The UN Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict found evidence of rapes, sexual violence and necrophilia in Israel during a visit.

Pramila Patten led a mission team on a trip to Israel, which found substantial evidence that Hamas terrorists sexually abused, raped, and assaulted victims of the October 7 attacks, including hostages, survivors, and those who were taken as prisoners. It is the first time that an international organization has confirmed Israel’s claims since October 7.

Patten called on Hamas, therefore, to “immediately, unconditionally, and protect all those held in captivity, including sexual violence.”

The team traveled and researched with Israel’s full co-operation and found “clear, convincing evidence that sexual violence including rape and sexualized torture as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments have been committed against the hostages.”

The team has “reasonable reasons to believe” that violence is still being perpetrated against those who are still in captivity. Patten’s group, which visited during the first two weeks in February, consisted of “nine United Nations experts, including… specialists in safe and ethical interviews of survivors/victims of sexual violence crimes and witnesses; a forensicpathologist; and a computer and open-source data analyst.”

The team found that “there are reasonable grounds for believing that conflict-related violence against women occurred at multiple locations during 7 October attacks. This includes rape and gang rapes in at least 3 locations: the Nova Music Festival site and its surrounding areas, Road 232 and Kibbutz Re’im.”

The report summarized the evidence so far on sexual violence in Israel. It was released by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel two weeks earlier.

The investigation revealed patterns of sexual violence

The investigators found “a pattern” which may be indicative of “some forms of… sexualized torturing, cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment”, in which “victims – mostly women – [were] found naked or partially, bound and shot in multiple locations.”

The findings are based upon a variety of evidence including 50 hours footage, 5,000 photos, and 34 interviews conducted by independent sources. The report claimed that two allegations of sexual assaults in Kibbutz be’eri were “unfounded,” including one that revealed that the womb of a pregnant woman was ripped open and she was murdered.

The mission team could not discern a pattern in genital mutilation.

The report concluded that “Overall, mission team members are of the opinion that it may take several months or even years for the true prevalence of sexual assault during the 7th October attacks and its aftermath to be revealed and fully understood.”

They suggested that Israel allow the UN OHCHR office and the International Commission of Inquiry to “occupied Palestinian territories” conduct investigations. Patten recommended to the Israeli government that they “consider signing an agreement with my office for strengthening capacity in justice and accountability related to conflict-related sexual assault, as well as security sector engagement and training to prevent and address the sexual violence”, during a conference of press following the release of the Report.

The UN Secretary-General did not convene the Security Council in light of these findings to declare Hamas as a terrorist group and impose sanctions against its supporters, despite the authority he was granted.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz

Patten was confronted with multiple doubts from the media during that press conference. One reporter from the Arabic Daily asked Patten if she had seen “how well hostages were being treated”, reminding her of how some “held bottles in their hand” after their release as a demonstration of their treatment.

The same reporter said later, “This report only validates the Israeli narrative.” “Can you comment on the fact that a woman was raped, and she bit her rapist’s finger? He asked “How can you stand by the rapist?” Comparing Hamas rapists with victims of rape.

A PassBlue correspondent also asked how much one could believe the information collected for the report, “if it’s just evidence collection.”