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UN Mission Says It Has 'Clear and Convincing' Information That Hamas Sexually Violated Women

By Margaret Besheer March 04, 2024

A U.N. mission that visited Israel to look into reports that Hamas raped and sexually abused women during the October 7 terror attacks said Monday that it had received "clear and convincing information" that such violence occurred and could be continuing in captivity.

"We found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, has been committed against captives," Pramila Patten, special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, told reporters.

"We also have reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing against those being held in captivity," she added.

The team of nine technical experts visited Israel from January 29 to February 14. They met with an array of officials at relevant Israeli ministries, the National Center of Forensic Medicine and a military base. They also went to four locations where sexual violence was reported on October 7, including the site of the Nova music festival, where many young people were killed or abducted.

Additionally, the experts reviewed more than 5,000 photographic images and about 50 hours of footage of the attacks, much of it from Hamas members' GoPro cameras. However, Patten said they did not meet with any of the survivors of sexual violence, despite their efforts.

"On the very first day, I made a call for survivors to come forward, but we received information that a handful of them were receiving very specialized trauma treatment and were not prepared to come forward," she said.

Patten said the team received full cooperation from the government of Israel and found the information presented to them to be "authentic and unmanipulated."

'Authentic' information

The mission, which was not intended as an investigation to collect evidence, was there to "gather, analyze and verify allegations of conflict-related sexual violence" during October 7 and its aftermath.

The U.N. team said it could not verify some reports of rape and sexual abuse, including a widely reported case of a pregnant woman living on Kibbutz Be'eri, whose womb was allegedly torn open and her fetus stabbed before they both died.

At the Nahal Oz military base, the U.N. experts said they could not verify a reported case of rape, nor did they find a clear pattern of genital mutilation in either female or male soldiers — although forensic analysis revealed injuries to multiple body parts.

Israel immediately took issue with the report, criticizing the U.N. hours before it was officially released.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on the social media platform X that he has recalled his U.N. ambassador to Israel for consultations, accusing the United Nations of attempting "to silence" Patten's report.