In the early hours of October 7, 2023, the Idan family in Kibbutz Nahal Oz was destroyed when Hamas terrorists invaded their home. As the family tried to take shelter in a safe room, the terrorists killed the eldest daughter, Mayan, in front of her parents and siblings, and then abducted the father, Tsachi. The incident was broadcast live on social media, allowing the nation to witness their tragic final moments.
At the same time, in Kibbutz Horit, 16-year-old Rotem Mathias lay hidden beneath his mother's corpse, texting his sisters the heartbreaking news: “Mom and Dad are dead. I'm sorry.”
In Kfar Aza, Roy Idan was killed while holding his three-year-old daughter Abigail as his older children looked on in horror. Their mother, Sumadar, was also shot dead in front of them. The children then hid in a closet with their mother's body, unsure of the fate of their younger sister, who was later abducted to Gaza.
Israeli police say extreme sexual violence and rape by Hamas terrorists were systematic
Bloody handprints were left on the wall of Nir Oz's house after Hamas terrorists attacked this kibbutz near the Gaza border a few days ago. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
These are just a few of the countless stories recorded in this book. new report The book is co-authored by Dr. Kochav Elkayam Levy, founder of the Citizens' Committee on Crimes Against Women and Children, 7 October, and Dr. Michal Gilad and Dr. Ilya Rudyak. The report introduces the term “kinocide” to describe the systematic targeting and destruction of family units during attacks, an unprecedented brutality that goes beyond typical warfare.
Dr. El-Kayam-Levy described it as “a nameless crime for a voiceless victim.” “The perpetrators not only murdered, but deliberately sought to destroy the very foundation of human society: the family.”
“The most difficult crimes to witness were those that involved families,” continued Dr. Elkayam Levy. “Hamas perpetrators glorified their violence, chanted religious slogans, and 's actions were broadcast on social media, but the fear was not limited to the immediate victims; it was amplified globally.
“The use of social media was critical in spreading terrorism and provoking similar acts of violence elsewhere,” Citizens Committee CEO Merav Yisrael Amarant said on FOX News Digital told. She called this tactic a “terror filter,” a term coined by legal scholar Tehilla Schwartz Altshuler to describe how broadcasts are designed to radicalize and incite other terrorists.
Israeli soldiers remove the body of a civilian killed days earlier in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on this kibbutz near the border with Gaza, in Kfar Aza, Israel, October 10, 2023. (Photo by Amir Levi/Getty Images)
As Elkayam Levy and her team dug deeper, they found similar tactics have been documented in conflicts around the world, from Argentina and Iraq to Syria, Sierra Leone and Myanmar. “We are in touch with survivors of the genocide, including Yazidis, to share our experiences. The pain is universal. Things like this have happened before, but without names. ” said Dr. Elkayam Levy.
The Commission worked with the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights to identify patterns of abuse and ensure that kinocide is recognized as a distinct crime. The new report, released after a year of investigation, includes interviews with survivors, visits to the sites where the atrocities took place, and extensive evidence review. The goal is to bring kinocide into the international legal debate and argue for the urgent need for it to be recognized as a distinct crime.
'I will be haunted forever': Horrifying Israeli video showing Hamas atrocities leaves viewers shocked and sickened
A woman at the monument to Yulia Waxer Daunov as families and friends of the missing and kidnapped gather at the Nova Festival site to commemorate the first anniversary of the attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2024. breaks down in tears. “I'm Israel.” (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Professor Irwin Cotler, former Canadian justice minister and international president of the Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Center, said: “Silence in the face of such evil is not neutrality, it is complicity. Worse, it is denied and justified. And even celebrating these heinous acts underscores the moral and legal obligation to act decisively against such crimes. As such, they are also harbingers of global evil.”
“We need international cooperation to address this systematic targeting of families,” El-Kayam-Levy said. “However, international law failed the survivors of October 7. The current legal framework does not adequately protect families from this type of attack.”
An Israeli couple walks past graffiti calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, in Jerusalem, November 18, 2023. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
The report is supported by international law experts and human rights activists around the world and highlights the urgent need for legal and social recognition of kinocide. However, despite the report's widespread support, Elkayam Levy expressed concern about the international community's reaction.
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“International law is being used as a terrible weapon against us (Israelis),” she said, as she faced denial from prominent figures in the international human rights community over her last report on sexual violence on October 7. We are living in dark times,” he said. As international human rights scholars, I never imagined we would see a time when such abuses would be directed at us. ”
