Israeli forces ‘sexually assaulted, beat and insulted women’ during Gaza hospital raid
Witnesses in a new report said Israeli forces sexually assaulted Palestinian women and executed unarmed civilians during the Friday raid on Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Testimony given to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor documented violence against women, including stripping off their clothes, touching them under the threat of violence, beating them and hurling sexual insults against them.
In one incident, a soldier tore the clothes of a woman, exposing her chest, after she refused to remove her hijab, or headscarf.
Recalling a different incident, an unnamed woman said: “A soldier forced a nurse to take off her trousers, then placed his hand on her. When she tried to resist, he struck her hard across the face, causing her nose to bleed.”
Another eyewitness said a soldier told a woman: “Take it off, or we’ll force it off you.”
A hospital staff member told the Monitor: “The soldiers ordered us to remove our hijabs, but we refused. They then turned to the girls under 20 years old and demanded they remove their hijabs, but they also refused.
"The soldiers decided to punish us by taking two women at a time and forcing them to lift their clothes and lower their trousers under threats and coercion.”
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