Reports of sexual violence by Hamas are broadcast amid criticism of the UN
A woman’s body had “nails and various objects in her female organs.” In another home, a person’s genitals were so mutilated that “we couldn’t identify whether it was a man or a woman.”
Simcha Greinman, a volunteer who helped collect the remains of victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, took long pauses as he delivered the words Monday at an event at the United Nations.
“Horrible things I have seen with my own eyes,” he said, “and felt with my own hands.”
Shari Mendes, a member of an Israeli military reserve unit tasked with preparing the bodies of fallen female soldiers for burial, said her team saw several killed on Oct. 7 “who were in the crotch, the private parts , had been shot in the vagina or in the chest.” Others had mutilated faces or multiple gunshots to the head.
Since the October 7 attack, which killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped some 240, Israeli officials have accused the terrorists of committing widespread sexual violence – rape and sexual mutilation – especially against women.
Yet these atrocities have received little attention from human rights organizations or the news media amid the larger war between Israel and Hamas — and until a few days ago they were not specifically mentioned or condemned by UN Women, the United Nations women’s organization. rights agency, which has regularly spoken out about the plight of Palestinian women and girls.
Israelis and many Jews around the world say they feel abandoned by an international social justice community — women’s groups, human rights groups, liberal celebrities, among others — whose causes they have supported in crises around the world.
On Monday, some 800 people, including women’s activists and diplomats representing about 40 countries, gathered in a room at the UN headquarters in New York for a presentation outlining the evidence of widespread sexual violence, with testimony from witnesses including Ms. Mendes and Mr. Greinman.
“Silence is complicity,” Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s former director, told those in attendance. She, along with Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, were among the main organizers of the event. “On October 7, Hamas brutally murdered 1,200 souls and in some cases raped their victims first,” Ms. Sandberg added. “We know this from eyewitnesses, we know this from paramedics, we would know this from some victims if more had been allowed to live.”
Hamas has denied that its fighters have committed sexual crimes, which they say violate Islamic principles.
But ample evidence has been collected, such as the bodies of women found partially or completely naked, women with broken pelvic bones, the accounts of medical examiners and first responders, videos taken by Hamas fighters themselves, and even some first-hand witnesses, like a woman. , in a video made public last month by police officials, who said she watched Hamas terrorists take turns raping a young woman they captured at a music festival, mutilating her and then shooting her in the head.
Meni Binyamin, the head of the Israeli police’s International Crime Investigations Unit, said in an interview that on October 7 she had documented “violent rape incidents, the most extreme sexual abuses we have seen” against women and some men. “I’m talking dozens.”
Israeli officials have not estimated how many women were sexually abused or mutilated. They say overwhelmed forensic scientists initially had to focus on identifying bodies, rather than collecting ephemeral rape evidence. Few victims or eyewitnesses survived, and fewer have spoken publicly.
At the United Nations on Monday, Israel Police Chief Inspector Yael Richert presented video of witness interviews, including with a paramedic saying: “There was shooting at genitals, we have seen that many times.”
Outside, hundreds of protesters accused the United Nations of a double standard when it comes to sexual violence; Some chanted, “Me too, unless you’re a Jew.”
The United Nations, and UN women in particular, have become a primary focus – though certainly not the only one – of increasing anger over their silence. Secretary General António Guterres immediately condemned the Hamas massacre, but it was not until late November that he issued a statement saying that the related sex crimes specifically “must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted.”
Dr. Cochav Elkayam Levy, an Israeli law professor and founder of a commission on crimes against women and children on October 7, said she sent a letter to UN Women on November 1, signed by dozens of scholars, calling for an “urgent and unequivocal condemnation of the massacre committed by Hamas,” including the use of rape as a tool of war. “They didn’t even respond,” she said.
Mr Erdan, the Israeli ambassador, said he had sent two letters about the use of rape by Hamas militants, accompanied by photographs of the victims’ bodies, to Sima Sami Bahous, the executive director of UN Women. “I didn’t get any response,” Mr. Erdan said, “not even: ‘We have received your letter.’”
On November 25, UN Women discussed the issue for the first time on social mediasaying it was “alarmed by reports of gender-based violence on October 7,” but the post did not mention Hamas.
In a statement on Monday, UN Women condemned “Hamas’ abhorrent attacks on Israel” and said it was “closely monitoring reports of brutal acts of gender-based violence against women in Israel since they first came to light.”
The agency added: “We believe a full investigation is essential so that perpetrators on all sides can be held accountable and justice can be served.”
Last week there was a bipartisan group of more than 80 members of Congress released a letter The agency’s response has been called “woefully unsatisfactory and consistent with the UN’s long-standing bias against Israel.”
Since the start of the war, UN Women has focused its advocacy on raising awareness and providing humanitarian assistance to girls and women in Gaza, and pushing for a ceasefire as Israeli airstrikes have caused thousands of Palestinian casualties.
Several supporters of Israel in Congress expressed outrage at the silence of international and domestic organizations.
“I’ve been fuming internally for about two months,” said Rep. Lois Frankel of California, who heads the Democratic Women Caucus. “There is anti-Semitism and there are people who are more interested in portraying the loss of life in Gaza than in highlighting the complete inhumanity, cruelty and brutality of Hamas.”
Ms. Frankel plans to introduce a House resolution later this week condemning the use of sexual violence in wars and has pushed for congressional hearings on the issue.
Senator Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, called out UN Women for its “failure to immediately and unequivocally stand up for Israeli women.” She said international organizations “including some far-left organizations have chosen to dismiss, downplay or outright deny the widespread use of sexual violence and rape by Hamas against Israeli women on October 7.”
On Monday at the United Nations, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, gave an emotional speech in which she spoke of “raw images” she had been shown that were “breathtaking in the sheer amount of evil they depict.”
“When I saw the list of women’s rights organizations that said nothing, I almost choked,” Ms. Gillibrand said. “Where is the solidarity for women in this country and in this world to stand up for our mothers, our sisters and our daughters?”
After the event, Ms. Sandberg stood in the UN Hall of Flags in front of the white-and-blue flag of Israel, and as she spoke of the devastating realization that most of the victims had been killed, her voice began to crack.
“I don’t know how to talk about this or not,” — she paused and took a deep breath before apologizing. She never finished her sentence.
Reporting was contributed by Jeffrey Gettleman, Adam Sella And Anat Schwartz.