Hamas accused of using rape as weapon of war in Israel in October 7 attack

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago advocates for survivors of sexual assault say they are outraged more attention hasn't focused on the extent that Hamas allegedly used rape as a weapon of war in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Before their houses were torched by Hamas on Oct. 7, hundreds of Israeli women were "murdered twice," according to a United Nations presentation on Monday. The startling turn of phrase refers to Israeli women who were raped and left for dead, then finally killed with rounds of gunfire by Hamas militants.

"Some of these women were murdered twice: The first time when blood-thirsty Hamas terrorists committed shocking acts of sexual violence against them," said Tal Heinrich, a veteran Israeli Journalist who was emcee for the United Nations presentation. "The second time these women were murdered was when terrorists put a bullet in them. In at least one case, this happened simultaneously. Let that sink in."

Of the 1,200 people killed during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, more than 300 Israeli women were killed, and many of those victims were sexually tortured, Israeli forces have said.

Major women's rights groups in the United States and worldwide are being criticized for their "silence" on the number of sexual assaults that occurred on Oct. 7, advocates said at the United Nations and here in Chicago.

"I never in a million years would have dreamed that the world would turn their back on survivors when the perpetrators so gleefully recorded their violence and shared it with the world," says Julie Smolyansky, a Chicago advocate for survivors of sexual assault.

The I-Team spoke with Smolyansky, a prominent Chicago food industry executive who is now re-shaping her not-for-profit to support Israeli women who survived the Israel-Hamas War.

"This was part of their orders: To rape and torture as many people as they could," Smolyansky said. "We've marched and supported every organization, every group. We report and support Indigenous women. And Black women and Asian women and, you know, every group we have supportive of gay women. But suddenly, when it comes to Jewish women, the world is silent."

The I-Team has previously reported on Smolyansky's initial not-for-profit that managed to clear the huge backlog of unprocessed rape kits in Illinois, and draw attention to the 400,000 criminal case rape kits sitting untested on shelves around the nation.

Now, Smolyansky is focusing her not-for-profit organization on survivors of Hamas' sexual attacks.

"I think every Jewish person right now is feeling betrayal," Smolyansky said. "It would be like terrorists coming into Lollapalooza and kidnapping and raping our women and children because they didn't like our president. I mean, it's ludicrous."

Hamas officials have denied its soldiers carried out sexual violence during the attacks on October 7.

On Nov. 29, the U.N. commission of inquiry, currently investigating war crimes on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, announced it would focus its investigation on sexual violence by Hamas, and launch a public appeal for evidence, according to Reuters.

Any evidence of such would be passed onto the International Criminal Court which may consider prosecutions, the U.N. commission of inquiry's chair told the publication.