Shocking accounts from women in Gaza, who claim that Hamas militants sexually abuse and blackmail the widows of their dead comrades in order to secure financial assistance, have been published by the Israeli websites Jusoor News and the Daily Mail.
Human rights groups in Gaza told the Daily Mail that women are now in their 60s, with reports of an increase in underage marriages and pregnancies.
In one account, a Gazan man described how he found a widow displaced by the war being abused in a tent by “a group” of Hamas members, who warned him not to say anything.
"A friend's wife had asked a commander of the Qassam Brigades (Hamas' military wing) to help her, but he took advantage of her. We found her in a tent in the Garabli area, where a group of Qassam members were sexually abusing her. We informed the leadership, but they told us to keep quiet," the man said.
Another man, also from Gaza, recounted a similar episode involving one of his neighbors, who was blackmailed by “one of Hamas’ charities… they wanted her to commit suicide in exchange for a food parcel, an aid voucher or 100 shekels.”
A third testimony from a man claiming to be a member of the Qassam Brigades said that the leadership had been informed that some members of the brigades were exploiting “martyrs’ wives” but had been ordered to keep it a secret. “We told them it was an insult to our honor and dignity,” the man said.
Abdullah (not his real name), who filmed the evidence for Jusoor News, told the Daily Mail: “Unfortunately, there are many cases. In every area, many women are exploited, especially widows and divorced women, because they have no support or income. They take advantage of their vulnerable position and the situation is getting worse day by day.”
Nour (not her real name), who is a divorced mother of four, spoke to the Daily Mail from Gaza and described sexual abuse in exchange for aid.
“I didn’t get any help, so I went to a charity. A man there, who seemed religious and respectable, promised to help me. I am a mother of four. I am displaced by the war and I am not in a known displacement camp, so I didn’t get any help. I went to an Islamic charity that distributes aid to displaced and needy people in Gaza. I was met by a man who seemed religious, like a sheikh. He said he would stand by me and help me. I told him I was separated from my husband. He said, ‘Oh, separated? A woman as beautiful as you?’” said the woman, who said the man took her phone number and suggested a late-night video call.
"From the beginning, the way he spoke to me felt like harassment. I'm much younger than him. I trusted him because he was an older man. I saw him as a father figure. He's my father's age, but he directly harassed me. Of course, I was scared. He was attacking me. I asked him how he could speak to me like that. And he should be ashamed. I told him I would expose him. He said: 'You can't expose me, I'm the government here,'" Nour concluded.
