UN envoy is in Israel to probe sexual violence during Oct. 7 attack

The UN’s special representative on sexual violence has started a weeklong visit to Israel to look into reports of sexual assaults reportedly committed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack. Pramila Patten, the special representative of the UN secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, kicked off her visit on Monday by meeting with Israeli diplomats and Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, and his wife Michal. Patten encouraged victims to come forward to meet with her delegation. Israeli officials have said that Hamas terrorists brutalized women throughout their incursion into southern Israel and have complained that U.N. leaders and others have been slow to condemn sexual assaults. The U.N. visit comes after multiple reports reported allegations of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. In an article on Dec. 28, The New York Times documented a pattern of gender-based violence in the attack and identified at least seven locations where Israeli women and girls appeared to have been sexually assaulted or mutilated. “We really want to ensure that you have justice so that we put an end to this heinous act,” Patten said during the meeting, according to Herzog’s office. Reports have emerged that sexual assaults were part of the deadly rampage by militants from Hamas and other Gaza groups who killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 hostages from southern Israel. Jewish tradition calls for the dead to be buried as soon as possible, and in the chaos of the beginning of the war, few autopsies were conducted, so forensic evidence of rape has been difficult to collect. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned women’s rights organizations, including the United Nations, for not immediately condemning the reports of sexual assault. Patten is also set to meet with representatives from the Palestinian Authority, Israeli security forces, local organizations, witnesses, and released hostages during her visit. With inputs from AP.