"A Quest for Justice. October 7 and Beyond":
The Dinah Project Report on the
Atrocities of October 7

"A Quest for Justice. October 7 and Beyond": The Dinah Project Report on the Atrocities of October 7

(The text was reviewed according to the IHRA standard prior to publication)

On October 7, 2023, the Iran-funded terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel with a level of brutality and systematic violence that set new standards. The assault targeted not only military facilities but, with particular cruelty, the civilian population.

Sexualized violence was deliberately used as a weapon to demoralize, dehumanize, and sow collective fear within Israeli society.

The report "A Quest for Justice. October 7 and Beyond" by the Dinah Project is the most comprehensive legal, forensic, and societal analysis to date of these crimes and their scope.

Context and Objectives

The report was created against the backdrop of an attack that pursued not only military but explicitly societal and psychological goals. The Dinah Project aims to comprehensively document the crimes, enable justice for the victims, and establish new legal and evidentiary standards for the international prosecution of conflict-related sexualized violence (CRSV).

Methodology and Evidence Framework

The report's authors rely on a variety of sources:

Survivor Testimonies:

Direct accounts from hostages and survivors who experienced or witnessed sexualized violence.Eyewitness and Earwitness Accounts: Testimonies from people who saw assaults or heard screams and calls for help.First Responder and Forensic Reports: Findings from rescue workers and pathologists who recovered and examined victims.Visual and Audiovisual Evidence: Photos, videos, intercepted communications documenting sexualized violence and humiliation.Forensic and Digital Evidence: Physical traces, injury patterns, digital recordings, intercepted communications.

This matrix allows evidence to be weighted by proximity to the event and evidentiary value, enabling a robust overall picture even without direct victim statements.

Scope and Patterns of Sexualized Violence

The crimes were concentrated at the Nova music festival, Route 232, the Nahal Oz military base, and the kibbutzim Re’im, Nir Oz, and Kfar Aza.

Forms of violence ranged from rapes and gang rapes to genital mutilation, public humiliation, and abuse in captivity (forced nudity, threats of forced marriage, mistreatment).

Many victims were tied up, stripped, raped, mutilated, and then murdered. Survivors report ongoing sexualized violence during captivity, including forced nudity, threats of forced marriage, and repeated assaults.

The perpetrators aimed to publicly humiliate the victims and collectively traumatize the community.

Evidence and Challenges

The evidentiary situation is precarious: most victims were murdered, and many survivors are severely traumatized. Classic evidentiary paradigms relying on direct victim statements are insufficient here.

The Dinah Project therefore establishes an evidence-based matrix and calls for expanded standards of proof:

Eyewitness and Earwitness Testimonies are recognized as equivalent evidence.

Res Gestae Statements (spontaneous victim statements immediately after the crime) are given special weight.Circumstantial Evidence and Pattern Recognition are used to demonstrate systematic planning.

Challenges include destroyed crime scenes, societal stigmatization, lack of forensic evidence, and the fact that many victims cannot testify.

Legal Innovation: Collective Responsibility

The report calls for expanding criminal responsibility to all participants in the attack. The basis is the application of the doctrine of Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) and derivative liability.

Anyone who knowingly participates in an attack with genocidal ideology bears responsibility for all crimes committed, including sexualized violence.

The perpetrators were indoctrinated with an antisemitic, genocidal ideology that enabled systematic disinhibition and dehumanization of the victims.

International Classification and Confirmation

The report is based on international legal principles and is confirmed by independent sources:

UN Reports: The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC) and the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) confirm patterns of sexualized violence at at least six locations and recognize the systematic nature of the crimes.International

Criminal Court (ICC): Arrest warrants against Hamas commanders, among others, for sexualized violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Human Rights Organizations: Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International document sexualized violence, but emphasize challenges in evidence gathering and the need for further independent investigations.

