Amnesty International accuses Hamas of crimes against humanity. Here's a shocking new report

Amnesty International has for the first time accused Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations of crimes against humanity committed both during and after the attack on Israel in October 2023, AFP reported. Amnesty previously found that Hamas had committed war crimes.

In a report published on Thursday, Amnesty assessed that Hamas committed “crimes against humanity of extermination” during the attack on Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,221 people. Amnesty said crimes committed by Palestinian groups included murder, imprisonment and torture, enforced disappearances, as well as rape and “other forms of sexual violence.”

Palestinian armed groups committed violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and crimes against humanity during attacks on southern Israel that began on October 7, 2023, the organization said. Amnesty International has expressed the view that the mass murder of Israeli civilians constitutes a “crime against humanity of extermination.”

Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip continued violations and crimes against humanity, “holding hostages and ill-treating them and detaining their bodies.”

“The holding of hostages was part of a clearly stated plan” by the leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, the report said.

War crimes constitute serious violations of international law against civilians and soldiers during armed conflicts. Crimes against humanity can also occur in peacetime. They include, among others: torture, rape and cases of discrimination – both racial, ethnic, cultural, religious and gender-based.

As a result of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, 1,221 people were killed (including at least 36 children) and 251 people were kidnapped as hostages. As for the abductees, 44 people died before their bodies were transported to the Gaza Strip. Of the 207 hostages taken alive, 41 died or were killed in captivity.

Amnesty International also recognized rape and “other forms of sexual violence” as crimes against humanity committed by Palestinian groups. The authors of the report emphasized that they were not able to interview the victims, therefore they were unable to determine the scale of sexual violence.

The main blame for the crimes lies with Hamas, including its armed arm – the al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas' allies, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and “independent Palestinian civilians,” are less responsible.

Hamas has not yet commented on Amnesty's report. However, when Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Hamas of crimes committed in the attack on Israel in the summer of 2024, Hamas criticized its report as based on “lies and blatant bias.” HRW claimed, among other things, that the attack on Israel was “extremely organized and coordinated” and that the attackers shot directly at civilians “when they tried to escape.”

A year ago, Amnesty International accused Israel of genocide. The organization assessed that Israeli forces committed acts aimed at the destruction of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. These actions, the report said, included killings, causing serious bodily harm, and intentionally exposing Gaza residents to living conditions intended to physically destroy them. Israel's foreign ministry rejected the accusations, calling them “completely false.” He also called the report “fabricated” and “based on lies.”

According to data from the Gaza Strip's Ministry of Health, which the United Nations considers reliable, at least 70,000 people died during the war between Israel and Hamas. Palestinians. The ministry does not provide the number of fallen members of Palestinian armed groups, but the data shows that more than half of the victims were women and minors. (PAP)

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