UN Women, the United Nations agency “dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women,” finally condemned violence and sexual assaults against Israeli women during the October 7 terror attacks — eight weeks after the attacks happened.
We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October.
— UN Women (@UN_Women) December 2, 2023
We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks.
The statement begins by regretting the resumption of the war in Gaza — taking a swipe at Israel before condemning Hamas (which broke the truce).
The full text of the statement is as follows:
We deeply regret that military operations have resumed in Gaza, and we reiterate that all women, Israeli women, Palestinian women, as all others, are entitled to a life lived in safety and free from violence.
We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October. We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks. This is why we have called for all accounts of gender-based violence to be duly investigated and prosecuted, with the rights of the victim at the core.
In all conflicts, UN women fully supports rigorous investigations and Commissions of Inquiry where they exist. We are actively supporting the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which began its investigation into sexual violence very shortly after the attacks occurred. We welcome that the Commission has opened its call for submissions on gender-based crimes since 7 October.
We also welcome that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten has activated the UN Action network, of which we are a member, to proactively share UN-sourced and verified information on incidents, patterns, and trends of conflict-related sexual violence to aid all investigations.
We continue to call for accountability for all acts of gender-based violence committed on and after 7 October, the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages, and a humanitarian ceasefire.
For the sake of everyone in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and especially women and children, we call for a return to a path of peace, a respect for international humanitarian and international human rights law, and an end to the suffering of people in Gaza and in Israel, and those families still waiting for their loved ones to return.
As Breitbart News has reported, the far-left has tried to deny that Israeli women were sexually assaulted and raped on October 7. There are several eyewitnesses to rape; videos and photographs suggesting the aftermath of sexual assault; and reports of injuries found on dead bodies consistent with extreme sexual violence.
The task of collecting evidence has been complicated by the fact that Hamas killed its victims, and by the fact that Israel was unable to collect DNA evidence during the battles of October 7 and 8.
UN Women has faced criticism and protests around the world for the past eight weeks, as an organization that is normally active and assertive on women’s issues struggled to say anything when Palestinian terrorists were perpetrators and Israelis were victims.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
