The Dinah Project says the report is based on a review of evidence including first-hand testimony from a survivor of an attempted rape and 15 former hostages held in Gaza, as well as accounts from witnesses to sexual assaults.

It lays out what the group describes as “a legal blueprint for prosecuting these crimes, even when direct attribution to individual perpetrators is impossible”.

Hamas has denied its forces committed sexual violence against women or mistreated female hostages.

However, a UN mission concluded in March 2024 that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attack in multiple locations, including rape and gang rape, and that there was “convincing information” that hostages had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape and sexualised torture.