Hamas militants likely held back on freeing female hostages because it did not want the women to speak publicly about sexual violence, the US has said.
Fighting resumed on Friday after the truce broke down. So far, 78 Israeli women and children have been released but Israeli officials believe that 18 women are still being held in Gaza, the majority believed to have been taken when Hamas raided the music festival.
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US Department of State said: “It seems one of the reasons they don’t want to turn women over that they’ve been holding hostage and the reason this pause fell apart is they don’t want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody.”
Hamas has been accused of using sexual violence as a premeditated weapon of war in its Oct 7 massacre. More than 1,500 testimonies from witnesses and medics have reportedly been gathered by Israeli police including allegations of gang rape and post-mortem mutilation.
Shari Mendes, an Israeli army reservist tasked with preparing the bodies for burial, said several women killed “were shot in the crotch, intimate parts, vagina, or were shot in the breast”.
‘No reason to doubt’
Mr Miller declined to give details on the treatment of the women, citing sensitivities in discussing the treatment of captives, but he said that the United States had “no reason to doubt” reports of sexual violence by Hamas.
“There is very little that I would put beyond Hamas when it comes to its treatment of civilians and particularly its treatment of women,” he added.
The United Nations (UN) has face criticism for its muted response and lack of condemnation to the claims of sexual violence.
António Guterres, the UN’s secretary general, said gender-based violence must be “vigorously investigated and prosecuted”, 53 days after the Oct 7 attacks took place.
Eight hundred activists and diplomats gathered outside the UN on Monday for a presentation on evidence of sexual violence.
Sheryl Sandberg, the former Meta executive who organised the event, told the assembly: “Silence is complicit.
“On Oct. 7, Hamas brutally murdered 1,200 souls and in some cases, they first raped their victims,” Ms. Sandberg added. “We know this from eyewitnesses, we know this from combat paramedics, we would know this from some victims if more had been allowed to live.”
A video of witness interview shown at the presentation included a paramedic who said “shooting was targeted at sexual organs, we saw that a lot”.
Many of the protestors were heard chanting: “Me too, unless you are a Jew.”
‘A full investigation is essential’
UN Women has been singled out in particular in recent weeks for silence on the issue while it has regularly spoken out about the plight of Palestinian women and girls.
The organisation said it had been “closely following reports of brutal acts of gender-based violence against women in Israel since they first came to light”.
It added: “We believe a full investigation is essential, so that perpetrators at all sides can be held accountable and justice can be served.”
Mr Miller said that Israel had briefed the United States “extensively” on its findings into the Oct 7 attack, although US officials were not on the ground making independent assessments.
“We have seen Hamas commit atrocities both on Oct 7 and since Oct 7, and we obviously condemn those atrocities and support Israel’s actions to hold Hamas accountable for them,” Miller said.
The IDF on Tuesday also claimed the remaining female hostages were facing sexual violence.
In a statement Monday, Hamas rejected accusations of rape and sexual violence as “unfounded lies”.
Israeli attacks since Oct 7 have killed nearly 15,900 people in Gaza, about 70 per cent of them women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.