A United Nations report found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Hamas committed sexual violence “in multiple locations” during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The report, released Monday, also found there is “clear and convincing information” that the hostages taken during the attack have been subjected to “various forms of conflict-related sexual violence” and that violence may still be ongoing for those in captivity.
The report is the result of a mission to Israel led by U.N. Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten, aimed at gathering, analyzing and verifying information on sexual violence during the Oct. 7 assault.
Over the span of two and a half weeks, the team met with Israeli officials and local authorities, visited the morgue, reviewed photo and video evidence of the attack, and conducted interviews with survivors of the attack and released hostages.
It concluded that “conflict-related sexual violence,” including rape and gang rape, occurred at minimum three locations across southern Israel: at the Nova music festival site and its surroundings, Road 232 (the road leaving the festival) and Kibbutz Re’im. The team also found “several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down”— this “pattern of undressing and restraining of victims may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.”
“Credible circumstantial information, which may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, was also gathered,” the authors added.
According to the report, there is also “clear and convincing information” that some hostages have been “subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence including rape and sexualized torture and sexualized cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” This violence “may be ongoing.”
Patten said the U.N. team faced some challenges during their mission, including the lack of access to survivors of sexual violence.
“While the mission team was able to meet with some released hostages as well as with some survivors and witnesses of the attacks, it did not meet with any survivor/victim of sexual violence from 7 October despite concerted efforts encouraging them to come forward,” the report said.
The team also visited occupied Palestinian territories, where it received information about “some forms of sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints.”
Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and captured some 240 hostages on Oct. 7. Since the attack, stories have continued to emerge of sexual assault and mutilation — accusations that Hamas has denied.
Israel retaliated with an aerial bombardment and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip which has so far killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to the coastal enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The post UN: ‘Reasonable grounds to believe’ Hamas committed sexual violence on Oct. 7 appeared first on Politico.