TEL AVIV — In a recent report, the UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict stated that there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe that Hamas committed rape, 'sexualized torture,' and other cruel treatments of women during the October 7 attack on Israel.
She added, 'There are also reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing,' said Pramila Patten, who visited Israel and the West Bank from January 29 to February 14 with a nine-member technical team.
Citing firsthand accounts of released hostages, the report comes nearly six months after the October 7 attack and Israel’s retaliation on Gaza, which has left over 100,000 Palestinians reported killed, missing, or injured.
Hamas has rejected earlier allegations that its fighters committed sexual assault. Patten stressed at a press conference launching the report that the team’s visit was not to investigate allegations of sexual violence but to gather, analyze, and verify information for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual report on sexual violence in conflict and for the UN Security Council.
On Tuesday, Hamas released the statement that it strongly rejects and condemns the report issued by UN official Patten regarding the false allegations of 'rape and sexual violence' committed by Palestinian resistance fighters during the events of October 7.
The statement added that this comes after failed attempts by the occupation to prove such baseless accusations, which have been confirmed to be unfounded. These accusations are aimed solely at demonizing the Palestinian resistance and covering up the conclusive evidence documented by UN rapporteurs of appalling human rights violations suffered by Palestinian women and girls at the hands of occupation forces.
It noted that despite Patten's false and baseless accusations against Palestinian fighters, her report fails to document any testimony from what she calls victims of these incidents. Instead, she relied on 'Israeli' institutions, soldiers, and witnesses selected by the occupation authorities to push toward proving these false charges. However, all of these allegations have been debunked by all international investigations and reports.
It continues by emphasizing that these allegations contradict the testimonies of 'Israeli' women about the good treatment they received from the resistance fighters, as well as the testimonies of 'Israeli' female prisoners released, who confirmed the good treatment they received during their captivity in Gaza.
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