«Palestinian armed groups committed violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and crimes against humanity during their attacks in southern Israel beginning on October 7, 2023», the human rights organisation writes in a new report spanning more than 170 pages. Amnesty considers that the massacre of civilians on October 7 amounts to the «crime against humanity of extermination» and lists, among other crimes against humanity committed by Palestinian groups, imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance, rape and «other forms of sexual violence». These groups, foremost among them Hamas, «continued to commit violations and crimes under international law» after October 7, notably crimes against humanity, by «detaining and abusing hostages and by retaining abducted bodies», Amnesty adds. «The taking of hostages was part of a plan explicitly formulated by the leadership of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups», the organisation writes.

The international NGO had already concluded that Hamas and other groups committed war crimes during the October 7 attack in Israel, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP tally. On that day, 251 people were taken hostage, 44 of whom were already dead. Of the 207 hostages taken alive, 41 died or were killed in captivity. To date, all captives have returned, with the exception of one Israeli, whose body remains in Gaza. Regarding the sexual violence committed on October 7, the NGO said it was only able to interview one survivor and was therefore not in a position to determine the scale or extent of those crimes. The report concludes that Hamas — particularly its armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades — was «primarily responsible» for the crimes committed, while also attributing a lesser degree of responsibility to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and «unaffiliated Palestinian civilians».

On the Israeli side

Amnesty, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, said in late November that it «continues unabated despite the fragile ceasefire» in force since October 10. Israel strongly rejects the genocide allegations against it, describing them as «false» and «anti-Semitic».

In May 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Ismail Haniyeh, then head of Hamas; Mohammed Deif, then head of the Al-Qassam Brigades; and Yahya Sinwar, then head of Hamas in Gaza and widely regarded as the mastermind of the October 7 massacres. The ICC later annulled those warrants following their deaths later that year in Israeli strikes.

The ICC also issued, in November 2024, an arrest warrant — still in force — against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Gaza. More than 70,369 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign following October 7, according to the local Health Ministry, which is under Hamas authority. The ministry, whose figures are deemed reliable by the United Nations, does not specify the number of combatants killed, but according to its data, more than half of the dead are minors and women.

See, Amnesty accuse le Hamas de crimes contre l’humanité le 7-Octobre et par la suite

Photo. Hamas gunmen point their weapons at a group of men they are about to execute, in Gaza, in this screenshot taken from a video released on October 13, 2025. © REUTERS.