EU sanctions Hamas, Islamic Jihad for "widespread sexual violence" during October 7 attack on Israel. Fighters from the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Nukhba unit of Hamas, used rape “as a weapon of war,” condemns Brussels.
The three Palestinian entities were added to the European Union's human rights sanctions list, which affects 104 individuals and 26 organizations from different countries. The decision to impose these sanctions is part of an agreement between EU countries also providing for sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank, accused of violence against Palestinians. The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. Israel launched a retaliatory military operation in Gaza which left more than 33,600 dead, most civilians, says the Palestinian Islamist movement's Ministry of Health. The EU says the abuses committed by Hamas fighters include “the rape and murder of minors, the mutilation of corpses and genital mutilation”