Hamas sexual assaults in the October 7 attack
UN experts report Hamas sexual assaults in October 7 attacks.
A UN expert group, led by Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in War, visited Israel from January 29 to February 14. The purpose of the visit was to collect, analyze, and verify information on sexual violence related to the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Yesterday, Monday, March 4, a group of UN experts published a report stating: "There are reasonable grounds to believe that sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred during the October 7 attack on Israel by the extremist group Hamas."
While the United States and many other countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist group and Hamas has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual violence, the United Nations has released a 24-page report citing circumstantial and credible information indicating some forms of sexual violence, such as female genital mutilation, sexual torture, or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
The UN report states: "The mission has obtained clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of war-related sexual violence, and there are reasonable grounds to believe that such violence continues to occur."
The experts also stated that they have received information from civil society organizations and various individuals through interviews indicating that sexual violence against Palestinian men and women occurred in detention centers or during raids on homes or at checkpoints after the October 7 attack, and that these detention centers are located on Israeli territory.
The UN mission stressed that a comprehensive investigation must be conducted to clarify the extent of this sexual violence, and they have shared these allegations with the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the country's military attorney general, but they announced that they have not received any complaints from Israeli military forces regarding sexual violence.
Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in response to the report: "It took five months for the UN to finally acknowledge that sexual crimes occurred during Hamas' attack on Israel. Today, the UN is embarrassed by the publication of a report on the sexual abuse suffered by Israeli female hostages. The UN has never discussed this issue, nor has it held a single meeting on it."
The Israeli ambassador's remarks come after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had previously emphasized investigating cases of sexual violence during the October 7 attacks and announced that the perpetrators should be prosecuted.
There are also published reports of recorded conversations that show Hamas sexually assaulting men and women in the October 7 attacks. The video below is about these recorded conversations.
