I read through the UN report. I've posted the findings below.
Note: My focus is on reposting the bits that I find are "confirmed" cases of sexual violence on both sides. Whenever it clearly stated it could not confirm something, I didn't include that case. The report also talks a lot about its limitations. I've not posted that. It also talks about kibbutz Be’eri - where it found evidence of Israel messing with the evidence to make it seem like sexual violence occurred there. I've not reproduced that section, either. It's para 62-67 in the report.
October 7th: The October 7 attacks resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities and thousands of injuries, predominantly among civilians. People were shot, often at close range; burnt alive in their homes as they tried to hide in their safe rooms; gunned down or killed by grenades in bomb shelters where they sought refuge; and hunted down on the Nova music festival site as well as in the fields and roads adjacent to the festival ground. Other violations included sexual violence, abduction of hostages and corpses, the public display of captives, both dead and alive, the mutilation of corpses, including decapitation, and the looting and destruction of civilian property. Hamas and other armed groups abducted 253 individuals from Israel including men, women, and children, dead and alive. As of February 2024, 134 individuals remain in captivity in Gaza. Some hostages are, or are presumed to be dead.
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. Across the various locations of the 7 October attacks, the mission team found that several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered – mostly women – with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head.
Nova Music Festival: At the Nova music festival and its surroundings, multiple incidents of sexual violence took place with victims being subjected to rape and/or gang rape and then killed or killed while being raped. Murdered individuals, mostly women, were found, whose bodies were naked from their waist down – and some totally naked – tied with their hands behind their backs, many of whom were shot in the head. Bodies were also found with extensive burn damage.
Faced with the attacks, Nova music festival goers and other residents fled along various escape routes including Road 232 and the surrounding fields. Along Road 232, numerous bodies with severe injuries such as multiple gunshot wounds and destructive burn damage were found, including in and around damaged or burned vehicles, as well as piled in several bomb shelters. The mission team also found a pattern of bound naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down, in some cases tied to structures including trees and poles, along Road 232.
Kibbutz: Nova music festival goers also attempted to escape to the south and sought shelter in and around kibbutz Re’im where sexual violence occurred. This included the rape of a woman outside of a bomb shelter at the entrance of kibbutz Re’im. Within multiple kibbutz itself, the bodies of numerous women were home, bound and naked, with gunshot wounds to their heads. The recurring pattern of female victims found undressed, bound, and shot indicates that sexual violence, including potential sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, may have occurred.
Hostages: The mission team received clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment occurred against some women and children during their time in captivity and has reasonable grounds to believe that this violence may be ongoing. Based on first-hand accounts of released hostages there are reasonable grounds to believe that female hostages were also subjected to other forms of sexual violence.
West Bank: Conflict-related sexual violence committed by Israeli security forces and settlers. Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including various forms of sexual violence towards detainees (39% of whom are held without trial). Increased use of various forms of sexual violence, including invasive body searches, unwanted touching of intimate areas, including genitial areas, forced unveiling of women wearing Hijab; beatings; threats of rape against women and threats of rape against female family members (wives, sisters, daughters) in the case of men; inappropriate strip search and prolonged forced nudity of detainees, including during interrogation and during transfer to other detention facilities. Taking and circulating pictures of women detainees on personal phones of soldiers and investigators and depriving women of menstruation products. Sexual harassment and threats of rape, during house raids – including at night – and at checkpoints. Intimidation, including threats of rape, if conditions of detention were reported or publicly disclosed after liberation.
They did not visit Gaza.
I really appreciate this reply and the entire conversation we’ve had so far!
I am one of the people who doesn’t know a lot about the differences between various UN orgs etc. and it’s been very informative to learn - for eg how the Special Representatives are/have been used. It will give me a pause next time I come across them, and not confuse them with actual UN bodies with investigative or legislative powers, or act like they are at the same tier as them.
The picture you’ve painted regarding this one is very compelling, too. I mean, they did have me fooled (despite having read the report - where they made it clear they don’t have the mandate to investigate).
I know the UN is not a monolith, but when you use one name to describe the entire org, with all the different bodies in it, it becomes hard to differentiate. And you think “the UN which has recently been good on the Palestine issue (at least optically) has published this report” rather than thinking deeply about the inner struggles within the UN and which side might be pushing for this report to be framed this way, and given access to NYT and others in advance etc.
I guess it’s sad when they use the UN, which at least to me still has some credibility - I believe there are good people there who try to do good, it’s better the UN exists than it doesn’t - to help cover their genocide.
And you’re absolutely right about this taking away oxygen from that far more important issue. Israel is literally committing apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. It is actively building illegal settlements in West Bank and, from what I’ve seen, even reestablishing them in Gaza.
Yeah, I don’t know what else to say.
I wouldn't let it sour you too much on the whole of the UN. I think we all know it's a mixed bag, full of politics, and it's powers are pretty much limited and influenced by the permanent members of the security council. But it's also often better than the alternative (a totally US/NATO led international body) and plenty of people for good work there, including special representatives in various advocacy positions. But they also all come from somewhere and I don't necessarily mean countries; they have their own educations, connections, former careers, biases etc. And I don't think it's bad practice that if you get the vibe that something is fishy, it's worth looking at their resume at least you know? They have been decent on Palestine overall, and punished for it (although nothing like the Palestinians on the ground), but just like that single non-Israeli holdout judge on the ICJ decision whose legal opinion I went through in a megathread a while back, there's still always a lot of weird politicking and behind the scenes stuff. It's just the nature of the thing.