As Israel prepares for the hearings that will begin Thursday at the International Court in The Hague following South Africa's petition against the Jewish state, 2,000 miles away, the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, popularly known as Abu Kabir after the adjacent penitentiary, continues to document more hard evidence of Hamas terrorists' murderous crimes.
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In an old building in South Tel Aviv, too narrow to contain the bodies and horrors, bones and imaging tell of the murder methods of Hamas's elite Nukhba terrorists, with unprecedented cruelty in the history of the State of Israel.
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Bodies of October 7 victims at the National Center of Forensic Medicine
(Photo: Eli Dasa)
Some of the images and details below are highly disturbing and readers are advised to exercise discretion. We see value in bringing these images to the public's attention at a time when Israel is forced to defend itself in The Hague.
The disturbing documentation includes images of a girl who was shot in the head at point-blank range and then beheaded. Another imaging revealed how terrorists set a person on fire after stabbing, shooting and running him over.
Another horrifying still depicts a group of people with their hands tied with plastic zip ties, then shot while trying to shield their heads with their hands. If there were no zip ties within reach, the terrorists would bind their victims with electric cables ripped from home appliances. Gunshot marks were visible on the exposed hands of the victims, sometimes elderly people.
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Body of October 7 victim bound with electric cables, at the National Center of Forensic Medicine
(Photo: Avigail Uzi)
“It's pure evil,” says the institute’s director Dr. Hen Kugel, whose 30 years of experience in forensics haven’t prepared him for what came on October 7.
“I already witnessed every possible murder method – shooting, stabbing, strangulation, you name it. But this kind of abuse, as the one seen on this young man’s body, I couldn’t even imagine something like that. This is not just ensuring the job is done; it's pure evil intended to obliterate every trace of that person.”
Evidence from the killing grounds continues to pour in, albeit in smaller volumes at first. Last month, the institute received 143 plastic bags containing bone fragments. “The professional challenge for the institute's staff is to identify the person solely through these remains. Efforts to identify the victims continue all the time, albeit with less intensity. We clear debris and find bones. We cling to every crumb, splinter and bone that allows for deciphering,” Dr. Kugel says.
Leading the forensic laboratory specializing in identification through bone fragments is forensic anthropologist Michal Peer. She has faced an overwhelming amount of evidence, handling most of it solo with occasional assistance from volunteers.
The Abu Kabir facility, under the Health Ministry's jurisdiction, has suffered from prolonged budgetary starvation, despite being the sole national entity authorized to provide forensic medical services.
'How can I sit by as my people are being murdered?'
“I’m the (sole) anthropologist at the National Center of Forensic Medicine,” says Peer. "I made Aliyah from the U.S. as a student five years ago to complete my doctoral work here."
She is now assisted by Prof. Tal Simon, also a forensic anthropologist, born in Israel and who developed her extensive career in the U.S. "My connection with Israel has been intermittent. I made Aliyah in 1984 directly to Kibbutz Yahel in the Arava, and in 1987, I went to the U.S. to complete my doctorate."
Since then, she has gained significant experience in identifying bones and matching them to a person's anatomical profile, volunteering to help in national disasters across the globe.
"I’ve been to Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Bosnia, Guatemala and other places. When I heard what happened here on that terrible Saturday, I came to volunteer at the institute. I said to myself, how can I sit by in Virginia as my people are being murdered?"
Due to her commitments to the university, she flew back to complete a semester for her students, and in mid-December, she returned again to volunteer at the institute.
The anthropological laboratory, like the other departments of the institute, is situated in two small rooms in an old building that hardly honors the sacred work done within it.
While speaking with Peer, she is asked to open a bag and determine whether the contents are human or animal bones. For her, this is standard practice.
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Body of October 7 victim at the National Center of Forensic Medicine
(Photo: Avigail Uzi)
"The first identification station that a bone goes through after I take it out of the white bag is on my worktable. I measure it and assess whether it's from a male or female, estimate the age and height in order to construct the biological profile that matches the missing person," explains Peer.
A single bone can provide extensive information, including types of diseases. "The bone, or a fragment of it, tells us if it belonged to someone who suffered from a certain type of cancer, osteoporosis, whether it was damaged due to an injury, and more,” she adds.
A fresh bone can produce a sample that is then sent to a laboratory for DNA identification. "However, a significant portion of the bones that have arrived and continue to arrive at our facility were burnt at temperatures of 700 degrees Celsius, destroying all organic matter and eliminating any possibility of identification," she says.
Despite these challenges, the identification effort continues vigorously. "In every bag of bones, I look for evidence. For example, determining which part of the body it belongs to can indicate identification. It's not as straightforward as it sounds because sometimes, in bags with human bones, I also find animal bones," she adds.
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Zip ties and ropes used by Hamas terrorists to tie up their victims on October 7
(Photo: Avigail Uzi)
Since the October 7 massacre, the forensic anthropology laboratory has identified 12 bones. While this may not seem like much, it means the world to each family whose loved one was identified.
The work at the institute is conducted on a total of four operating tables. "This is very problematic and causes significant delays in our work," Dr. Kugel describes painfully, "The conditions at the institute do not allow us to meet the high Israeli standards, and there is a desperate disproportion between the level of knowledge and the quality of the building."
The institute, housed in a 100-year-old building, is in dire need of additional funding and staffing. Its head, Dr. Hen Kugel, a pathologist with an international reputation, has been sounding the alarm for years on longstanding budgetary constraints.
And yet, despite all this, working under pressure and against the clock, the institute's team has set a global record by identifying 99.5% of the missing persons.
In his office, Dr. Kugel reveals rare documentation of war crimes committed by Hamas terrorists. "From this charred pile, we managed to identify long bones and skull bones, three left foot bones, and two right ones, leading to the scientific conclusion that these belonged to three different people who were bound together, shot at point-blank range and then set on fire,” Dr. Kugel said.
With every testimony, the extent of the evil and viciousness becomes increasingly apparent. One of the most disturbing images is a photo of a 12-year-old girl's body, shot in the head from point-blank range and decapitated by terrorists.
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Body of a 12-year-old girl, shot in the head from point-blank range and decapitated by terrorists
As part of his job, Dr. Kugel is also forced to watch numerous videos of the terrorists' atrocities. He is a member of a panel that managed to declare the death of missing persons in the absence of a body, based on assessments that also rely on watching these videos.
"One of the videos that shocked me the most was of a Tanzanian student who worked on one of the kibbutzim near the border. He was seen on security cameras talking to his killers. He was probably begging for his life, but they dragged him outside from the dairy barn, plunged a huge knife into his chest that came out his back, and then shot him. When I first encountered this atrocity, I remember asking myself, ‘what do they have against him? Can't they see he's not Israeli? Do they have some previous conflict with him? Why did they murder him, and with such cruelty?’" wonders Dr. Kugel.
"It's about hate, deep wickedness, humiliation. I've seen many murder cases, but who ties up people together, shoots them all and then sets them on fire? What kind of despicable murderer would do all of this? It's pure evil."
The photos and descriptions, which have been largely withheld to spare the public, are set to play a crucial role in Israel's defense at the International Court in The Hague.
In response to cynical accusations of war crimes, Israel is compelled to reveal the extent of Hamas' atrocities and the terrorists' war crimes. These include the murder and desecration of bodies long after their victims were rendered defenseless.