Amnesty International has released a new report accusing Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups of murder, torture, and other crimes against humanity during and after the October 7, 2023 attacks.

This is the first time in two years that Amnesty has formally concluded that Hamas committed both war crimes and crimes against humanity. The group applied the International Criminal Court’s Article 7 criteria and said the evidence shows Hamas leaders intended to target civilians.

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The 173-page report draws on video footage, testimonies, and other materials. Amnesty said most civilians killed on October 7 died at the hands of armed Palestinians, though some were killed by Israeli forces during the chaos.

Amnesty classified everyone taken into Gaza as “unlawfully detained hostages” and said all were subjected to psychological abuse. The organization acknowledged documented cases of rape, gang rape, and other forms of sexual violence. While it said it could not determine how widespread the sexual violence was, the confirmation of these abuses marks a shift, given Amnesty’s earlier caution on the issue. It added that it found no evidence of Hamas leadership issuing orders for sexual violence, but confirmed such acts did occur.

The report names several groups as participants in the attacks, including Hamas’s Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and hundreds of civilians in plain clothes. Amnesty said Hamas’s military wing was “chiefly responsible.”

Amnesty also criticized Israel for refusing to cooperate with its investigation, saying this limited access to sites, witnesses, medical staff, and key evidence. It noted that some survivors were unwilling to speak and that Israeli authorities collected limited forensic evidence. Even so, the group said it gathered enough material to reach firm conclusions.

The report calls on Hamas to investigate its fighters, remove anyone implicated in serious violations, and publicly acknowledge and condemn the abuses. It also urges the group to address violations related to the remaining hostages.

Amnesty called on Israel to end violations against Palestinians in the occupied territories and within Israel, and to take steps toward accountability for alleged crimes committed by Israeli forces, including genocide and apartheid.

Compared with the UN’s reports on October 7, Amnesty’s findings are more explicit about sexual violence and more direct in attributing responsibility to Hamas. While UN reports have described possible sexual violence cases and said some acts may amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty concludes that rape, gang rape, and torture occurred and that Hamas committed crimes against humanity.

The group also relied heavily on video evidence, weapons identification, insignia, and Hamas’s own media output to link specific actions to the organization, rather than using the broader term “armed Palestinian groups.”