Amnesty says Hamas attacks and Gaza hostage treatment amount to crimes against humanity

A new report by Amnesty International has found that Palestinian militant group Hamas committed crimes against humanity during its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and against hostages it took to Gaza.

The London-based human rights group said that its report, published on Wednesday, analysed patterns of the attack, communications between fighters during the assault and statements by Hamas and the leaders of other armed groups.

Amnesty interviewed 70 people, including survivors and victims' families, forensic experts and medical professionals, visited some attack sites and reviewed more than 350 videos and photographs of attack scenes and of hostages during their captivity.

Its investigation found that the crimes against humanity included murder, extermination, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual abuse and inhumane acts.

"These crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population. The report found that fighters were instructed to carry out attacks targeting civilians," it said in a statement.

Hamas denied in a statement that it had carried out the crimes mentioned in the report and urged Amnesty International to retract it.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said the report did not cover the full extent of what it called "Hamas' horrific atrocities".

Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas attack and 251 people were taken hostage, including children, according to Israeli tallies and Amnesty. All but one have since been released, most of them as part of ceasefire deals and some in Israeli military operations.

The attack precipitated Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities, left swathes of the enclave in ruins and much of its population homeless.

A December 2024 report by Amnesty determined that Israel had committed genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has rejected genocide accusations, and says that its war has been against Hamas, not the Palestinians.