United Nations Confirms Evidence of Sexual Violence by Hamas

A United Nations investigation has found “clear and convincing information” suggesting Hamas committed rape and sexualized torture against hostages taken on October 7.

The Details: The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, conducted an investigation involving 33 meetings with Israeli national institutions and security forces, visiting locations linked to the attack, and reviewing photographic and video evidence. Interviews with survivors, witnesses, and first responders were also conducted. The specific nature of the sexual violence was not detailed in the report as a precaution to protect the identities of victims and survivors. The report suggested the sexual violence may be continuing against some of the estimated 100 remaining hostages.

For Context: Many had previously criticized the U.N. for its purported reluctance to condemn sexual violence by Hamas, particularly when compared with the international institution’s criticism of Israel’s actions. 

How The Media Covered It: Coverage was common across the spectrum, generally framing the alleged sexual violence negatively. On the right, articles generally labeled Hamas as “terrorists” but sometimes framed the story differently; while CBN (Right bias) said the U.N. recognized Hamas’ sexual violence for “the first time in nearly five months,” Washington Free Beacon (Right bias) said the U.N. simply “confirmed evidence” of the rapes. Meanwhile, NPR (Lean Left bias) noted “Israel has blocked” a “full-fledged” investigation, and Al Jazeera (Lean Left bias) highlighted that the “Palestinian group” had “repeatedly denied” the allegations. This summary was developed with the help of AllSides' AI technology.