Silenced No More report
2026 investigative report on sexual violence during October 7 attacks
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Silenced No More is a 2026 investigative report published by The Civil Commission, an Israeli non-governmental organisation established to document sexual and gender-based violence committed during and after Hamas's attacks on 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel.[1][2]
Published on 12 May 2026, the report was described by several media outlets as the most comprehensive investigation to date into sexual violence linked to the attacks.[3]
Background
Following the 7 October attacks in Israel, allegations of rape, sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence committed by Hamas militants and associated attackers became the subject of investigations by Israeli authorities, journalists, international organisations and civil society groups.[4]
In March 2024, a United Nations (OSRSG-SVC) team led by Special Representative Pramila Patten stated that there were reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred at multiple locations during the attacks. The Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children was established by Israeli legal scholars and activists, and led by Cochav Elkayam-Levy, an attorney and international law expert, to document evidence related to sexual and gender-based violence connected to the attacks and hostage captivity.
Report
Methodology
The roughly 290-page report is based on a two-year investigation involving more than 10,000 photographs and video segments, over 1,800 hours of video footage and more than 430 testimonies and interviews with survivors, released hostages, witnesses, first responders, medical personnel and family members.[1][5] The report included testimony from former hostages, several of whom, including Romi Gonen, Arbel Yehud, Amit Soussana and Ilana Gritzewsky, had previously spoken publicly about allegations of sexual abuse and gender mistreatment during captivity. According to CNN, the report also documented allegations of sexual abuse involving minors held hostage in Gaza, based on confidential testimony provided to investigators and medical professionals and trauma specialists.[6]
The Silenced No More report stated that investigators examined material from attack sites including the Nova music festival, kibbutzim near the Gaza border, roads, military facilities and locations connected to hostage captivity in Gaza.[7] French newspaper, Le Monde, reported that the commission also highlighted limitations in evidence gathering, including the destruction and burning of bodies, the chaotic aftermath of the attacks and the limited forensic collection during the initial recovery process.[8]
Findings
It has been concluded that sexual and gender-based violence during the attacks was "systematic, widespread, and integral" to the assault and its aftermath.The commission identified thirteen recurring categories of abuse, including rape, gang rape, forced nudity, sexual torture, sexual mutilation and sexual abuse during captivity.[9][10][11][12][13] The report argued that the recurrence of similar patterns across multiple attack sites indicated that the violence was not isolated. The report also included testimony from released hostages describing allegations of sexual assault, threats of sexual violence and sexual humiliation during captivity in Gaza. The commission stated that men and children were also among the alleged victims of sexual and gender-based violence.[7] Some commentators and observers noted the evidentiary difficulties involved in documenting crimes committed during the attacks due to the destruction of bodies, the scale of the violence and the limited forensic investigations conducted immediately afterward.
Legal analysis
The report characterised the documented acts as possible war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and acts of genocidal violence under international law. It identified thirteen forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture, mutilation, forced stripping, executions linked to sexual violence, the filming and dissemination of assaults, and attacks against men and boys.[14]
The commission concluded that sexual violence constituted "a central element" of both the attack and the hostage-taking period. Because the report was produced independently of the Israeli government's formal criminal investigations into the 7 October attacks and does not carry legal authority[9], the commission argued that the acts documented in the report should be examined under international legal frameworks relating to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism.[11]
The report's conclusions were presented as broadly consistent with previous findings by the United Nations (OSRSG-SVC), the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, the Dinah Project and other organisations investigating allegations of conflict-related sexual violence connected to the attacks.[3]
At the time of the report's publication, the Knesset had passed legislation establishing a military tribunal for alleged perpetrators of the 7 October attacks captured by Israel.[9]
Reception
The report received international media coverage following its publication in May 2026. The Associated Press described it as one of the most extensive investigations into allegations of sexual violence during the attacks, while also noting that the agency could not independently verify all of the commission's findings. Le Monde described the report as the most comprehensive investigation to date into sexual violence committed during the attacks.
Former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler, who wrote the foreword to the report, argued that denial or dismissal of sexual violence allegations contributes to impunity. In the foreword, he wrote: “Atrocities do not begin with the machinery of killing. They begin with a failure to believe victims.”[15]
According to the report's chair, Cochav Elkayam-Levy, "recognition of sexual violence was necessary for the possibility of justice and the restoration of dignity for survivors." For this reason the commission intended to submit the report to the Knesset in an effort to establish it as part of the formal public record surrounding the 7 October attacks.[9]
Hamas officials denied responsibility for allegations of sexual violence and stated in 2023 that such acts, if committed, had been carried out by other armed groups or individuals who entered Israel after the breach of the Gaza border fence. The report received public support from several international figures, including former United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Former UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu, former Israeli Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler and technology executive Sheryl Sandberg served as principal contributors as well.[16][17]
