Current:Home > ScamsU.N. says "reasonable grounds to believe" Hamas carried out sexual attacks on Oct. 7, and likely still is-InfoLens
U.N. says "reasonable grounds to believe" Hamas carried out sexual attacks on Oct. 7, and likely still is
View Date:2024-12-23 11:19:33
A United Nations report released Monday said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, occurred at several locations during Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel. The report by the U.N.'s special envoy on sexual violence Pramila Patten said there was also reason to believe sexual abuse of Israeli hostages still believed to be held in Gaza was "ongoing."
"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 24-page U.N. report said.
Hamas rejected the allegations in the new report, as it has done since claims of sexual violence first emerged soon after the Oct. 7 attack.
U.N. experts interviewed dozens of witnesses and reviewed thousands of photos and 50 hours of video created during the attack, but the team were unable to meet with any survivors of sexual violence.
The U.N. team also visited the Israeli-occupied West Bank to examine what they said were credible allegations of sexual assault of Palestinians in Israeli jails and detention centers. The report said the U.N. had raised the allegations with the Israeli Ministry of Justice and Military Advocate General, which said it had received no complaints of sexual violence by members of the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to the report by recalling the country's U.N. ambassador for consultations over what he said was the global body's attempt to "keep quiet" the news of the findings.
Katz criticized U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for not convening the Security Council to discuss the findings in order to declare Hamas a terrorist organization. The U.S. government, along with Israel's and most of Europe, have long classified Hamas as a terrorist organization, but it has not been designated as such by the Security Council.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres "fully supported" Patten's work in her visit to Israel, "to look into conflict related acts of sexual violence linked to the 7 October terror attacks. The work was done thoroughly and expeditiously."
"In no way, shape or form did the Secretary-General do anything to keep the report 'quiet.' In fact, the report is being presented publicly today," Dujarric said.
Guterres said late last year that reports of sexual violence committed on Oct. 7 "must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted," stressing that "gender-based violence must be condemned. Anytime. Anywhere."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the report was "of immense importance."
"It substantiates with moral clarity and integrity the systematic, premeditated, and ongoing sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women," he said in a statement.
Hamas, in its statement rejecting the report, accused Paten of relying on "Israeli institutions, soldiers and witnesses who were chosen by the occupation authorities, to push towards an attempt to prove this false accusation, which was refuted by all investigations."
"Ms. Patten's allegations clearly contradict what emerged from the testimonies of Israeli women about the good treatment of them by the resistance fighters, as well as the testimonies of released Israeli female prisoners and what they confirmed of the good treatment they received during their captivity in Gaza," the statement added.
In December, CBS News spoke with Rami Shmael, who produced the Supernova music festival at which some 260 people were massacred during Hamas' attack. Shmael returned to the festival site the following day and saw the gruesome aftermath.
"Outside two cars, there was also two young ladies, naked from the waist down," Shmael told CBS News. "One of the victims was gunshot down in the lower part of her body."
A supervisor with the Israeli search and recovery team in charge of collecting the bodies showed CBS News some of the injuries he saw and documented, including women whose bodies had lacerations, stabbings and gunshots to their genital areas.
CBS News correspondent Imtiaz Tyab contributed to this report.
- In:
- Rape
- Sexual Violence
- War
- Terrorism
- Hamas
- Israel
- Palestinians
- Gaza Strip
veryGood! (8)
Related
- 3 Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib win $42M judgement against defense contractor
- Sea turtle nests increased along a Florida beach but hurricanes washed many away
- Despite Climate Concerns, Young Voter Turnout Slumped and Its Support Split Between the Parties
- California air regulators to vote on contentious climate program to cut emissions
- 1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC
- Outer Banks Reveals Shocking Pregnancy in Season 4
- Don Johnson Reveals Daughter Dakota Johnson's Penis Drawing Prank
- Brianna LaPaglia says ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan offered her a $12M NDA after breakup
- Horoscopes Today, November 9, 2024
- The Colorado funeral home owners accused of letting 190 bodies decompose are set to plead guilty
Ranking
- Study finds Wisconsin voters approved a record number of school referenda
- Elwood Edwards, Voice of AOL’s “You’ve Got Mail” Message, Dead at 74
- Massive corruption scandal in Jackson, Miss.: Mayor, DA, councilman all indicted
- Boy, 13, in custody after trying to enter Wisconsin elementary school while armed, police say
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- Massive corruption scandal in Jackson, Miss.: Mayor, DA, councilman all indicted
- Martha Stewart’s Ex-Husband Andy Stewart Calls Out Her Claims in Sensationalized Documentary
- Golden State Warriors 'couldn't ask for anything more' with hot start to NBA season
Recommendation
-
What is ‘Doge’? Explaining the meme and cryptocurrency after Elon Musk's appointment to D.O.G.E.
-
New York, several other states won't accept bets on Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight
-
Minnesota man kills two women and two children at separate homes before killing himself, police say
-
The Daily Money: Want a refi? Act fast.
-
The Daily Money: Mattel's 'Wicked' mistake
-
New York, several other states won't accept bets on Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight
-
What does it mean to ‘crash out’? A look at the phrase and why it’s rising in popularity
-
Sister Wives' Meri Brown Jokes About Catfishing Scandal While Meeting Christine's Boyfriend