Palestinian Terrorist Confesses to October 7 Rape

Latest Developments

A Palestinian terrorist captured by Israeli forces confessed to carrying out a rape during the October 7 rampage, his interrogation video showed. In the more than five minutes of footage, released with subtitles by the Israeli military on March 28, Palestinian Islamic Jihad member Manar Mahmoud Muhammed Kasem gives a detailed account of crossing into Israel from Gaza with a pistol and two grenades, and entering a house in a kibbutz. There, he said, he forced himself upon a woman: “The devil took over me, I laid her down, started undressing her and did what I did.”

After the assault — which Kasem initially described as sleeping with the victim, and then acknowledged was rape — two other Palestinian terrorists came in with a woman whom he presumed to be his victim’s mother. The two women comforted each other before being taken away by the two Palestinians, who were members of the Fatah-aligned al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Kasem said. Kasem added that he shot an Israeli man as he departed the scene.

The video did not provide further details on the identities of the women or the name of the kibbutz they were attacked in. Kasem spoke coherently, suggesting he issued his confession on his own accord without coercion. Kasem was captured in his hometown of Khan Younis last month, Israeli media said.

Expert Analysis

“By this Palestinian terrorist’s own account, Hamas was not alone in brutalizing defenseless women on October 7. This terrorist was from Islamic Jihad, and the two Palestinians who took away the two female victims, to an unknown fate, were from the Fatah armed wing. There are ample indications that the supposed Gaza ‘civilians’ who crossed the border on October 7 also took part in such sexual atrocities.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“Each rapist should face the legal fate they deserve. But policymakers looking at ‘day after’ questions must confront tough questions since Kasem’s actions are part of a pattern and not an isolated case. Kasem and his fellow rapists took the oath of allegiance to Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Hamas. Who educated Kasem and others who raped women on October 7 in Israel and afterward in Gaza? Who is funding their education? Who is in effect legitimizing such depravity by not ensuring Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are blamed for their atrocities in every international forum? When the world fails to condemn such actions unequivocally and uniformly, what notion of peace can we expect once the war comes to an end? What responsibility do policymakers shoulder for not addressing these questions?” — Toby Dershowitz, Managing Director of FDD Action

“There can be no doubt that terrorists from Gaza used rape as a weapon of war. Earlier this week, Amit Soussanna, a brave Israeli woman who was dragged into Gaza by terrorists on October 7 and released in late November, told her story of being sexually assaulted in Gaza. Some 19 Israeli women are still being held hostage by terrorists in Gaza and are likely experiencing the same kinds of horrors that Amit experienced. The Biden administration and Congress must do everything they can to bring the hostages home.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

Related Analysis

“Former Israeli Hostage Recounts Sexual Assault, Torture in Captivity,” FDD Flash Brief

“UN Report Says Hamas Used Rape as Crime of War,” FDD Flash Brief

“Hamas Sexual Crimes Detailed in New Report on October 7 Attack,” FDD Flash Brief