Hamas Carried Out Extermination and Crimes Against Humanity in October 7 Massacre, Amnesty Finds

Amnesty International’s 173-page investigation finds that Hamas and allied Palestinian armed groups carried out widespread, systematic attacks on civilians during the October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel.

“Saturday, December 13th|23 Kislev 5786 An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct”

Algemeiner

The report says these attacks amount to crimes against humanity, including the crime of "extermination."

Algemeiner

It states that Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al‑Qassam Brigades, bear primary responsibility for murder, torture, hostage‑taking and other crimes, and that the abduction and detention of civilians were part of a planned campaign.

Amnesty also documents sexual assaults and cruel treatment of captives but says its ability to assess the full scale of sexual violence was limited by lack of access to survivors.

Amnesty documents the human cost of the October 7 operation in precise tallies that multiple outlets reproduce.

Roughly 1,200–1,221 people were killed in Israel on that day, and around 251 people were taken hostage and brought into Gaza; a large share of the hostages were civilians, including children and foreign nationals.

Amnesty International

Of the hostages taken alive, many died in captivity.

Reporting collated by multiple sources says that after later operations and ceasefire deals most living hostages were released, and all hostages have been returned except for the body of one Israeli officer.

Amnesty notes it could only interview one survivor about sexual violence, limiting its ability to determine the full scope of that crime.

Amnesty's separate legal analysis accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza during its retaliatory campaign.

“Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said thatAmnesty International's acknowledgementthat Hamas committed crimes against humanity on October 7, 2023, was too little and too late”

Arutz Sheva

The organization says genocidal conduct "continues" despite a ceasefire, citing policies such as restrictions on aid, forced displacement and repeated attacks.

Amnesty reports thousands more Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire and says Israel has ignored International Court of Justice rulings and failed to investigate or prosecute officials who made genocidal statements.

Israel has categorically rejected Amnesty's genocide finding, and some outlets note that Amnesty's Israeli chapter distanced itself from the global office's legal conclusion, calling the destruction "catastrophic" but disputing the legal label of genocide.

The legal and political fallout is mixed: Amnesty urged strong international pressure on Israel, including calls to halt military aid, even as some sources noted the report did not call for measures to pressure Hamas to free hostages.

The International Criminal Court sought arrest warrants in May 2024 for senior Hamas figures (Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar), applications that were later withdrawn after the three were killed, while an active ICC warrant remains for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, according to reporting.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Different outlets highlight different legal threads: some stress accountability for Hamas atrocities, while others emphasize legal scrutiny of Israeli leaders.

Coverage tone and conclusions vary by source type.

“Amnesty International accused Hamas and other Palestinian groups for the first time of crimes against humanity, including extermination, during and after the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza”

bgnes

Western mainstream outlets (RFI, Le Monde, Euronews, ABC) report Amnesty’s findings while emphasizing methodological caveats and Israel’s denials.

bgnes

Local Western outlets (Algemeiner) and Israeli media (Arutz Sheva) foreground Israeli rejection and the Israeli Amnesty chapter’s distance from the global report.

Amnesty itself (Western Alternative) uses unequivocal legal language calling the conduct genocide and detailing continuing deaths and impunity.

Gaza casualty figures are reported as extremely high, with Gaza’s health ministry citing at least 70,369 deaths from Israel’s offensive, a figure that RFI and Le Monde note the UN regards as reliable.

Several sources explicitly describe Israel’s bombardment and killings in Gaza in direct terms.