'Shocking, painful, but necessary' – New Dinah Project report reveals systematic sexual violence by Hamas, outlines path to justice
Operating under the auspices of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center at Bar-Ilan University, the Dinah Project presented its full 84-page report on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), titled "A Quest for Justice," to Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence on Tuesday.
The researchers faced a daunting task in cataloguing the nature and extent of the sexual violence that occurred during the Hamas massacres in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war. In many cases, terrorists murdered their victims, silencing their testimonies forever.
The newly published report documents the pervasive, coordinated and methodical use of sexual violence during the attacks across various locations in Israel's southern border communities, including Kibbutz Re’im, Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as at the Nova Music Festival and the Nahal Oz military base.
A Jerusalem Post article underscored the strategic nature of the sexual violence detailed in the report, emphasizing that the acts perpetrated against the victims were not incidental but intentional – a systematic weapon used by Hamas as part of its broader campaign of terror.
As the report stated, “Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war,” a conclusion with potentially far-reaching implications under international law.
The Dinah Project team argued that it is legally permissible “to hold each individual participant accountable not only for their own actions but also for the offenses committed by others within the collective group to which they belonged," adding, “A collective mob attack should be answered by a model of atrocity criminal law that will attribute to all participants responsibility for all the crimes committed.”
Many of the survivors remain so deeply traumatized that they are unable or unwilling to speak about the horrors they experienced. Still, the Dinah Project has gathered as much information as possible for two main purposes: to be a voice for those who cannot cry out about the atrocities committed, and to develop a framework and tools to pursue justice – not only for the victims of the Israel-Hamas conflict, but also for others around the world. The organization urged that the report be integrated into international legal standards and appealed to the UN secretary-general to officially classify Hamas as a terrorist group.
The Dinah Project derives its name from biblical history. Dinah was the first recorded victim of rape in the Bible, as described in Genesis 34, when Jacob’s daughter was seized and humiliated by Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite.
Operating under the auspices of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center at Bar-Ilan University, the Dina Project aims to “reshape the discourse on CRSV, by taking Oct. 7 as a catalyst to develop groundbreaking tools and strategies that combat denialism and ensure accountability in CRSV cases worldwide.”
A Quest for Justice was authored by Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Judge (Ret.) Nava Ben-Or, and Att. Col. (Res.) Sharon Zagagi-Pinchas, and has received support from a wide range of organizations – and even governments.
The report emphasized, “Justice can and must be achieved, whether through criminal prosecutions, civil proceedings, or international tribunals,” and presents two frameworks to that end. The first organizes and categorizes all available evidence; the second is a legal framework designed to hold those responsible to account.
The authors, together with Dinah Project team members, sponsors and dignitaries were invited to present their work to First Lady Michal Herzog, a trained lawyer.
She welcomed the guests, saying “Supporters of the Dinah Project from around the world, I want to thank you from the Netherlands, the UK, from Germany, from around the world, for supporting this cause, this sad cause, acknowledging the fact that we carry a universal message [that] sexual violence cannot be accepted as a tool of war.”
A message from Michal:
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 8, 2025
Six confirmed sites. Dozens of eyewitness accounts. Testimony from 15 courageous returned hostages.
The evidence is undeniable: Hamas terrorists used sexual violence as a systematic weapon of war - on October 7 and beyond.
The Dinah Report published… pic.twitter.com/Ez5QLrL7ku
Ilana Gritzewsky, a former Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, attended the event and shared her personal account of sexual violence inflicted by her captors.
“On Saturday, October 7, I was in my house in Kibbutz Nir Oz with my partner Matan,” she began. “They hit me and I screamed, and then there was darkness. When I woke up, I was half-naked surrounded by terrorists,” she said. “They beat me. I went through hell. My bones were broken, but that didn’t compare to the psychological pain I was put through,” adding, “nobody should experience what I did.”
A message from Michal.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 8, 2025
I received the harrowing report from Project Dinah, bravely detailing Hamas’s systemic use of gang rape, forced nudity, sexual torture, and unspeakable abuse on October 7 and continuing in captivity.
The report lays out clear legal evidence: Hamas used… pic.twitter.com/DPOhL0j0rL
She was released from captivity after 55 days. However, she described how the fear and memories, together with the knowledge that her partner Matan and 49 others are still in Gaza, still hold her hostage.
“I was released after 55 days but I’m not really free, because true freedom exists only when no one else needs to go through what I experienced,” Gritzewsky said.
“Two years later, they are still asking if it really happened – if they really raped, burned, murdered, and kidnapped. If they really hurt women, and if it really happened to men too, so I’m saying to you, YES, it happened. And it’s still happening,” she stated.
“I don’t know what they’re doing to him but I know what they did to me and I know exactly what they’re capable of,” she emphasized. “There’s nothing harder than this knowledge.”
Gritzewsky concluded her speech, saying, “I’m here this morning for all the women who are no longer able to speak, for the men who were also hurt and silenced, and those who were murdered and whose voices are no longer heard, and for my Matan and the other 49 captives.”
Herzog praised the Dinah Project: “This report tells the truth as it is – shocking, painful, but necessary. On behalf of all those who were harmed, we are committed to continuing the fight until their cries are heard everywhere and justice is done.”
The efforts of the Dinah Project team align with a growing international recognition of such crimes. The United Nations issued its own report in March 2024 recognizing the systematic sexual crimes perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women since the attack.
“The report issued by UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and her team, is of immense importance. It substantiates with moral clarity and integrity the systematic, premeditated, and ongoing sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on 𝕏.
When Patten arrived last January to conduct her research, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that she was invited to provide "an unmediated impression of the extent of the atrocities and then bring Hamas’s crimes to the attention of the proper international authorities.”
He warned that Hamas and its allies would try to discredit the UN report to evade responsibility for the unprecedented crimes committed during the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel.
Jo Elizabeth has a great interest in politics and cultural developments, studying Social Policy for her first degree and gaining a Masters in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University, but she loves to write about the Bible and its primary subject, the God of Israel. As a writer, Jo spends her time between the UK and Jerusalem, Israel.
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