Thread by @muhammadshehad2

My thoughts on the rape allegations🧵
I fully support an impartial international investigation & oppose out of hand denialism!

There's a range of crucial questions & uncertainties to answer (some raised by Israeli scholars) in order to make a "weaponization of rape" conclusion👇

2\ Question 1: What is the compelling evidence alleged rape incidents were used as "a weapon of war"?

To establish "weaponization" of alleged rape rather than individual incidents, 2 prerequisites need to be fulfilled.

That it was *both*
a) Premeditated/instructed
b) Systematic

3\ The NYT article doesn't show any argument that the alleged rape was premeditated/instructed.

The authors did well to NOT cite any "confessions of rape" by detained Gazans in Israeli prisons b/c Israel's own Physicians for Human Rights dismissed them as extracted under torture

4\ Israel "leaked" videos of kidnapped & visibly tortured Gazans as "Hamas operatives' admissions of rape", like Muhammad Nahed Al-Arja (21) whose family announced he & his 2 cousins went missing & has been seeking help to locate them & says they were NEVER affiliated with Hamas!

5\ Was the alleged rape systematic?
NYT cites unnamed IDF soldiers & ZAKA volunteers that they overall found 30 bodies with "signs of abuse"

On Oct 7, ≈3,000 militants crossed into Israel

Serious question to experts: is 30 out of 3000 sufficient to establish it was systematic?

6\Question 2: Does NYT have evidence to link the alleged rape to Hamas militants?

After Hamas' Nokhba took over IDF military bases surrounding Gaza & the separation fence collapsed, militants from at least 7 other groups rushed in without a central command & acted individually..

7\ A witness quoted by NYT claims he saw 5 men in "civilian clothes" committing an alleged act of rape

Hamas militants wore military gear & (often) green arm or head bands..

To establish a "weaponization" of alleged rape, there's a need for evidence linking these acts to Hamas

8\ Israel itself says ONLY 1 person -out of over 200 militants detained on Oct 7 & 1000s detained in Gaza- allegedly "admitted" (under torture) to committing an act of rape

That alleged detainee is from the PIJ not Hamas & Israel hasn't found his alleged "victim" yet

9\ Question 3: Did the NYT consider that some of the quoted witnesses have changed parts of their testimonies or had previously made other allegations that were proven to be false? Does this impact their testimony here?

Was any background check conducted about the interviewees?

10\ E.g. Shari Mendes told NYT she only saw 4 women with signs of sexual abuse, inc. some with “a lot of blood in their pelvic areas”

But Shari said elsewhere she saw "evidence of MASS rape of so brutal that they *broke* their victims’ pelvis – women, grandmothers, children"!

11\ Shari had also claimed elsewhere to have seen a "decapitated pregnant woman and her beheaded unborn child" (a claim debunked by Haaretz)

She had also expressed strong opinions on Gaza re how the PR battle for Israel's image "may make the military battlefield look easy".

12\ Sapir is a witness who describes militants allegedly raping & stabbing 2 women to death.

But she said elsewhere the victim was shot in the head in the middle of the act of rape "he didn't even pick up his pants"

Did NYT consider if there was a conflict between the 2 claims?

13\ Sapir also claimed she saw 3 women allegedly beheaded. (Evidence?)

Early on, Israel provided evidence of only 1 female corpse burned & the head severed in unclear circumstances (2 male soldiers were decapitated after they were killed allegedly by Kata'ib Mujahideen & PIJ).

14\ Raz Cohen -ex-soldier who trains Congolese troops- changed his testimony multiple times until the NYT interview

Also the paramedic quoted in the article had earlier alleged a 1-year-old baby was stabbed & "tossed into the garbage". On Oct 7, only 1 baby was shot, not stabbed

15\I understand the extreme sensitivity of this topic to women & victims & wish in no way to minimize what may have happened on Oct 7

Please understand it's also an extremely sensitive topic to Palestinians as it's being weaponized for dehumanizion & genocidal incitement re Gaza