The Israeli government insists that Hamas formally sanctioned sexual assault on October 7, 2023. But investigators say the evidence does not stand up to scrutiny. Catherine Philp and Gabrielle Weiniger report on eight months of claim and counter-claim
Talk of rape began circulating almost before the massacres themselves were over. Much of it came from what Patten would later call “non-professionals” who supplied “inaccurate and unreliable forensic interpretations” of what they found, creating an instant but flawed narrative about what had taken place.
Meanwhile, the political establishment has opened a fresh battle with the UN over what the Patten report didn’t say: that sexual violence was beyond reasonable doubt, systematic, widespread and ordered and perpetrated by Hamas. Israeli advocates for the female survivors are now warning that the country’s refusal to co-operate with a full and legal investigation, which the carefully worded report was not, threatens the prospect of ever finding out the full truth about the sexual violence of October 7 and delivering justice for its victims.
It was not a legal investigation, Patten explained, as Israel had not allowed one: that mandate could only be fulfilled by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which Israel has refused to work with since its inception. She hoped that would change.
Patten made it clear there was sufficient evidence of acts of sexual violence to merit full and proper investigation and expressed her shock at the brutality of the violence. The report also confirmed Israeli authorities were unable to provide much of the evidence that political leaders had insisted existed. In all the Hamas video footage Patten’s team had watched and all the photographs they had seen, there were no depictions of rape. We hired a leading Israeli dark-web researcher to look for evidence of those images, including footage deleted from public sources. None could be found.
Hello!
This article is a masterclass in slant. It’s not attempting to cast any doubt on whether the report shows evidence that Hamas was and still is doing a bunch of sexual assault (to which the answer is pretty clearly yes.) Instead, it does some extensive hand-wringing over related but debatable questions, so as to create out of thin air an aura of controversy and flawed reporting where none exists.
Instead of asking:
- Did Hamas rape anybody?
They ask:
- Did this investigation find evidence that Hamas formally sanctioned sexual assault by its troops? (which is a separate question from, did it happen, but even whether the official sanction happened at all is pretty irrelevant as compared with whether the rape happened)
- Was the investigation a legal investigation? Or just a team of experts gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses as they visited the sites where assaults were alleged to have taken place and then presenting their findings?
- Did anyone find videos of Hamas raping people on the dark web?
It’s a bunch of crap. The UN’s press release summarizes the report that this article concerns pretty comprehensively, although the full report is also very accessible if you want to see some details or skip to some particular section of their conclusions and see exactly what they were and how they conducted their investigation and what they did and didn’t find.
From the report:
“Based on the information gathered by the mission team from multiple and independent sources, there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations.”
“With respect to hostages, the mission team found clear and convincing information that some have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence including rape and sexualized torture and sexualized cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and it also has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.”
That’s the important part. Creating an artificial debate couched in slanted language over, was this a legal investigation or some other type of investigation, or were we able to find a Hamas fighter who was willing to confirm to a UN investigative team that his commander said it was okay if he did some raping, is a bunch of crap.
(That’s separate from the issue of this person I’ve never heard of, saying that making false claims of rape would cause the Israeli government to work harder to release the hostages. That doesn’t make a ton of sense to me and the rest of the article is so explicitly propagandist that I’m highly skeptical.)
Hey @Linkerbaan@lemmy.world - I asked you for some details on your argument that Hamas couldn’t have been raping anybody because that one released hostage didn’t look pregnant. Do you want to restart that conversation?
I’m also happy to cite the evidence for anything I’m saying here or anything you want to ask about; I got tired of doing it after the first three times, the last time you posted basically this same article, but this is a whole new thread, so if you want to try just claiming confidently again that some particular things aren’t in the report, I’m happy to show you where they are in the report.
I get what you’re saying but I’m pretty sure it matters in international law for additional charges against Hamas leadership. There’s, tragically, sexual violence in basically every conflict, and individuals who do it have committed a crime for sure. But proving it’s systematic and used as a tactic would make higher ups in Hamas guilty of (even more) war crimes.
