HRW report says Hamas, other Palestinian rebel groups committed war crimes in Oct. 7 attack

July 17 (UPI) -- Human Rights Watch on Wednesday released a new report outlining how Hamas , aided by at least four other armed Palestinian groups, allegedly committed war crimes and other crimes against humanity on civilians during the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel as the terror group assailed the accusations against them.

Research by Human Rights Watch found that the Hamas-led assault last year "was designed to kill civilians and take as many people as possible hostage," Ida Sawyer, HRW's crisis and conflict director, said in a statement, adding the "atrocities" committed on Oct. 7 "should spur a global call to action for an end to all abuses against civilians in Israel and Palestine."

The 236-page report concluded that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades , Hamas' military wing which since 2007 has governed the territory, with the aid of four armed and affiliated Palestinian groups, "committed numerous violations of the laws of war that amount to war crimes, including attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects; the willful killing of people in custody; cruel and other inhumane treatment; crimes involving sexual and gender-based violence; hostage-taking; mutilation and despoiling bodies; use of human shields; and pillage and looting."

The watchdog group said from October 2023 to last month it interviewed 144 people including 94 Israeli and 79 foreign nationals who supposedly witnessed the Oct. 7 assault, victims' families, emergency personnel and medical experts and analyzed more than 280 videos and photos shared with HRW on social media.

The HRW report claims Palestinian fighters fired directly at civilians often at close range as they tried to flee attackers, shot into shelters, fired rocket-propelled grenades at private residences and set Israeli homes on fire.

"They took hundreds hostage for transfer to Gaza or summarily killed them," the report said.

It also found "further investigation is needed into other potential crimes against humanity," such as rape or "other sexual violence of comparable gravity."

Hamas also killed, wounded, or took hostage dual Israeli-Palestinian citizens and foreign workers, including those from China, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. And at least one citizen from Cambodia, Canada, Eritrea, Germany, Mexico, Sudan, Tanzania and Britain.

The report cites figures by Agence France-Presse, the Paris-based international news agency, which put the number of civilians killed at 815 of the 1,195 people killed on October 7, adding how some 251 civilians and security force members were taken hostage, and as of July 1, 116 still remained in captivity with 42 dead.

The report called on governments with influence over Hamas to apply pressure for a release of all "civilian hostages."

HRW also touched on the Israeli response to Oct. 7 and the eventual cutting off of essential services and humanitarian aid to the Gaza territory in what, HRW said, amounted to "collective punishment" against Palestinians -- a war crime -- and the worsening of "the impact of Israel's more than 17-year illegal closure of Gaza and its crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians."

More than 37,900 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed between Oct. 7 and July 1 during Israel's intensified attacks on the war-torn territory, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

But the Gaza territory's health ministry, run by Hamas, has been criticized for "failing to differentiate between civilians and combatants and for distorting casualty figures in its count," The Jerusalem Post and BBC pointed out on Wednesday as a right-wing Israeli group claimed the new Human Rights Watch report was a tool getting used for political manipulation and tells nothing new.

Hamas released a statement after the HRW report's release condemning its contents and going so far as to call for an apology.

"We reject the lies and blatant bias towards the occupation [of Gaza by Israel] and the lack of professionalism and credibility in the Human Rights Watch report," the terrorist syndicate said . "We demand its withdrawal and an apology."

A handful of officials on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some in his right-leaning war cabinet, have since been accused of war crimes, which both fighting sides have adamantly rejected.

But these are not new accusations by any stretch. The New York-based Human Rights Watch had accused Hamas of war crimes going back as far as 2021 even before last year's escalatory attack on Israel in what has now led to multiple claims of genocide and other crimes against humanity by both the Israeli military and Hamas.

Also in November, a month after October's attack by Hamas, HRW called on Israel to end attacks on Gaza hospitals as HRW likewise suggested Israel should be investigated for war crimes over it. This was followed by a separate HRW report last month in June which accused Israel of illegally using white phosphorous , an incendiary substance used in warfare, in Lebanon toward northern Israel.

Sawyer said Wednesday in the report how atrocities "do not justify atrocities."

"To stop the endless cycle of abuses in Israel and Palestine, it's critical to address root causes and hold violators of grave crimes to account," she said. "That's in the interests of both Palestinians and Israelis."