A team of United Nations (UN) experts reported on Monday that there were โreasonable grounds to believeโ sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred at several locations during the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
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The UN team, led by special envoy Pramila Patten, visited Israel between January 29th and February 14th to investigate allegations of sexual violence linked to the attacks. Their 24-page report states that โcredible circumstantial informationโ indicates some forms of sexual violence like โgenital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatmentโ may have occurred.
While Hamas has repeatedly rejected accusations of sexual violence, the UN report found โclear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence.โ It states a โfully-fledged investigationโ is needed to determine the full extent of the crimes and perpetrators.
The report also cites information about โsexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpointsโ in Israel after October 7th. However, Israelโs military told the UN team it had received no complaints of sexual violence by its forces.
On October 7th, Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israelโs retaliation in Gaza has since killed around 30,000 Palestinians, health authorities there say.
The UN findings have further inflamed tensions. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said sexual violence on October 7th โmust be vigorously investigated and prosecutedโ, stressing โgender-based violence must be condemned. Anytime. Anywhere.โ
However, Israelโs UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan accused the UN of hypocrisy, saying, โAs we speak right now, Israeli women are being raped and abused by Hamas terrorists. Where is the UNโs voice?โ He demanded, โHamas must face unrelenting pressure to end their sexual violence and release all hostages immediately.โ
The UN teamโs report alleging reasonable grounds for sexual violence by Hamas has ratcheted up pressure amid the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades. Independent investigations will likely be crucial to determine responsibility and prevent further atrocities.
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