UN finds ‘convincing information’ Hamas raped and tortured Israeli hostages

A UN team has said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas raped and tortured women during its 7 October attack on Israel, and that hostages were subjected to the same violence.

Pramila Patten, the UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict said “there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations.”

There are also “reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing,” she said.

Based on first-hand accounts of released hostages, she said the team “found clear and convincing information” that some women and children during their captivity were subjected to the same conflict-related sexual violence including rape and “sexualised torture.”

Patten visited Israel and the West Bank from 29 January to 14 February with a nine-member technical team.

The report comes nearly five months after the attacks, which left about 1,200 people dead and some 250 others taken hostage. Israel’s war against Hamas has since laid waste to the Gaza Strip, killing more than 30,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The UN says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million people face starvation.

Hamas has rejected earlier allegations that its fighters committed sexual assault.

At a press conference launching the report on Monday, Patten said the team’s visit was not to investigate allegations of sexual violence but to gather, analyse and verify information for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual report on sexual violence in conflict and for the UN Security Council.

Her 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 concerted efforts to encourage them to come forward.”

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 held 33 meetings with Israeli institutions and conducted interviews with 34 people including survivors and witnesses of the October attacks, released hostages, health providers and others.

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 gang rape and then killed or killed while being raped.”

She stressed that “the true prevalence of sexual violence during the attacks and their aftermath may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known.”

Separately the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel after 7 October attacks have reported a broad range of ill-treatment from having pictures taken of them naked to being threatened with electrocution.

Phillipe Lazzarini told a news conference his agency, known as UNRWA, had put together an unpublished internal report based on information from detainees returning to Gaza “completely traumatized by the ordeal.”

Additional reporting by the Associated Press