So, it is important for prosecuting Hamas leadership that there be a proper, legal investigation and that it be proven to be either knowingly allowed or (even worse) ordered as a tactic.
Obviously, Hamas and Israel have both committed enough war crimes already that the senior leadership will likely be found guilty of something at The Hague (if ever arrested). But properly accounting for all of the war crimes is important for both justice and history.
I mean, sure. Modern international law defines it as a war crime if you’re not preventing your troops from raping as any kind of common occurrence, which is obviously how it should be defined, but is actually pretty recent that it works that way.
But yes I agree, we could probably charge the commanders with more if we could prove that they were explicitly approving of it. Honestly, thinking of taking half the Israeli cabinet and all of the Hamas leadership to the Hague just makes me sad because of how unlikely it is to happen. But yes that would be a great if that could happen and is obviously the right answer if you look at what either of them have done (and are still doing.)
My point was, it’s not like the lack of proof that it was approved by the leadership makes it this kind of “gotcha” like OP’s article makes it out to be, by cleverly adjusting the language to slip phrases like “does not stand up to scrutiny” in there without technically lying and trying to say that Hamas didn’t rape lots and lots and lots of people. That’s why I say it’s a skillfully deceptive article; it’s honestly pretty impressive how it’s put together, in a sick sort of rape-apologist type of way.
Once again do explain why israel is blocking the UN investigation? Surely if it would reflect negatively upon Hamas israel would cooperate with it.
Israel hosted the UN investigation, both presenting to them their evidence and letting them travel around in Israel to the impacted areas, and letting them go around on their own including visiting the West Bank and meeting with Palestinian representatives.
They did make some effort, apparently, to dictate what the parameters of the investigation and report needed to be, which the report authors rejected which made the Israelis mad. Then they did the investigation and wrote their report anyway.
I honestly don’t know what you mean by “blocking the UN investigation,” but I suspect that it has to do with the Israeli government’s non-cooperation with the investigative team at times, and rejection of a more thorough investigation, which I suspect was caused by them wanting to be able to lie without anyone investigating their lies. To me, that’s a positive thing about the report and investigation, not a negative thing. If it’s attempting to be objective in a way which angers Israel, including debunking some Israeli lies, then good.
Israel did not host a UN investigation. The Patten visit was not UN mandated. She was invited by israel for a propaganda tour nothing more.
Dude I don’t want to just feed into the Gish Gallop indefinitely 🥲
I am curious, what exactly do you mean by Israel blocking the UN investigation? I know what the report says in section II(A) which sort of matches that description; I know they gave some resistance to the idea of investigating, but I am curious exactly what behavior you’re talking about, so I can deal with what you’re claiming a little more directly if I feel like investing the time into it.
Then read the post you are in before jumping to defend israel. Why is israel blocking the UN investigation?
I am unsure why you keep pushing this myth that the Patten report counts as evidence. It does not. Patten herself says it does not count as legal evidence. This post makes it very clear that the Patten report does not qualify as evidence
You have dodged every question the last time around and you keep dodging the question. You want to quote the parts of the report you like and ignore the parts of the report that debunk the entire report.
I just all of a sudden remembered why I had stopped talking with you about this. 🥲
Patten herself says it does not count as legal evidence. This post makes it very clear that the Patten report does not qualify as evidence
Like I said before, “Creating an artificial debate couched in slanted language over, was this a legal investigation or some other type of investigation” etc etc
You have dodged every question the last time around and you keep dodging the question.
Hey fun! I have some questions which you didn’t answer last time around. This is sort of bordering on senseless bickering which helps no one, but sure, I’m happy to repeat the questions you avoided answering in the last thread:
- Where in the report did you find information about how the hostages were treated? You claimed to have read the UN report, and then made specific claims about what it said – where in the report did you find the information you were claiming?
- You made an assertion is that one woman rescued from captivity who doesn’t look “very pregnant” has some bearing on whether her or any other women are being raped in custody. Can you tell me more about the logic, why this would follow? I mean I follow the basic premise that “pregnant hostage = rape”, I’m just having trouble accepting the contrapositive. Can you explain more?
I actually just asked you that second one, but you dodged it. Want to address it?
