On October 7, 2023, the Idan family from Kibbutz Nahal Oz faced a tragic event when Hamas terrorists entered their home. The terrorists mercilessly murdered their oldest daughter, Maayan, in front of her family and then took the father, Tzachi, captive as the rest of the family sought safety in their secure room, all while the horrifying incident was being streamed on social media.
In another part of the area, in Kibbutz Holit, 16-year-old Rotem Matias experienced a harrowing moment as he hid beneath his deceased mother, sending a heart-wrenching message to his sisters informing them of the loss of their parents.
Meanwhile, in Kfar Aza, Roee Idan tragically lost his life while trying to protect his 3-year-old daughter, Abigail, in front of his traumatized older children. The children were left to witness the brutal murder of their mother, Smadar, before seeking refuge in a closet, uncertain of the fate of their younger sibling, who was later taken to Gaza.
A woman breaks down at the memorial to Yulia Waxer Daunov as family members and friends of the lost and kidnapped gather at the site of the Nova Festival to mark the one-year anniversary of the attacks by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2024 in Re’im, Israel. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Professor Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice of Canada and International Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, stated, “Silence in the face of such evil is not neutrality; it is complicity. Worse still, there has been denial, justification, and even the glorification of these heinous acts, underscoring the moral and legal imperative to act decisively against such crimes. The dangers of antisemitism are not just the oldest and most lethal of hatreds- they are also a presage of global evil, as evidenced by the events of October 7.”
“We need an international coalition to address this systematic targeting of families,” Elkayam-Levy said. “But international law has failed the survivors of October 7. The current legal frameworks do not adequately protect families in these kinds of attacks.”
An Israeli couple holding their national flag walk in front of graffiti calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2023. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
The report, which has been endorsed by international law experts and human rights activists worldwide, highlights the urgent need for legal and social recognition of kinocide. However, despite the report’s widespread endorsement, Elkayam-Levy expressed her concern over the international community’s response.
As someone who faced the denial of prominent figures in the international human rights community in response to her last report on sexual violence on Oct. 7, she said, “We live in dark times when international law is weaponized against us (Israelis) in terrifying ways. As an international human rights scholar, I never imagined that we would live in a time when such abuse is directed at us. It really scares me.”