Recommendations of the Report

Recognition of CRSV: Conflict-related sexualized violence must be recognized as a distinct category with specific rules of evidence.Expanded Evidence Gathering: Evidence should no longer rely solely on direct victim statements but also on pattern recognition, circumstantial evidence, and witness testimonies.Joint and Derivative Responsibility: Application of the mentioned legal principles to all attackers.Specialized Units: Establishment and training of investigative and prosecution units specialized in CRSV.UN Blacklist: Inclusion of Hamas in the UN list of organizations using sexualized violence as a weapon of war.International Cooperation: Promotion of further investigations and exchange of best practices.

Societal and Political Significance

The report calls for evidence gathering adapted to the realities of armed conflict and emphasizes the societal obligation to recognize and prosecute sexualized violence as a weapon of war.

The developed evidentiary and legal frameworks serve as a model for other conflict regions. Justice for the victims is a historical, societal, and criminal obligation.

Conclusion

"A Quest for Justice. October 7 and Beyond" sets new standards for the legal and societal processing of the atrocities of October 7, 2023.

The detailed analysis and proposed reforms aim to end impunity, establish international standards for dealing with sexualized violence in conflicts, and achieve justice for the victims.

The report calls for consistent recognition of collective harm, innovative legal approaches, and expanded standards of proof.

The recommendations have a signaling effect for international prosecution and prevention of similar crimes. The systematic use of sexualized violence as a strategic war crime on October 7, 2023, is substantiated by broad evidence, international confirmation, and a new legal framework.

This makes a decisive contribution to historical processing and the development of global standards for dealing with CRSV.

In-Depth Aspects and International Relevance

The authors of the report emphasize that sexualized violence in armed conflicts should not be viewed as "collateral damage" but as a deliberate strategy.

The report analyzes how the targeted public display of victims, systematic humiliation, and the destruction of individual and collective identity mark a new quality of war crimes.

The targeted killing of victims after the assaults served to permanently conceal the crimes and prevent testimony.

The international dimension is underscored by the inclusion of UN reports, ICC arrest warrants, and the analysis of international legal principles.

The report's recommendations are explicitly aimed at the international community: they call for an adaptation of standards of proof, the establishment of specialized investigative and prosecution units, and the consistent sanctioning of organizations that use sexualized violence as a weapon of war.

Outlook

The Dinah Project Report is a milestone in the international processing of sexualized violence in armed conflicts. It shows that classic legal and forensic methods reach their limits when perpetrators systematically destroy evidence and permanently traumatize survivors.

The proposed new paradigms—such as greater emphasis on pattern recognition, circumstantial evidence, and witness statements—could be applied worldwide in the future.

The report calls for a consistent societal and political engagement with sexualized violence as a strategic instrument of warfare, thereby setting a new standard for international prosecution and prevention of such crimes.

Supplement by the Author:

Psychological Assessment of Perpetrator Behavior during the Hamas Attack on October 7: Specialist Academic Perspective

The perpetrator behavior in the context of sexualized violence during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, can be described from a psychological perspective as the result of multiple, mutually reinforcing mechanisms extensively studied in the literature on collective violence, social psychological disinhibition, and ideological radicalization.

1. Social Psychological Disinhibition and Group Dynamics

Deindividuation Effects:

In situations of massive collective violence, especially within armed groups, individual responsibility dissolves (deindividuation). Perpetrators experience themselves as part of an anonymized collective, significantly lowering the threshold for deviant and extreme behavior.

Classic research (e.g., Zimbardo, 1969; Reicher et al., 2008) demonstrates that group conformity and shared ideology massively increase the willingness to commit acts of violence.

Group Cohesion and Moral Disengagement:

Identification with a fighting unit and internalization of group-specific norms (Bandura, 1999: "Moral Disengagement") lead to the suspension of individual moral scripts in favor of collective goals.

2. Ideological Indoctrination and Dehumanization

Enemy Image Construction and Moral Legitimization:

Perpetrators acted on the basis of an antisemitic and genocidal ideology, which social psychology identifies as a central prerequisite for extreme violence against outgroups (Staub, 1989). Dehumanization renders victims legitimate targets and further lowers the threshold for sexualized violence and excessive brutality.

