Human Rights Watch report rejects Hamas denial of October 7, 2023 attack

As the months go by, the photography becomes more accurate. An attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 killed 815 civilians, 380 soldiers and took 251 hostages, according to Agence France-Presse’s tally, ‘sowing chaos in Israel’s south. The Israeli military first revealed the results of its first internal investigation on July 12 into its failure to protect residents of Kibbutz Biri. Dozens more are expected to follow suit, with a state commission of inquiry to be set up. On July 17, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its analysis of the attack, nine months after the events.

The report is valued above all for the precision with which it deconstructs the rhetoric of Hamas, which has tried to dilute its responsibilities since its first days. An ousted executive from the Palestinian Islamic Movement, Saleh al-Aruri, who was killed by an Israeli strike in Beirut on January 2, confirmed on October 7 that the Hamas offensive had targeted military targets and captured soldiers. He denied that militants had deliberately killed or injured residents of twenty towns around Gaza. Against all evidence, he said, these commandos were instructed to save women, children and the elderly — not to mention civilian men.

Since then, Hamas has sought to explain away these abuses and capture civilians “confusion” It was prompted by the collapse of Israeli security and the arrival of other armed groups and Gazan civilians on the scene. In fact, HRW believes that most of the abuses, particularly the worst of them, were committed by Hamas commandos.

The NGO’s investigation examines their continuous modus operandi, their coordination, the manner in which the commandos attacked civilians immediately after entering these areas, from the first hour of the attack. HRW sees this as conclusive evidence that these armed groups are guilty of war crimes.

“Certain Evidence”

“Human Rights Watch has found that the Palestinian armed groups involved in the October 7 attack carried out a widespread attack against civilians within the definition required for crimes against humanity”, the system writes. It further states that “Criminal acts such as killing civilians and taking hostages were the central objectives of the planned attack, but not the acts that actually took place, either because of a plan gone wrong or as a result of several isolated acts. Joined from Gaza. Thus, a firm policy of an organization aimed at committing multiple crimes against humanity. Evidence is there.

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