War in the Middle East
UN: Rape in Hamas terror credible
Israeli soldiers stand near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. photo
© Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/dpa
Israel accuses the UN of wanting to sweep Hamas’ sexual violence under the carpet. The dispute continues, as does the war. It is unclear whether there will be a ceasefire. The news at a glance.
Five months after the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas and other extremists from the Gaza Strip in Israel A United Nations report found allegations of sexual violence during the massacre to be credible.
There is “reasonable reason to believe” that rapes and gang rapes occurred in at least three locations, said the paper, published in New York. There is also convincing information that sexualized violence has also been perpetrated against kidnapped hostages and that this could currently continue in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused the UN of wanting to “sweep Hamas’ crimes “under the carpet.” A UN spokesman rejected this. The Israeli army is now seeing clear signs that the terrorists also kidnapped women as “slaves” during their attack.
UN paper: Ex-prisoners report abuse by Israel
In a previously unpublished report by the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, former prisoners accuse Israel of ill-treatment in prisons. Hundreds of released people had reported “systematic humiliation” to UNRWA, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the evening before in New York. According to the New York Times, it is about abuses that Gaza residents of “all ages” were subjected to in detention centers in Israel. The abuse served to “extort information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate and to punish.”
Israeli Minister Gantz holds talks in Washington
Meanwhile, US Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her “deep concern” about humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip during a meeting with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz in Washington. She also spoke about the urgency of a hostage agreement and welcomed Israel’s “constructive approach” in the negotiations, the White House said afterwards. Harris called on Hamas to accept these conditions. The USA, with Egypt and Qatar as mediators, is working hard to achieve a temporary ceasefire and the release of the hostages. So far there has been no breakthrough in the indirect negotiations.
Gantz, who is a member of Israel’s war cabinet, and Harris also discussed the situation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, which is overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. They discussed the need for a viable plan to protect civilians before considering a major military operation in Rafah. In Rafah on the border with Egypt, around 1.5 million people currently live in a very small space. Israel is planning a ground offensive in the area. In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the US government has been toughening its tone towards the Israeli government for weeks – and is calling on Israel to allow significantly more aid into the coastal area and to open new border crossings.
UN: Aid deliveries from the air are not enough
After the launch of American air aid deliveries, the United Nations described the amount of humanitarian goods delivered as insufficient. Every delivery helps, said spokesman Stephane Dujarric in New York. “But it doesn’t match the size or scope of what we need.” Relief deliveries by truck overland are necessary. In view of the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, the USA began supplying the civilian population there with relief supplies from the air at the weekend – other countries are also dropping humanitarian aid there from planes.
UN report: Victim killed after rape
The war was triggered by the massacre by Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7th, in which around 1,200 people were killed and around 250 hostages were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. Israel had long accused the United Nations of failing to respond adequately to the horrific crimes. In the report prepared by the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, after a visit to Israel, the world body now concludes that in most incidents on the day of the massacre, victims of rape were subsequently killed. The report also listed cases of sexual abuse of women’s corpses, it said. The UN agency did not have the mandate to name culprits for the report. A “comprehensive investigation” was needed, it said.
Viewed more than 5,000 photos and 50 hours of video
Patten’s team’s investigation took place from late January to mid-February. There were dozens of meetings with representatives of Israeli authorities and organizations, and more than 5,000 photos and 50 hours of video were viewed. The United Nations conducted 34 interviews with witnesses. However, the team did not speak to surviving victims. On the one hand, the reason is their ongoing trauma. Added to this is the victims’ “lack of trust” in international organizations such as the UN, it was said.
Israel’s army: terrorists kidnapped women as “slaves”
Israel’s military has now released audio recordings that are intended to prove that women were also abducted as “slaves” during the attack on Israel. The voices of men can be heard in the recordings, which are said to be from the day of the invasion. According to Israeli reports, these were also employees of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA. For example, the teacher at a UNRWA school is said to have said that he had captured a “slave,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. The authenticity of the recordings could not initially be independently verified. A reaction from UNWRA to the allegations was initially pending.
This will be important today
Israeli War Cabinet Minister Gantz continues his talks in Washington at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Meanwhile, the war rages on. It remains uncertain whether, as hoped, an agreement on a temporary ceasefire will be reached before the fasting month of Ramadan, which is holy for Muslims and begins around March 10th.