Cognitive Reframing:

The acts are not perceived as crimes but as legitimate contributions to a "holy" collective mission. This corresponds to the concept of "cognitive reframing" in violence research.

3. Sexualized Violence as a Strategic Instrument

Functional Embedding:

Sexualized violence in armed conflicts is not an accidental byproduct but is deliberately used as a weapon for demoralization, social destruction, and collective traumatization (Cohen, 2013; Wood, 2009). It serves to demonstrate total power, destroy social bonds, and sustainably destabilize the opposing community.

Social Control and Masculinization:

Perpetrators also use sexualized violence to reproduce dominance relations and humiliate male opponents by symbolically exposing their "inability to protect" (Baaz & Stern, 2013).

4. Individual and Situational Factors

Opportunism and Situational Disinhibition:

In addition to collective and ideological factors, individual motives such as the pursuit of power, sexual frustration, and the experience of impunity play a role. In the dynamics of war, societal norms are suspended, making it easier to act on aggressive and sadistic impulses (Mullins, 2009).

Command Chains and Institutional Tolerance:

Acceptance or promotion of sexualized violence by leaders reinforces the perception of legitimacy and normality of such acts (Levy & Sela-Shayovitz, 2017).

5. Synthesis and State of Research

From an academic perspective, perpetrator behavior during the Hamas attack on October 7 is to be understood as the result of a complex interplay of collective disinhibition, ideological radicalization, strategic use of violence, and individual dispositions.

According to current research, the systematic use of sexualized violence meets all criteria for its targeted use as a weapon of war and reflects a disinhibited perpetrator psychology in the context of total violence.

Key Literature for this Section:

Bandura, A. (1999). Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review.

Baaz, M. E., & Stern, M. (2013). Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War? Perceptions, Prescriptions, Problems in the Congo and Beyond.

Cohen, D. K. (2013). Explaining Rape during Civil War: Cross-National Evidence (1980–2009). American Political Science Review.

Staub, E. (1989). The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence.

Wood, E. J. (2009). Armed Groups and Sexual Violence: When Is Wartime Rape Rare? Politics & Society.

Zimbardo, P. G. (1969). The Human Choice: Individuation, Reason, and Order Versus Deindividuation, Impulse, and Chaos.

Author's Addendum:

The Psychosocial and Societal Consequences suffered by survivors and relatives of those murdered in the systematic acts of violence on October 7, 2023, can be described as multidimensional trauma with far-reaching individual and collective implications.

Central is the development of severe psychological disorders among survivors of sexualized violence, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex trauma, and dissociative symptoms.

Research shows that repeated, extreme violence in a context of collective humiliation and powerlessness significantly increases the risk of chronic trauma-related disorders.

Typical symptoms include intrusive memories, hyperarousal, persistent anxiety, depression, guilt and shame, and a fundamental disruption of self- and world-understanding. Social isolation is intensified by stigmatization and internalized shame, further hindering help-seeking and social reintegration.

For relatives of the murdered, consequences often manifest as complicated grief reactions, secondary traumatization, and persistent feelings of powerlessness. Knowledge of the circumstances—especially sexualized violence—intensifies psychological distress and complicates mourning.

Research on secondary traumatization shows that even indirectly affected individuals (family members, first responders) can develop symptoms of PTSD, depression, and psychosomatic complaints. Family and social relationships are often characterized by tension, blame, and withdrawal, further weakening community resilience.

At the societal level, the targeted use of sexualized violence leads to the erosion of social cohesion and trust in institutions. The collective experience of powerlessness and dehumanization can result in transgenerational trauma, manifesting in parenting styles, anxiety disorders, and family instability.

Research on collective trauma shows that such events can shape the psychosocial fabric of entire communities for generations.

Coping with these consequences requires multidisciplinary intervention: In addition to specialized trauma therapy and psychosocial counseling, societal recognition, public processing, and legal justice are central prerequisites for individual and collective healing.

