In documenting the extent of Hamas' war crimes, Israel is gathering attestation of the Iran-backed group's use of rape as a weapon of terror during its deadly Oct. 7 attack.
Israeli Police's special Lahav 433 unit is gathering the evidence, according to Israel National News, which is based primarily upon survivor testimony and interrogation of captured Hamas militants.
The unit said that their interrogations also found that some terrorists were instructed to abuse the corpses of Israeli victims and kill Jewish children on the basis that they would grow up to join the Israeli military.
Over 700 testimonies have been collected from survivors of Oct. 7 thus far, and more than 50,000 video clips exist from the attack. Hundreds of cell phones belonging to militants have also been obtained.
Facial recognition software is being used to identify some of the Hamas members responsible, according to the police unit.
The news is the latest development in Israel's attempt to gather evidence of Hamas' savagery during the massacre in southern Israel, where over 1,000 civilians in the country were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously stated on Oct. 11 during a national address that he was aware of incidents of Hamas raping women in Israel.
"We saw boys and girls bound, who were shot in the head. Men and women burned alive. Young women who were raped and slaughtered. Soldiers who were beheaded," Netanyahu said at the time.
The country has since launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, in retaliation to the attack.
Currently, Israeli forces surround Gaza City and have been steadily moving into its center.
"It's been a long two weeks of fighting. It is not an operation – it is a war," one Israel Defense Forces lieutenant colonel told Reuters. "It is going to last a long time until Hamas no longer exists."
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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