(Oh, actually – third question: “ignore the parts of the report that debunk the entire report.” What parts of the report are there that debunk the entire report? Can you explain what you mean here? Like cite the part of the report that you’re saying debunks the entire report, and what it says that would debunk the entire report?)
And, like I said, I’m happy to address any question you wanna ask. I thought about citing some times before when I did it with citations and all multiple times, and then you ignored the answers and continued insisting counterfactual things about the report, but maybe that’s just getting into the weeds. And likewise, citing the times I asked you a question over and over again and you didn’t want to answer it. I think just, ask your question, and I’m happy to answer without dodging.
Dude, when an article or comment disagrees with @Linkerbaan@lemmy.world they are suddenly Nancy Drew tearing apart every word in the most detailed class in forensic analysis; however, if something agrees with their narrative opinion blog posts are just fine.
I’ve stopped engaging with their arguments because it’s clear this is only a team sports type of online game. The truth is not particularly relevant to this person.
Yeah I had this sort of sudden moment of clarity just now like dude WTF am I thinking investing this level of time and energy into this person
I think a certain amount of debunking was productive but I think the back and forth is sufficient to speak for itself and I’ve had a chance to quote enough sections of the report to show what’s going on, at this point.
I had this moment of realization when they came out the gate and accused me of Zionism or defending Israel-none of which I care for. In fact I find the actions of Israel despicable in this conflict. It was then that it became clear @Linkerbaan@lemmy.world is more here for the team sports aspect of it rather than having a factual discussion to determine the truth of the matter. Right now the conversation is so diluted not much on the conflict can be discussed here because the team sports value has taken precedence over anything else, and personally I’m tired of playing team sports.
Best of luck.
Thanks for your opinion guy that claims israel is not an Apartheid state.
I’ve told you multiple times I’m ok calling it an apartheid state. This is like the 3rd or 4th time now. Go back to playing team sports now.
What exactly are you debunking? You didn’t even read the report as you have yet to quote the evidence in it.
If you did read the report you’d find out why the UN isn’t claiming there was any rape on oct7 and you’ll never hear Antonio Gueterres say it.
You keep failing to answer why israel is blocking the official UN investigation. Pasting the same wall of text over and over again.
I had a feeling you wouldn’t want to answer my questions. All good.
I don’t think it’s a good use of my time to just keep dealing with you indefinitely for any amount of Gish Galloping you feel like doing – I did offer to answer your questions without dodging, though, so:
You keep failing to answer why israel is blocking the official UN investigation.
Two answers:
- I talked about this here, giving one level of answer, and asking you for some details which could inform a little more complete answer depending on what you’re even claiming had happened
- UN investigators already concluded in Patten’s report that there was quite a bit of rape during the October 7th attack and of hostages, notwithstanding your pretense that it didn’t conclude that, or wasn’t a “legal” investigation and that invalidates it, or that it contained no new information, or other wildly counterfactual things.
Honestly, dude, don’t you feel bad about this? A whole bunch of innocent people got raped and are continuing to be raped, and you’re over here standing up for the people who did it, trying to spread propaganda implying that it didn’t happen, by twisting language around to say well the report that concluded that it happened wasn’t a legal investigation, or some other weird little constructions, to obfuscate the very clear evidence which we’ve already talked about.
My question is, why? Why are you taking that stance? Aren’t you against rape, whether or not the investigation that concluded that it happened was a legal investigation or not? I would think that’s a pretty easy moral test to pass.
Same wall of text every time. Why is israel blocking the UN investigation?
I had a feeling you would not be eager to engage with the question of why you are working so vigorously to defend rape
Which rape? Am I defending israel anally raping Palestinians?
The overwhelming majority of all armies of all time have weaponized rape. As I understand it Israel is doing the same damned thing. There are no good guys in this fucking war, only monsters and victims.
Israel is doing it. Hamas is not doing it.
Hamas is not doing it.
We should send a team of expert investigators to assess forensic evidence, conduct interviews all around, and also visit with Palestinian representatives to see what they have to say about it, so that we can assess whether this is objectively true
Oh wait
We should send a team of expert investigators to assess forensic evidence
Yes we should. Who is blocking said team of expert investigators again, remind me?
