Hamas and other groups committed war crimes on 7 October – HRW

Hamas and at least four other Palestinian armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the 7 October attack on southern Israel, the campaign group Human Rights Watch says.

A new report accuses the hundreds of gunmen who breached the Gaza border fence of violations including deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, wilful killing of persons in custody, sexual and gender-based violence, hostage-taking, mutilation of bodies and looting.

It also found the killing of civilians and hostage-taking were “central aims of the planned attack” and not an “afterthought”.

Hamas angrily rejected what it called HRW’s “lies” and demanded an apology.

About 1,200 Israelis and foreigners – mostly civilians – were killed and 251 others were taken as hostages when more than Israeli communities and towns, as well as number of military bases, two music festivals and a beach party were attacked nine months ago.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza with the aims of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.

More than 38,790 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

HRW’s report does not cover alleged violations of the laws of war by Israeli forces and Palestinian groups in the conflict that was triggered by the 7 October attack.

The report released by HRW on Wednesday is based on interviews with 144 people, including witnesses to the 7 October attack, as well as analysis of more than 280 photographs and videos posted on social media or shared with the group’s researchers.

“Across many attack sites, [Palestinian] fighters fired directly at civilians, often at close range, as they tried to flee, and at people who happened to be driving vehicles in the area,” it says.

“They hurled grenades and shot into safe rooms and other shelters and fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at homes. They set some houses on fire, burning and suffocating people to death, and forcing out others who they then captured or killed,” it adds.

“They took hundreds hostage for transfer to Gaza or summarily killed them.”

Hamas’s armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, led the assault, but HRW says it has strong evidence of the participation of at least four other Palestinian armed groups, based on headbands the gunmen wore and their claims posted on social media:

• al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
• Omar al-Qasim Forces, the armed wing of Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)
• Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
• al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which is linked to the Fatah movement

The BBC has previously reported that they took part in military-style exercises with Hamas from 2020 onwards which closely resembled the tactics used on 7 October.

HRW’s report concludes that the Palestinian groups committed a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population, which amounts to a crime against humanity, based on the numerous civilian sites that were targeted and “the planning that went into the crimes”.

It also found that the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages were “all 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 the actions of unaffiliated Palestinians from Gaza, and as such, there is strong evidence of an organisational policy to commit multiple acts of crimes against humanity”.

The report says further investigation is needed into other potential crimes against humanity, including persecution against any identifiable group on racial, national, ethnic or religious grounds; rape or sexual violence of comparable gravity; and extermination, if there was a mass killing calculated to bring about the “destruction” of part of a population.

The report includes a letter from Hamas responding to the allegations, in which the group said it was “committed to respecting international law” and that the al-Qassam Brigades “was clear in directing its members and fighters not to target civilians”.

Hamas also said the participation of unaffiliated Palestinians from Gaza and other armed groups not involved in the initial, planned assault led to “chaos in the field”, a change in “the plan to conduct an operation against military targets” and “the occurrence of many mistakes”.

The report says HRW found Hamas’s claim that its forces did not seek to harm Israeli civilians was “false”, noting that photos and videos showed gunmen seeking out civilians and killing them at various sites from the first moments of the attack.

In a statement issued following the report’s publication, Hamas said: “We reject the lies and blatant bias towards the occupation [Israel] and the lack of professionalism and credibility in the Human Rights Watch report. We demand its withdrawal and an apology.”

In a separate report in April, HRW said an Israeli air strike on a residential building in central Gaza on 31 October that killed 106 people constituted a war crime. Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas of operating in civilian structures.

The group has also accused the Israeli government of using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, which is a war crime. Israel says it facilitates deliveries of humanitarian aid and is not to blame for Gaza’s food shortages.

In May, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants for Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed Deif and political leader Ismail Haniyeh for crimes against humanity and war crimes from 7 October onwards. He also sought warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Both Hamas and Israel reacted with outrage to the announcement.