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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has condemned the incidents of sexual abuse against women on the day Hamas launched an attack on Israel.
Members of the Palestinian armed group Hamas infiltrated the Israel-Gaza Strip border on October 7, 2023, and launched a barrage of 5,000 rockets. Notably, the infiltrators raided the Supernova music festival in Kibbutz Re'im village. Israel immediately retaliated with military operations against Hamas.
More than 13,000 lives have been lost on both sides in the fight that continues to rage on to date. The Israeli authorities recently launched an independent investigation into the incidents of crime committed by Hamas affiliates specifically against women on October 7.
Cochav Elkayam-Levy, who is leading the investigation, has expressed her concerns regarding the unearthing of such crimes in a conversation with CNN, saying:
"We’ll never know everything that happened to them (women). We know that most women who were raped and who were sexually assaulted were also murdered. It will take time even in other atrocities. It takes time until crimes against women are revealed and survivors even share their stories."
Martina Navratilova, who has been a resolute supporter of women in sports, learned about the probe on X (formerly Twitter) and decried the horrific turn of events, writing:
"Hard to have outrage when this is literally the first I am hearing about it. Why is that? But as usual- women suffer more than men."
Martina Navratilova urges women to boycott sports events where transgender athletes are allowed to compete
Martina Navratilova recently urged women to boycott the sporting events where transgender athletes are allowed to participate in the wake of Alana McLaughlin winning an MMA fight against Celine Provost.
She took to X and wrote:
"Just watched the whole video! Sickening. The technically superior fighter,a female, losing, laying in a pool of blood while the commentators cheer on the winner, a biological man., saying this is historical. Yup, it is that for all the wrong reasons. This is dangerous and unfair."
The 18-time Grand Slam winner suggested that refusing to partake in such competitions might bring about a change in women's favor.
"Women get the shaft either way, but some boycotts could be the fastest way to change the rules," she wrote.
A user on X, however, asked the Czech-American if she herself would have refrained from competing in similar scenarios, to which she replied:
"If I thought it was unfair, yes. Absolutely."
