Israel police open investigation into sexual violence during Hamas attack
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00:00 Human rights groups have long documented the plight of women in armed conflicts
00:05 who are consistently the targets of sexual violence.
00:09 Horrifying accounts of the 7th of October would suggest Hamas' attack on Israel is no exception.
00:16 Rape and sexual assault are considered war crimes.
00:19 Israeli police has now launched an investigation into the allegations.
00:23 We have other solid information about the crimes including sexual assaults either from eyewitnesses
00:34 or either from forensics which we are still examining, either from statements from other participants.
00:42 Police says the investigation is particularly complex because the fighting went on for several days
00:48 and a number of the bodies were in such poor condition that semen or DNA samples weren't collected.
00:54 Women's rights groups in Israel have been warning of significant failings
00:58 in the preserving of forensic evidence of sexual crimes.
01:02 Several gathered in Tel Aviv this week to sound the alarm.
01:05 The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been a source of concern for women's rights.
01:10 The recent taking of 90 women in captivity is a horrifying new law
01:17 that the international community cannot accept.
01:21 As part of the October 7th massacre, women have been subjected to rape, torture and mutilation as means of warfare.
01:31 A majority of the investigation will rely on Hamas body cam footage or social media videos,
01:37 some showing partially clothed dead women as well as charred remains.
01:42 Activists fear that without sufficient forensic evidence, the scale of gender-based violence perpetrated that day may slip under the radar.