For the first time after October 7, the Israel Police appeals to victims of sexual offenses committed by Nokhba terrorists and calls on them to file a complaint at the Lahav 105 unit's hotline 433, which handles and investigates the sexual offenses committed by the terrorists.
So far, the police have managed to locate isolated first-hand testimonies of Nuba party participants and surrounding communities, describing serious sexual abuses committed by the terrorists. "In the end, you need supporting evidence, and we're working on it," says Superintendent Adi Edri, an investigations officer at Hotline 105, who is conducting the investigation of sexual offenses committed by terrorists, whose name the victims are asked to say by phone to the hotline, adding: "This investigation will accompany us for a long time."
A demonstration in front of UN Women's offices in New York against its silence on sexual assaults of women on October 7, photo: AFP.
In all Lahav units, more than a thousand police officers have been busy in recent weeks collecting evidence of serious offenses. Recent reports dealing with the issue in foreign media reinforce the testimonies collected so far, but not all of them have also been given to the police. "We are examining every publication," says Superintendent Edri, "The goal now, after some time has passed, is to make the unit directly and unmediatedly accessible to the victims – if they exist, and to ensure that they have all the support envelope involved. It is necessary to allow perhaps a close personal and intimate approach to the victims, as they are alive, in order to tell the story and cry out for them. We call on them to come here and if it's hard for them or for them, they can call the hotline, say 'Adi' and hang up."
Superintendent Adi Edri, Investigations Officer in Unit 105 in Lahav 433 - Director of the Investigation of Terrorists' Sexual Offenses,
About two weeks after October 7, Lahav Unit 433 was given the task of interrogating the terrorists. "This is not an ordinary investigation," emphasizes Superintendent Edri, "this is an investigation that deals with war crimes, crimes against humanity, with many complex arenas."
Initially, the indications of serious sexual abuse were based on testimonies of rescue officials who were in the area and evacuated the bodies, and on forensic examinations of the condition of the bodies. "Women were found in certain positions and in situations where there seemed to be degradation and mutilation of intimate organs, both for men and women," says Edri, "We immediately understood that there was something unusual and illogical, so we accepted responsibility for investigating the sexual offenses. We go through every documentation we get from witnesses who were present, and analyze everything and also cross-check."
Terrorists enter through the gate of Kibbutz Kfar Gaza, October 7, 2023, photo: AP
It should be noted that one of the testimonies that reached the police is of a young woman who hid with her husband in a shelter during the massacre, where she allegedly witnessed the rape and killing of a young Israeli woman. "I saw that someone was bent and raped," the young woman said. "They were wearing an olive uniform, she was alive and bleeding from her back. She was raped and executed," she told investigators.
According to Superintendent Edri, as of today, the unit has more than 200,7 media items that documented the acts of the terrorists on October <>, and due to the huge quantity of materials, the materials are still being examined in order to extract another shred of evidence to strengthen the evidence of sexual offenses. "There is an indication of many scenes where sexual offenses were committed," says Superintendent Edri, "when bodies were found naked in the lower body and bound. That's not how bodies are supposed to be found when fighting is going on all around."
In a hearing on sexual offenses at the Knesset's Committee on the Status of Women in November, 105 Commander Shelly Harush said that one of the Nova party survivors described in his testimony: "There were girls there who just broke their pelvis because they were raped."
Did the Nukhba terrorists commit a sexual offense against you or you? Call 105, say the name "Adi" and hang up. The unit's officers will already reach you.
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