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Hamas militants and police units in Gaza beat, maimed and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during the war with Israel in acts that may amount to war crimes, according to a United Nations report.

The report documented cases of alleged collaborators being shot dead, victims being kneecapped, and others having their bones broken with metal pipes and concrete bricks in attacks intended to instil fear across the territory.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had documented hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment, many of which were publicised by the perpetrators during and after the attacks.

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'These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offences or affiliations with internal rivals,' the report, released on Tuesday, said.

The commission found that Hamas-affiliated militants and police forces were involved in nearly a quarter of the 249 documented cases - including 108 deaths - from August 2024 to January 2026.

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A United Nations expert on violence offered a shocking reaction when a female October 7 survivor confronted her for denying Hamas' rapes after she detailed her own sexual abuse at the hands of the terrorist group.

Ilana Gritzewsky testified at the UN Human Rights Council's 62nd session on Tuesday and offered an emotional account of the trauma Hamas inflicted on her when she was held as a hostage.

'On October 7, terrorists stormed our Kibbutz, murdering, kidnapping and burning,' Gritzewsky said. 'They touched me and sexually abused me.'

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Gritzewsky, who was brought to the floor by watchdog nongovernmental organization UN Watch, added that she had been sexually assaulted by at least seven Hamas terrorists.

She then turned her attention to Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, referencing a previous report she had written.

'Ms. Alsalem, you say there was no evidence of sexual violence on October 7,' Gritzewsky said. 'I am standing here today, not as a report, not as a statistic. I am a woman who survived. I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas.'

She added: 'When I and other Israeli women begged not to be raped, why were you silent? Please look at me. Do you believe us now? Will you apologize?'

Alsalem looked nonplussed by the stirring testimony, pursing her lips and slightly bobbling her head as Gritzewsky finished her grueling account.

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Gritzewsky began her testimony by referencing Alsalem's report about violence against women before asking her: 'Why is there no mention of Hamas?'

She said she had been 'beaten and mutilated before blacking out.'

'I w[o]ke up half naked with seven terrorists standing over me, not knowing what happened to me in those lost moments,' Gritzewsky added.

Gritzewsky was released on November 30, 2023, during a weeklong ceasefire, according to The New York Times.

She and other women and children were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the outlet reported.

After being freed, she found out that her hip was broken. Gritzewsky told the UN that she was still reeling from being taken hostage.

'I went through days of pain and horror in captivity and, even now, the feeling of being powerless and violated still lingers,' Gritzewsky said.

She added: 'I came back with a broken hip, a broken jaw and a scarred soul. People see my face and think that I'm free but freedom is not a switch. Trauma doesn't vanish once you are released.'

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Alsalem has been the UN's Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls since August 2021.

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