There are “reasonable grounds to believe” that victims of the October 7 Hamas attack were raped, as were some hostages held in Gaza, according to a UN report released Monday, March 4, which cannot specify the number of these sexual violences.
While the United Nations has been criticized for reacting too slowly to the rapes and sexual violence that Israel accuses Hamas of committing on October 7, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, accompanied by experts, visited Israel and the West Bank for two and a half weeks at the beginning of February.
Based on information gathered “from multiple and independent sources, there is good reason to believe that conflict-related sexual violence took place during the October 7 attack in several locations on the outskirts of Gaza, including including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations,” including the Nova festival site, the report details.
Despite calls for victims of sexual violence to come forward and testify, none of them came forward. Mission members were able to speak with survivors and witnesses of the October 7 attacks and members of the health services, and viewed 5,000 photos and fifty hours of footage from the attacks.
They were, however, able to speak with some of the released hostages, and gather “clear and convincing information that some had suffered various forms of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and sexualized torture, as well as sexualized cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. ", Pramila Patten said at a press conference. “We have good reason to believe that such violence is still occurring,” she added. The mission, given its short duration, was not able to establish the “prevalence” of sexual violence during the October 7 attacks.
Israel recalls its ambassador to the UN
Around 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza during Hamas's unprecedented Oct. 7 attack in Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally conducted based on official Israeli data. According to Israeli authorities, 130 hostages are still in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to be dead. Around 100 others were released along with 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a truce in November.
Just before the publication of the report, which was announced for this Monday, the Israeli foreign minister, accusing the UN of wanting to "ignore the serious report", announced the recall of its ambassador to the UN for consultations.
In this context, the report calls on the Israeli authorities to "allow access" to a mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian Territories, to conduct “full-fledged investigations into all accusations of violations, and supplement and deepen” the results of this mission by Pramila Patten.
Among the difficulties encountered, the report mentions in particular the "lack of confidence of the survivors of the October 7 attacks and the families of the hostages in national and international institutions, including the UN", as well as "the absence of forensic evidence exhaustive”.
“The true prevalence of sexual violence during the October 7 attacks (…) may take months or even years to emerge, and may never be truly known,” the report concludes.
