Gazans living under Hamas rule are beginning to break their silence, describing sexual abuse by multiple men, sexual blackmail for aid or money and abuse by people in positions of power.
Human rights organisations in Gaza say that up to 60,000 women are vulnerable, with reports also indicating a rise in child marriages and pregnancies.
Jusoor News filmed rare video testimonies inside the Strip. The filming was done at great risk because speaking up in Gaza carries severe risk.
In one account told by a male Gazan, whose identity has to remain anonymous for his safety, he described how he found a widow displaced in the war being molested inside a tent by 'a bunch of' Hamas members and was warned to stay silent.
'We were contacted by the wife of a friend. She had asked a Qassam Brigades commander to help her, but he took advantage of her,' he said.
'His behaviour is disgraceful. We investigated the matter and found her in a tent in the Gharabli area where a bunch of Qassam members were taking advantage of her.
'We informed the leadership but we were told we had to keep silent about it.'
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is the military arm of Hamas.
Another Gazan man confirmed that a similar episode had happened with one of his female neighbours, who was blackmailed by 'one of Hamas’s charity organisations… they wanted her to wh*** herself in exchange for a food parcel, or an aid voucher, or 100 shekels'.
Source: Jusoor News
