UN report accuses Israel of sexual violence against Palestinians.
Netanyahu claims anti-Israel bias
[March 14, 2025]
By JAMEY KEATEN
GENEVA (AP) — United Nations-backed human rights experts on Thursday
accused Israel of “the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other
gender-based violence” in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The allegations came in one of the most extensive reports of its kind on
the issue since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel ignited
the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights
Council, a U.N.-backed body that commissioned the team of independent
experts, as an “anti-Israel circus” that “has long been exposed as an
antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.” His
statement did not address the findings themselves.
The findings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, which seeks to document in minute detail the allegations and
evidence of crimes to bolster accountability for perpetrators, could be
used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other
jurisdictions to try to bring justice to victims and their relatives.
In its report released Thursday, the commission examined the widespread
destruction of Gaza, the use of heavy explosives in civilian areas and
Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities. It said all three
led to “disproportionate violence against women and children.”
The commission documented a range of violations perpetrated against
Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security
forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. Israel
denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when
there are violations.
“Our report finds that Israel has increasingly employed sexual,
reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence against
Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to
self-determination," Chris Sidoti, a member of the commission, told
reporters in Geneva.
Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the allegations and accused the
commission of relying on “second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources.”
Since the commission was set up in 2021 — long before the Oct. 7 attacks
in Israel — Israel has refused to cooperate with it, accusing the
investigative team and the council of bias.
Commission member Sidoti said the report "also concludes that Israel has
carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual
and reproductive health care facilities.”
The commission stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, as some
advocacy groups and other rights experts have. Israel, which was
established in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust and is home to many
survivors and their families, has vigorously denied such allegations.
[to top of second column]
|
Chris Sidoti, Member of the Commission, speaks during a press
conference about the launch of the latest report of the Independent
International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, at the European
headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland,
Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
Israel says it took extraordinary measures to avoid harming
civilians in the 15-month war, which has been paused by a fragile
ceasefire. It blames civilian deaths and destruction on Hamas
because the militants operate in residential areas. Israeli forces
carried out a number of raids on hospitals, accusing Hamas of using
them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health
officials.
Pointing to the report, a Hamas statement urged international courts
to prosecute Israel’s leaders.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for
Netanyahu and his former defense minister, accusing them of war
crimes, which they deny. The court also issued a warrant in November
for Hamas’ military leader, but the militants have since confirmed
that he was killed.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on
Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and
taking 251 hostages.
Israeli authorities, citing eyewitness accounts and other evidence,
have accused Hamas-led militants of widespread rape and sexual
violence. Israeli experts who have treated former hostages say some
were subjected to physical and sexual abuse in captivity.
A U.N. envoy last year reported “reasonable grounds” to believe such
allegations.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians,
mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry,
which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the commission held public hearings with
victims, lawyers, advocacy groups and others whose accounts were
included in the report.
The commission was not considering allegations of sexual,
gender-based and other violence committed against Israelis during
the Oct. 7 attack or against hostages in Gaza, but reported on the
issue last year.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
