UN finds information of sexual violence against Israelis
AUN team says there is “convincing information” that hostages held in Gaza have been subjected to sexual violence including rape and sexualised torture.
There were grounds to suspect the abuse was still ongoing, the UN said.
The UN team also found “reasonable grounds to believe” sexual violence, including gang rape, took place when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
Israel’s foreign ministry said it welcomed the “definitive recognition that Hamas committed sexual crimes”.
The UN Security Council should now designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation and impose international sanctions on it, spokesman Lior Haiat said.
Hamas has denied its gunmen sexually assaulted women during the attacks. In the report, the UN said it had “found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, includi ng rape, sexualised torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment has been committed against hostages”.
It also said it “has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing against those still held in captivity”.
Hamas gunmen infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage.
The UN report said “the mission team found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict- related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations during the October 7 attacks”.
These happened in at least three locations, the Nova music festival site and its surroundings, Road 232, and Kibbutz Re’im, it added.
Reports of sexual violence carried out by Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others, began to emerge soon after 7 October and have accumulated steadily ever since.
The BBC has also seen and heard evidence of rape, sexual violence and mutilation of women.
The UN team visited Israel between January 29 and February 14.
The mission, led by Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten along with nine experts, was not investigative in nature, but designed to gather and verify allegations, the UN said.