2014, and that his office has jurisdiction over crimes in the current hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups that covers unlawful conduct by all parties.
On May 20, 2024, Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants from a Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court for three Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza; Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commander-in-chief of the Qassam Brigades; and Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas Political Bureau; and two Israeli leaders; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. Regarding the three Hamas leaders, the ICC prosecutor said that on the basis of evidence collected and examined by his office, he had reasonable grounds to believe they bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and Palestine from at least October 7, 2023.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, has requested access to Israel and to the occupied Palestinian Territory six times to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law, including those committed on October 7. Despite its lack of access and Israeli officials’ refusal to cooperate with the commission’s investigation, including by barring Israeli medical professionals and others from being in contact with the commission, on June 10 the Commission of Inquiry published a report with its findings about the assault.
Pramila Patten, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in conflict, visited Israel for a week in January-February 2024 to gather information about sexual violence committed as part of the October 7 attacks. Patten was accompanied by a team of experts who remained for an additional week and-a-half. The objective of the visit was to gather, analyze, and verify allegations of conflict-related sexual violence reportedly committed during the assault. Patten was clear that her role was not that of an investigator and that a full investigation – by a body such as the Independent International Commission of Inquiry – is needed. In March, the special representative issued a report detailing the findings of her mission.
Israel should provide the ICC, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, other relevant UN mechanisms and experts, and independent human rights organizations with immediate cooperation and unhindered access to all of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
