UN: ‘Grounds to believe’ rape and gang rape committed on October 7
The UN team also found 'clear and convincing information' of rape and sexualised torture against hostages
The United Nations has found ‘grounds to believe’ that rape and gang rape were committed by Hamas terrorists against Israelis on October 7.
The UN mission team found that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations, “including rape and gang rape” in at least three locations.
The team also found a pattern of victims – mostly women – “found fully or partially naked, bound and shot across multiple locations which may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.”
The report was conducted by a team of experts from the UN following a 17-day visit to Israel.
The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, stated that the team of experts had also found “clear and convincing information” of rape and sexualised torture being committed against hostages after October 7.
The report states that the team conducted interviews “according to UN standards and methodology, with a total of 34 interviewees, including with survivors and witnesses of the 7 October attacks, released hostages, 3 first responders, health and service providers and others.”
“The mission team, specifically the forensic pathologist and the digital analyst, reviewed over 5,000 photos, around 50 hours and several audio files of footage of the attacks,” the report said.
The Israeli government and women’s right organisations have railed against the UN and international human rights organisations for their silence on the rape in the months after October 7.
The report issued by UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and her team is of immense importance. It substantiates with moral clarity and integrity the systematic, premeditated, and ongoing sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists against…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 5, 2024
Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz lashed out at UN chief Guterres’s “silence” following the publication of the report: “It’s time for action, Antonio Guterres. Hamas must be globally recognised as a terrorist entity, its supporting nations labeled as terrorism sponsors.”
Katz also recalled Israel’s ambassador to UN, Gilad Erdan, to Jerusalem, as a response to Guerres “acting to soften the serious report that he himself ordered on the sexual offenses of Hamas, trying to keep Hamas from being held responsible and not ordering that the Security Council be immediately convened to discuss the report and recognise Hamas as a terror group, with all the sanctions entailed, while calling for an unconditional release of all hostages.”
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