New York: A team of United Nations experts on Monday said that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Palestinian-based militant group Hamas committed sexual violence, including rape and gangrape, at several locations during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The team led by the UN special envoy for sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, visited Israel between January 29 and February  14 to analyse and verify information on 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,” read the 24-page UN report. Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and captured 253 hostages, has repeatedly rejected accusations of sexual violence. 

Israel’s retaliation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has since killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say. The UN team said they found “clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence” and that “such violence may be ongoing”.

What did the UN say?

Patten’s key recommendation is to encourage Israel to grant access to the UN human rights chief and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian territories and Israel “to carry out full-fledged investigations into the alleged violations”. She said the team was not able to meet with any victims of sexual violence despite best efforts.

While the number of victims remains unknown, she said, “a small number of those who are undergoing treatment are reportedly experiencing severe mental distress and trauma”. Her team members had 33 meetings with Israeli institutions and conducted interviews with 34 people including survivors and witnesses of the October 7 attacks.

Across various locations, she said, the 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”. While this is circumstantial, she said the pattern of undressing and restraining victims “may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.”

At the Nova music festival and its surroundings, Patten said, “There are reasonable grounds to believe that multiple incidents of sexual violence took place with victims being subjected to rape and/or gangrape and then killed or killed while being raped”. However, at Kibbutz Be’eri, Patten’s team determined that two allegations of sexual violence widely repeated in the media were unfounded, including an allegation that a pregnant woman’s womb was ripped open before being killed.

Patten said further investigation is needed of allegations, including of bodies found naked and in one case gagged, at kibbutz Be’eri to determine if sexual violence occurred. She asserted that “the true prevalence of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attacks and their aftermath may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known.”

Sexual violence against Palestinians

The UN team said it also received information from institutional and civil society sources and direct interviews, about “sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints” after October 7. The detention centers were in Israel.

Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Monday said hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel after the October 7 attacks have reported a broad range of ill-treatment from having pictures taken of them naked to being threatened with electrocution. He said some had been detained for a couple of weeks, some for several months.

The UN team said it raised the allegations with the Israeli Ministry of Justice and Military Advocate General, which said no complaints of sexual violence against members of the Israeli Defense Forces had been received. Israel has been critical of the UN response to the October 7 attacks. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said late last year that sexual violence committed on Oct. 7 “must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted,” stressing that “gender-based violence must be condemned” everywhere. “The UN claims to care about women, yet as we speak right now Israeli women are being raped and abused by Hamas terrorists. Where is the UN’s voice? Where is your voice?” Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the 193-member UN General Assembly earlier on Monday.

(with inputs from agencies)

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