Implementing international standards for documentation, recognition, and prevention of sexualized violence is essential to counteract stigmatization and prevent recurrence.

Glossary for Better Understanding of Specific Topics:

A Quest for Justice. October 7 and Beyond

Title of the Dinah Project report, which comprehensively documents and analyzes the atrocities, especially sexualized violence, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI)

Umbrella organization of Israeli counseling centers for survivors of sexualized violence, offering crisis intervention, therapy, and prevention work.

Eyewitness and Earwitness Accounts

Statements from people who directly observed or heard assaults; serve as important evidence when victim statements are lacking.

Evidence Matrix

Systematic categorization and weighting of different types of evidence (e.g., survivor testimonies, forensic findings, audiovisual documents) to reconstruct crime patterns and for legal evaluation.

CRSV (Conflict-Related Sexual Violence)

Conflict-related sexualized violence; includes all forms of sexualized violence strategically used in the context of armed conflict.

Dehumanization

Psychological process in which victims are perceived as "less human," facilitating extreme violence, including sexualized violence.

Doctrine of Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE)

Legal concept whereby all members of a group can be held responsible for crimes committed as part of a joint criminal action.

First Responder Reports

Statements from rescue workers, medical personnel, or civilians who recovered or treated victims immediately after the attacks and documented evidence of sexualized violence.

Forensic Findings

Medical-scientific examinations and documentation that prove injuries and traces of sexualized violence and are legally admissible.

Genocidal Ideology

Worldview aimed at the destruction of a specific population group and serving as an ideological basis for systematic violence.

Circumstantial Evidence

Proof based on patterns, circumstances, and indirect clues when direct witness statements or forensic evidence are lacking.

International Protocols

Standardized guidelines (e.g., International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict) for documenting and proving sexualized violence in conflicts.

Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE)

See: Doctrine of Joint Criminal Enterprise.

Collective Responsibility

Legal and moral principle whereby a group or organization is liable for crimes committed by its members, especially in cases of systematic violence.

Complex Trauma

Psychological disorder resulting from repeated, extreme violence and experiences of powerlessness, leading to long-lasting psychological and physical impairments.

Pattern Recognition

Analysis of recurring behaviors or crime patterns to demonstrate systematic planning in crimes such as sexualized violence.

NATAL (Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center)

Israeli trauma center specializing in the treatment of war and terror trauma, offering therapy, crisis intervention, and prevention programs.

Victim Compensation

Legal and financial support for survivors and bereaved of violent crimes, provided by government agencies or aid organizations.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Mental illness occurring after extremely stressful events such as sexualized violence, characterized by symptoms such as flashbacks, anxiety, and depression.

Res Gestae Statements

Spontaneous, immediate statements by victims or witnesses shortly after an event, considered particularly credible and legally relevant.

Secondary Traumatization

Psychological distress in relatives, first responders, or other indirectly affected individuals resulting from dealing with others' traumatic experiences.

Sexualized Violence

All forms of sexual assault, abuse, and humiliation deliberately used to demonstrate power, demoralize, and destroy social structures.

Stigmatization

Social exclusion and discrimination of survivors of sexualized violence, hindering their recovery and social reintegration.

Trauma Therapy

Specialized psychotherapeutic treatment to cope with and process trauma-related disorders after extreme violence.

Trust Fund for Victims (TFV)

International Criminal Court fund for financial and psychosocial support of victims of serious human rights violations.

UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC)

United Nations official leading international investigations into sexualized violence in wars and providing recommendations for prevention and prosecution.

Survivor Testimonies

Direct accounts from victims who experienced or witnessed sexualized violence; central source for reconstructing crime sequences.

Visual and Audiovisual Evidence

Photos, videos, intercepted communications, and other digital documents substantiating sexualized violence and its patterns.

Civil Society Organizations

Non-governmental actors supporting victims, documenting cases, and promoting societal awareness of sexualized violence.