The European Union today announced sanctions against the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad for “extensive sexual violence” during the October 7 attack on Israel.
Fighters from the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Nuhba unit of Hamas, and the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, “perpetrated widespread sexual and gender-based violence, in a systematic manner, using it as a weapon of war.” , the EU said.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are already on the EU’s list of terrorist organisations.
The three Palestinian organizations were added to the EU’s sanctions list for human rights violations. Specifically, 104 persons and 26 entities from different countries are the target of the sanctions.
The decision to impose these sanctions is part of an agreement between EU member states that also provides for sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank accused of violence against Palestinians.
The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The EU says abuses committed by Hamas fighters include “rape and murder of minors, mutilation of corpses and genital mutilation”. The European bloc also accused the perpetrators of “targeted abduction of women and girls”.
Israel has launched a retaliatory military operation in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 33,600 people, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian Islamist movement’s health ministry.
Source: RES-MPE
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