"We reject the lies and blatant bias towards the occupation and the lack of professionalism and credibility in the Human Rights Watch report. We demand its withdrawal and an apology," according to a statement by Hamas.

The Palestinian group condemned Human Rights Watch's insistence on condemning resistance forces for allegedly sexual assault without evidence, as acknowledged by the report itself.

“The report talks about what it described as (crimes) committed by the Palestinian factions on 7 October — according to its claim — but it deliberately ignores the crimes committed by the Nazi occupation army on the same day against our people in Gaza, and even against the Israeli civilians who were bombed along with the Palestinian fighters by Israeli planes and tank shells, according to the Israeli reports itself," Hamas added.

It also pointed to what happened in the Nova concert, which was bombed by Israeli planes and tanks, where thousands of cars were burned using weapons that the Palestinian resistance did not possess.

Moreover, Hamas said the report should have taken account of Israel's response to the 7 October operation.

“The number of martyrs and wounded has exceeded 120,000 to date. Hospitals, universities, schools, and infrastructure have been destroyed, with the machine of Zionist oppression continuing its crimes with full American and Western support, and the report did not find that all of this is worth mentioning,” it noted.

The movement criticized HRW for considering what happened on 7 October as the beginning of the story, neglecting all that Palestinian people suffered from wars, killing, torture, and siege before it. 

The HRW said in a report released Wednesday that Hamas led other Palestinian armed groups in committing hundreds of war crimes in the surprise 7 October attack on Israel.

"It's impossible for us to put a number on the specific instances," HRW Associate Director Belkis Wille told a news conference, adding that "there were obviously hundreds on that day."

The crimes include "deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects; wilful killing of persons in custody; cruel and other inhumane treatment; sexual and gender-based violence; hostage taking; mutilation and despoiling (robbing) of bodies; use of human shields; and pillage and looting," said the report.

The report also quoted a team from the UN Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, who said they interviewed people who had reported witnessing "rape and gang rape, in at least three locations."

It said, however, the full extent of sexual and gender-based violence "will likely never be fully known" as victims had died, or stigma would stop them from talking out, or Israeli first responders "largely" did not collect relevant evidence.

Additionally, the global rights group said its teams interviewed nearly 150 witnesses, first responders, and family members for the research and verified more than 280 photos and videos for the investigation.