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This article is about the controversy regarding the January 2024 New York Times article "Screams without Words"

According to a investigation by Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella in The New York Times using video footage, photographs, GPS data from mobile phones and interviews with more than 150 purported victims or their families, the report identified at least seven locations where sexual assaults and mutilations of Israeli women and girls were carried out.

The Times article concluded that the alleged rapes were part of a broader pattern in which Hamas "weaponized sexual violence". It cited the evidence of 8 individuals or groups, plus a video circulated on social media, though the article did not demonstrate a link or general connection between the incidents. ZAKA volunteers did not take photographs per organizational policy and respect for the dead. Yossi Landau, head of ZAKA operations, later told the New York Times that he regrets having not collected photographic evidence. The article did not directly interview rape survivors, citing rape councilors who said that "he trauma from sexual assault can be so heavy that sometimes survivors do not speak about it for years".

Criticism of testimony and fact-checking

On January 9, 2024, the report was removed from the scheduled The New York Times podcast channel, The Daily. According to Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone, the report caused turmoil within the Times due to the lack of verification of the witnesses and their testimony, inconsistencies in the testimonies (see table) and outcry from family members of Gal Abdush, four of whom asserted that her sister's rape did not take place at all, as well as complaints about how their input to the Times was mischaracterized in the article.

Questions about neutrality

In late February, 2024,, Jeremy Scahill et al. in The Intercept revealed that the Times recruited co-author Anat Schwartz especially to contribute to the "Screams" investigation. Schwartz has no prior reporting experience but her partner was co-author Adam Sella's nephew. Schwartz had liked several posts calling for destruction of Gaza including one calling to "turn Gaza into a slaughterhouse" and to "violate any norm on the way to victory" over Palestinian "human animals". The Times launched an investigation. Scahill concluded that Schwartz "may harbor animosity toward Palestinians… and feel conflicting pressures between being a supporter of Israel’s war effort and a Times reporter". Furthermore, Eden Wessely, who filmed Gal Abdush's ("the woman in the black dress") body, told Ynet that "Schwartz and Sella had pressured her into giving the paper access to her photos and videos for the purposes of serving Israeli propaganda. 'They called me again and again and explained how important it is to Israeli hasbara'." Schwartz told Channel 12 in January 2024, "I'm… an Israeli, but I also work for New York Times… so all the time I’m… in this place between the hammer and the anvil."

Initially Schwartz contacted Israeli hospitals, rape crisis centers, trauma recovery facilities, sex assault hotlines, and kibbutzim, and visited the alleged rape sites, but was found not a single reported case of sexual assault on October 7. In multiple visits to the Merhav Marpe center, Schwartz found no evidence of sexual violence, and frustrated, accused staff of engaging in a "conspiracy of silence.".

However, subsequent testimony from ZAKA's Yossi Landau, Raz Cohen and Shari Mendes (all of whom have since shown to have provided inconsistent or false testimony, see table) convinced Schwartz that the pattern of sexual violence was systematic and "weaponized", but The Intercept concluded that "the bigger scandal may be… the process that allowed (the reporting) into print, and the life-altering impact the reporting had for thousands of Palestinians whose deaths were justified by the alleged systematic sexual violence orchestrated by Hamas the paper claimed to have exposed" and that the "Times's mission (may have been) to bolster a predetermined narrative". The Times launched an investigation.

1. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey; Schwartz, Anat; Sella, Adam; Shaar-Yashuv, Avishag (2023-12-28). "'Screams Without Words': How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
2. "NYT pulls Hamas rape story from podcast over internal turmoil over shoddy reporting: Max Blumenthal". The Hill. 2024-01-30. Archived from the original on 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
3. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (1)On her social media feed… Schwartz liked a tweet saying that Israel needed to "turn the strip into a slaughterhouse." "Violate any norm, on the way to victory," read the post. "Those in front of us are human animals who do not hesitate to violate minimal rules."
4. ^ "NYT investigating Israeli reporter who liked tweet calling to turn Gaza into 'slaughterhouse'". Ynet. 26 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
5. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. She may harbor animosity toward Palestinians, lack the experience with investigative journalism, and feel conflicting pressures between being a supporter of Israel's war effort and a Times reporter
6. ^ Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. The woman who filmed Abdush on October 7 told the Israeli site YNet that Schwartz and Sella had pressured her into giving the paper access to her photos and videos for the purposes of serving Israeli propaganda. "They called me again and again and explained how important it is to Israeli hasbara," she recalled, using the term for public diplomacy, which in practice refers to Israeli propaganda efforts directed at international audiences.
7. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (12) "I'm also in this place, I'm also an Israeli, but I also work for New York Times," she said. "So all the time I'm like in this place between the hammer and the anvil."
8. Schwartz, Anat (3 January 2024). "התקיפות המיניות בשבעה באוקטובר - אחד ביום" [The sexual assaults on 7 October]. Omny FM (in Hebrew). Google Translate. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
9. ^ Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (4) Schwartz details her extensive efforts to get confirmation from Israeli hospitals, rape crisis centers, trauma recovery facilities, and sex assault hotlines in Israel, as well as her inability to get a single confirmation from any of them. "She was told there had been no complaints made of sexual assaults,"
10. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (8)Schwartz continued to look for evidence at various sites of attack and found no witnesses to corroborate stories of rape.
11. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. In multiple visits to Merhav Marpe, Schwartz… found no direct evidence of rapes or sexual violence. She expressed frustration with the therapists and counselors… saying they engaged in "a conspiracy of silence."
12. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (11)The independent site October 7 Fact Check, Mondoweiss, and journalists Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada and Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone have flagged numerous inconsistencies and contradictions in the stories told in the Times report, including the account of Cohen
13. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (9)independent research collective October 7 Fact Check said Mendes's story was false… Yet Schwartz and the New York Times would go on to rely on Mendes's testimony, as well as those of other witnesses with track records of making unreliable claims and lacking forensic credentials. No mention was made of questions about Mendes's credibility.
14. Jeremy, Scahill; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (29 February 2024). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 March 2024. (3)The bigger scandal may be the reporting itself, the process that allowed it into print, and the life-altering impact the reporting had for thousands of Palestinians whose deaths were justified by the alleged systematic sexual violence orchestrated by Hamas the paper claimed to have exposed.
15. "NYT investigating Israeli reporter who liked tweet calling to turn Gaza into 'slaughterhouse'". Ynet. 26 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
16. "Islamic Jihad terrorist admits to rape, NYT probes Hamas sexual violence". The Jerusalem Post. 2023-12-29. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
17. Gettleman, Jeffrey; Schwartz, Anat; Sella, Adam (2024-01-29). "U.N. to Study Reports of Sexual Violence in Israel During Oct. 7 Attack". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
18. ^ Scahill, Jeremy; Grim, Ryan; Boguslaw, Daniel (2024-02-29). "The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-02-29. She had also spoken about other violence on October 7, telling the Daily Mail in October, "A baby was cut out of a pregnant woman and beheaded and then the mother was beheaded." No pregnant woman died that day, according to the official Israeli list of those killed in the attacks, and the independent research collective October 7 Fact Check said Mendes's story was false.
19. "Family of key case in New York Times October 7 sexual violence report renounces story, says reporters manipulated them". Mondoweiss. 2024-01-03. Archived from the original on 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
20. Turjeman, Meir (2023-12-30). ""ראיתי בחורה שנאנסה ונשרפה": עדות מטלטלת מזירת הטבח של עדן שצילמה את "האישה בשמלה השחורה"" [Horror of the "woman in the black dress": "At first we didn't know about the rape. They desecrated her soul"]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
21. "Israeli Police Collect Eyewitness Testimony of Gang Rape During Hamas Attack". Haaretz. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
22. Anna Schechter; Angela Yang; Alicia Victoria Lozano (8 October 2023). "Music festival revelers in the Israeli desert were massacred by Hamas militants". Retrieved 9 January 2024. Shoam Gueta said he ran away from the barrage with a group of 20 people and hid in the bushes for nearly six hours as the onslaught unfolded around them. He used his mandatory military training experience to stay camouflaged and urged everyone in the group to remain silent and not to run away even when militants came within several feet. He saw Israelis gunned down as they tried to take cover and watched as a woman was cut with a knife. One friend hid in a portable toilet. "We saw terrorists killing people, burning cars, shouting everywhere," Gueta said. "If you just say something, if you make any noise, you'll be murdered." Quietly, he said, Gueta called his mother to reassure he was safe despite the surrounding carnage.
23. "At Least 800 Israelis Killed in Surprise Attack". i24 News. X. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
24. Brown, Chris (10 October 2023). "'I have never seen such brutality,' says ER doctor in Israeli city close to Gaza border". CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 31 January 2024.
25. "Survivors of Hamas assault on music fest describe horrors and how they made it out alive". PBS NewsHour. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
26. ^ Rabinowitz, Aaron (2024-01-31). "Death and Donations: Did the Israeli Volunteer Group Handling the Dead of October 7 Exploit Its Role?". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-02-06. In the meantime, Zaka volunteers were there. Most of them worked at the sites of murder and destruction from morning to night. However, according to witness accounts, it becomes clear that others were engaged in other activities entirely. As part of the effort to get media exposure, Zaka spread accounts of atrocities that never happened, released sensitive and graphic photos, and acted unprofessionally on the ground.
27. ^ "ZAKA exploited Hamas's October 7 attack to campaign for donations – report Volunteers who worked alongside ZAKA accuse members of creating". Times of Israel. 2024-02-06. Retrieved 2024-02-10. The unit's soldiers, as well as volunteers from other organizations, accused ZAKA volunteers of spreading stories of horrors that didn't happen, releasing sensitive and graphic photos to shock people into donating, and being unprofessional in a bid for screen time.
28. Tapper, Jake (18 November 2023). "Israel investigates claims of sexual violence on October 7". CNN. Retrieved 5 February 2024. 1'50"
29. "Israeli Special Forces Speaks To Republic, Unmasks Reality Of Hamas Terror". Republic TV (India). Retrieved 5 February 2024.
30. Grim, Jeremy; Scahil, Ryan (2024-03-04). "Kibbutz Be'eri Rejects Story in New York Times October 7 Exposé: "They Were Not Sexually Abused"". The Intercept. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
31. "CNN report claiming sexual violence on October 7 relied on non-credible witnesses, some with undisclosed ties to Israeli govt". Mondoweiss. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
32. "Shari Mendes". Oct 7 Fact Check. Archived from the original on 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-02-29.

• Journalism controversies
• Sexual violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• The New York Times
• 2023 Hamas attack on Israel