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Israeli Hostages Were Raped, Subjected to Sexual Torture, UN Envoy Says
By: World Israel News Staff
Israeli hostages held captive by Gaza terrorists during and after the October 7th invasion were subjected to rape and sexualized torture, a United Nations envoy told the UN Security Council Monday, sharing findings from a recent report.
The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramilla Patten, addressed an emergency hearing of the Security Council called Monday by the delegations of Japan, France, Britain, and the U.S., following the filing of a report last week by Patten and her team.
In her 24-page report, summarizing her findings during an investigatory trip to Israel, Patten wrote that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Gaza terrorists used sexual violence against Israelis on October 7th.
Speaking at Monday’s hearing, Patten said that there was ample evidence that Israelis held hostage by Gaza terrorists were not only sexually assaulted and raped, but also tortured.
“What I witnessed in Israel were scenes of unspeakable violence perpetrated with shocking brutality resulting in intense human suffering,” Patten told the Security Council.
“I saw the pain in their eyes,” Patten continued. “It was a catalogue of the most extreme and inhumane forms of killing, torture and other horrors.”
“We found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, has been committed against hostages, and we have reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may still be ongoing against those in captivity.”
Patten and her team interviewed 34 people – including survivors of the October 7th attacks – during the fact-finding mission to Israel. The team visited the scenes of four massacres, and reviewed over 50 hours of footage and more than 5,000 photographs.
Russia’s representative, Maria Zabolotskaya, downplayed Patten’s report, noting that the UN team had not met with rape victims themselves.
“Only after a comprehensive and objective study of the situation in its entire geographical extent will it be possible to draw any conclusions,” Zabolotskaya said, adding that Russia rejected the “collective punishment” of Gazans which followed the massacre and rape of Israelis on October 7th.
“We consider it unacceptable that the suffering of people who have experienced sexual violence or accusations of this serious crime become a ‘bargaining chip’ in political games.”
Also, on Monday, World Israel News reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, along with 40 relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, traveled to the United Nations in New York to advocate on behalf of captives in Gaza and to demand action in response to Hamas’s sexual crimes.
The delegates attended the UN Security Council’s session on the findings of the investigation into the sexual atrocities Hamas committed on October 7th and afterward.
The session followed Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten’s 24-page report submitted to the UN last week.
Patten’s team visited the devastated kibbutzim targeted on October 7th, spoke with forensic experts about evidence of sexual crimes and mutilation of the bodies of the deceased, viewed footage of the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, and spoke with survivors and witnesses of the crimes.
Yarden Gonen, a delegate whose 23-year old sister Romi was abducted from the Nova festival said: “This session is critical and may have an effect that would finally prompt the UN to use its mandate and its forces for good. For the benefit of the hostages.” (worldisraelnews.com)