No, they are just causing genital mutilation and genital wounds consistent with rape but since we have no video proof, you can’t say they used rape in a systematic way. They have sexually abused victim or caused immense damage to their genitals, that is confirmed by the very report that also denies systemic rape.
they are just causing genital mutilation and genital wounds consistent with rape
Having your pelsvis broken because a grenade exploded is not what most people associate with rape. Except ZAKA of course. I take it you are citing their expert analysis? Let’s see what the article has to say about it
Talk of rape began circulating almost before the massacres themselves were over. Much of it came from what Patten would later call “non-professionals” who supplied “inaccurate and unreliable forensic interpretations” of what they found, creating an instant but flawed narrative about what had taken place.
Among the first responders on October 7 was Zaka, an ultra-orthodox volunteer force. Zaka members are not trained in forensics, nor were they directed to do any more than retrieve remains from what was still an active battle zone. The decision to send them in has come under heavy assault in the Israeli media, including from military officers who believe if they had been deployed, forensics might have been preserved.
Orit Sulitzeanu, the executive director of ARCCI, notes the volunteers’ lack of familiarity with the women’s bodies they were finding and their tendency to focus on injuries they believed pointed to sexual violence, such as smashed pelvises and gunshot wounds to sex organs, ignoring other injuries that muddied the picture.
“They are all religious guys; most of them are ultra-religious. They never saw a woman except their wife,” Sulitzeanu says. “So to see all these bodies, how did they deal with that?”
“They are all religious guys; most of them are ultra-religious. They never saw a woman except their wife,” Sulitzeanu says. “So to see all these bodies, how did they deal with that?”
From the report, II(b):
“The mission team was led by the SRSG-SVC with the support of a technical team comprised of nine staff members with relevant expertise drawn from the United Nations system. The technical team included a principal human rights officer that acted as its head; a police expert in criminal investigation; a judicial affairs officer; two sexual and gender-based violence investigators skilled in the safe and ethical interviewing of survivors/victims and witnesses of sexual violence crimes; a forensic pathologist; a digital and open-source information analyst; and two political affairs officers. For certain segments of the visit, the mission team was accompanied by a public information officer. Logistical and security support for the mission was provided by the UN Country Team based in Jerusalem.”
Actually, part of the report dealt with debunking not only Israeli government lies which I already talked about, but also some conclusions which were drawn potentially in perfectly good faith by earlier investigators who weren’t experts. Maybe some of those people were ultra-religious guys who had never seen anyone but their wives naked, or maybe not, but it doesn’t really have bearing on “debunking” the report. As far as I know.
Those israeli government lies were already debunked. The UN report was not needed as journalists found that the mentioned corpses did not exist.
The only new information from the UN report was that israel did not have the video, photo and forensic evidence they claimed to have.
Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict stated that:
“It was a catalogue of the most extreme and inhumane forms of killing, torture and other horrors,” including sexual violence.
It was not a legal investigation, Patten explained, as Israel had not allowed one:
Not sure why you keep citing a report that has no legal base. The only thing Patten concludes is that there is grounds to do a real investigation.
Who keeps blocking the real UN rape investigations again? Oh right, israel
The only thing Patten concludes is
that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations” and that “With respect to hostages, the mission team found clear and convincing information that some have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence including rape and sexualized torture and sexualized cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and it also has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing”
Why does israel keep blocking the UN investigation?
They should have asked Annalena Baerbock she has seen the videos.
Out of curiosity, if this is ever legally recognized as a genocide, is there anything human-rights law or international law says about people knowingly spreading lies in support of it?
Edit: And will she be just as vigilant about Israel systematically raping prisoners as a form of torture (something for which there actually exists multiple sources).
What a video in that article
Journalist: Can you confirm that you have seen video evidence of rape? The israeli government claims there is none
German official: are you saying that you don’t believe the government of israel?! Shame on you!
Journalist: No you said you saw footage of it and the israeli government says it does not exist
German official: Rape denier! Rape denier!
Yep that sums it up
