Israel announced, this Monday, March 4, the recall of its ambassador to the UN for consultations, accusing the United Nations of passivity towards Hamas just before the publication of a report on sexual violence committed by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7.
“I have ordered our Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, to return to Israel for immediate consultations following the attempt to silence the serious UN report on the mass rapes committed by Hamas and its allies on October 7,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a message published on.
There are “good reasons to believe” that sexual violence, including rape, was committed during the unprecedented attacks by Hamas on October 7, according to the UN report published on Monday which cannot specify their number. Concerning the hostages, the mission led by the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict Pramila Patten gathered “clear and convincing information” according to which some were raped, and “there are good reasons to believe that such violence is still ongoing.”
In February, a report from the Association of Rape Support Centers in Israel (ARCCI), which oversees centers combating sexual violence in the country, described these abuses as an integral part of the attacks on 7 october. In this regard, he highlighted the “similarities” in all the attacks – against the Nova music festival, kibbutzim, military bases and on the people who were taken hostage.