Human Rights Watch (HRW) has produced a detailed and extensive report on the attack carried out by Palestinian militants against southern Israel on October 7, which triggered the brutal Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip – in which more than 38,700 people have died so far, including more than 16,000 children, according to local authorities. That day in October, 1,195 citizens lost their lives, of whom 815 were civilians, and 251 were kidnapped by the attackers, according to a count by the AFP news agency that the NGO has validated.
HRW has investigated the attacks that took place against 19 kibbutzim and five we didn’t live (Israeli farming communities), the towns of Sderot and Ofakim, two music festivals and a beach party; he has interviewed more than 140 people, including 94 survivors and direct witnesses of the attacks, and verified nearly 300 images and videos from that fateful day to produce the report he has described as “the most comprehensive to date” on October 7.
The NGO has documented that up to eight armed groups participated in the assault, which was “organized and planned well in advance,” with “a high degree of planning and organization,” according to the behavior of the fighters, their weapons, vehicles and clothing. HRW has found evidence of the participation of five of them: the Al Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas), the Al Quds Brigades (Islamic Jihad), the National Resistance Brigades (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine), the Abu Ali Mustafa Martyr Brigades (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (formerly linked to the Fatah movement).
Two other groups said they were involved in the October 7 attack, and an eighth group may have been involved. All eight groups were part of the so-called “joint operations room” formed by Gaza militias in September 2023 to coordinate with each other.
The fighters’ affiliation was verified by the headbands they wore and because videos of them were shared on their militias’ Telegram channels, including some recordings in which they claimed responsibility for abuses committed on October 7. HRW stressed that the Al Qassam Brigades led the attack and were “the most active armed group”: its members were seen in 14 different locations of those attacked and in verified videos they appear kidnapping and killing civilians and members of the Israeli security forces.
According to the investigation by the human rights NGO, armed groups carried out various violations of international humanitarian law on October 7, including the deliberate and indiscriminate attack on civilians; cruel and inhuman treatment; sexual and gender-based violence; kidnapping and the use of human shields. The NGO has denounced that these violations of the law may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
HRW’s investigation also revealed that the Israeli armed forces “took a long time to mobilize because it was a holiday, because communications were partially damaged, because of a lack of preparation and because they initially underestimated the scale of the attack.” For all these reasons, some units intervened immediately in some places that were being attacked, but “many communities were left unprotected for hours.”
Some civilians interviewed by HRW said they felt “abandoned” by the troops, and most witnesses said soldiers arrived in their villages in the afternoon or evening (the attack began in the early hours of the morning). When the military finally intervened, they confronted the attackers and it took hours for civilians to be evacuated; many were not evacuated until the next day, October 8.
Source: www.eldiario.es
