Oct. 7 Massacre Hostages’ Human Rights Violated Every Day

The entire world marks a full year since Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks, gathering for solemn memorial services in major cities and at the sites of some of the atrocities to honor those killed and demand the release of those still held captive in Gaza. “We are in a just and difficult war, but unlike 80 years ago, the Jews have the ability to defend themselves by themselves, and while fighting against seven different enemies, we will prevail,” Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told CBS News’ Elizabeth Palmer.

Among the abducted, more than 240 people were brutally abducted from their homes and from a music festival in the south of Israel. They were abducted babies, many children, women, men, the elderly and young people with chronic illnesses on daily medications, as well as those who have been severely wounded during the massacre.

The events of Oct. 7 will undoubtedly leave many of the hostages traumatized. They have all endured pain and humiliation and had their liberty deprived. Furthermore some have witnessed the murder, inflicted on their beloved family members, friends, and community members, and some may not know their fate to this day. The hostages are suffering unimaginable conditions.

• Several of those captured from Hamas terrorists, clearly reveal that extreme sexual violence and abuse were not a random byproduct, but a systematic and planned element of this terror attack. These include aggravated rape, mutilation of body parts but especially breasts and genitals (both male and female), disfiguration of faces, and beheadings.

The released hostages provided testimonies revealing that both men and women endured violent sexual assaults in captivity.

At its core, sexual violence, when used as an instrument of power in warfare, is designed primarily to humiliate, subjugate, and subdue the civilian population and sow destruction and chaos. There is growing awareness that such sexual violence during conflict is often a deliberate, organized strategy known as “rape as a weapon of war.”

365 Days of War and Terror

What is being done? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement congratulating the Israeli military and intelligence services Aug. 27 “on another successful liberation operation,” adding that his administration would continue working “tirelessly to return all of our abductees.”

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to negotiate an agreement in which the remaining hostages would be freed in exchange for a lasting cease-fire. The latest round of those talks, over the weekend of Aug. 17 in Cairo, appeared to have made little headway, but Israel said it remained committed to the dialogue.

Netanyahu has faced intense criticism from families of the hostages and much of the Israeli public for not yet reaching a deal with Hamas to bring them home.

For more information on how to get involved to service these captors and “bring them home,” reach out to Hostages and Missing Families forum, https://stories.bringthemhomenow.net/