Cochav Elkayam Levy, a Israeli academic who was appointed by the Government to investigate Hamas’ crimes of sexual assault on October 7 has confirmed that Hamas “weaponized violence” against women in order to “break the spirit of Israelis.”

Levy, a journalist for the left-leaning Israeli paper Haaretz, said in an extensive interview that Levy gave on Thursday: “The torture was weaponized to destroy communities, sow general horror and break the spirit of Israelis.” “Seeing the whole picture, the systematic nature of it, and the extent to which the violence was committed – that was a real punch in the gut.”

Levy created a taskforce, which he called the “Gender Crimes War Room,” in order to investigate the sexual violence committed by a number of Palestinian terror groups who invaded border communities around the Gaza Strip.

Levy’s conclusions are based on an increasing number of eyewitness testimony, photographic evidence and videotaped confessions of Palestinian terrorists apprehended in Israel by security forces. At least two of them have admitted that Hamas’ invasion was designed to use sexual violence. One operative’s instructions were to “raped them and soil them”. One operative recalled his commander telling him to “step on their heads”. Cut off their heads. “Do everything you can to them.”

U.N. Women (an international organization that advocates for “gender equity and women’s empowerment”) finally released on Saturday morning a statement directly responding to the numerous reports of sexual abuse. This was nearly two months following the deadly invasion. In a message published on X, the group stated: “We affirm that all women – Israeli women and Palestinian women – as well as everyone else – are entitled to a safe life free of violence.” “We condemn Hamas’ brutal attacks on Israel, which took place on 7th October. We are horrified by the many reports of sexual violence and gender-based abuse during those attacks.

This statement was made after the group released and then quickly retract a statement that explicitly condemned Hamas. After weeks of silence, the retracted statement came after the group issued and then quickly retracted a statement explicitly condemning Hamas.

Sarah Hendriks gave a similar vapid answer when asked by CNN to explain why the nongovernmental group was silent during an interview this week.

The head of the University of Alberta’s Sexual Assault Center was fired in mid-November for signing a condemnation letter against a Canadian politician who “made an unverified accusation” that Palestinians are guilty of sexual violence.

Many Israelis and Jews around the world have interpreted the refusal to accept Hamas’ atrocities as callous and racist, especially since many of these groups were vocal during the “Me Too era”. The suspicion of accounts of sexual violence on 10/7 led to #MeToo_UNless_UR_a_Jew to go viral on social-media platforms.

Owen Jones, the popular YouTuber who calls himself a “socialist and antifascist,” has been widely condemned for posting a video in which he shared his feelings after watching an Israeli military film about atrocities. The Guardian contributor said, “Now, even if rape or sexual violence was committed, it is not on the video.” He then described a specific image of a burnt female body. In 2014, Jones said that if survivors spoke up, they would finally be heard and believed. It would be a great tragedy if this legacy were undermined.

This hypocrisy was widely condemned by journalists who were present at the same screening. They were horrified to see what they saw. One female panelist on TalkTv, a British channel, said: “I find it very upsetting to hear him say that.” I was sitting behind him at the same screening. It is amazing to me that someone could watch the film and conclude that there was no evidence of rape.

“There were several women who died with green bruises. And that particular woman he was speaking about – I would not have mentioned it but now that you’ve shown him the clip – he is talking about a naked woman on her lower body. She’s dead, burned, and contorted, like a mannequin. His conclusion is that there’s no evidence to suggest she was raped.

Levy said that “the moment these organizations remain silent or fail to report the truth we have a serious problem.” It is unfathomable that UN agencies responsible for [promoting and safeguarding] the rights of women ignore the Israeli women that were taken as hostages, or who were murdered and raped Hamas.

Levy said to Haaretz that he had never imagined that he would be able to face his colleagues and discuss gender-based crimes committed against Israeli women and kids on such a massive scale. “We assume there will be many more cases in the future.”