From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 2 hours ago, updated 2 hours ago
Women are still being held hostage in Gaza. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
The terror group has thwarted Gaza’s ceasefire renewal because it does not want female rape victims “to speak about what happened to them during their detention,” a U.S. official said.
An American official said on Monday that Gaza’s ceasefire renewal had failed because Hamas, suspected of raping female hostages and sexual violence during its attack in early October, did not want her to testify. Israel had halted its offensive in Gaza under a deal negotiated under the auspices of Qatar and the United States that included the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas during its deadly attack on Israeli soil on October 7. Israeli authorities said Friday they were resuming their military offensive because Hamas had not released all of its female hostages.
The young Maya is freed from the clutches of the terrorists. OREN ZIV / AFP
“It seems that one of the reasons why they don’t want to release women they are holding hostage and why this breach has broken is because they don’t want these women to tell what they are told. They arrived while in custody,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. Israeli police said they were investigating possible sexual violence committed by Hamas militants on October 7, including gang rape and mutilation of corpses. Israeli investigators have so far collected “more than 1,500 shocking and disturbing witness statements,” a police officer told Israel’s parliament last week, referring to “girls who were undressed above and below the waist” and reported witnessing reports of gang rape and mutilation and murder a young woman.
Hamas “rejected these accusations and called them “lies.” The American spokesman declined to provide further details, emphasizing the sensitivity of the issue, but said the United States had “no reason to doubt reports of sexual violence attributed to Hamas.” “There is very little that I think Hamas is not capable of when it comes to the treatment of civilians and particularly women,” he said.
Former French-Israeli hostage Mia Schem. PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE/Portal
According to the Israeli army, 240 people were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, 137 of whom are still held hostage. On October 7, Hamas commandos killed 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
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