The UN has found “reasonable grounds” to conclude that Hamas committed sexual violence during its Oct. 7 assault on Israel, and said there are indications such violence continues to be carried out against those being held hostage by the group.
A UN team that investigated the allegations against Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and the EU, received what it called “clear and convincing information” that women and children held in captivity were subjected to rape, torture and inhumane treatment.
The team reviewed more than 5,000 photos and 50 hours of footage of the attacks, as well as conducting interviews with dozens of Israeli officials.
Photo: Reuters
It said the true prevalence of sexual violence during the attack and afterward “may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known.”
“Across the various locations of the 7 October attacks, the mission team found that several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered — mostly women — with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head,” said the report on Monday led by Pramila Patten, the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict. “Although circumstantial, such a pattern of undressing and restraining of victims may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.”
Regarding hostages, the mission team said it “found clear and convincing information that some have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence including rape and sexualized torture. It also has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.”
Responding to the report, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz recalled his country’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, for consultations on why the findings did not immediately result in UN Security Council action.
“Despite the authority granted to him, the UN Secretary General did not order the convening of the Security Council in view of the findings, in order to declare the Hamas organization a terrorist organization and impose sanctions on its supporters,” Katz said on social media platform X.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of some of the hostages have bogged down, putting a damper on hopes for an imminent deal.
The war erupted when Hamas, which is backed by Iran, rampaged through southern Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people and capturing 250. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground assault, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Patten and her team of technical experts visited Israel and the West Bank for two weeks starting on Jan. 29. The UN mission did not request to visit the Gaza Strip, where several other UN entities operate, but did receive information alleging forms of sexual violence against Palestinians by Israel “in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints,” the report said.
It said it has not verified those claims.
A separate report by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel last month found that the sexual violence committed by Hamas was systematic and deliberate, and not a “malfunction” or an isolated incident.
Hamas’ practices were “designed to destroy and inflict sadistic terror,” author Carmit Klar-Chalamish wrote in the report. “The manner in which these assaults were carried out aimed to reinforce their impact on the victims and their communities.”
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long
RSS