Freed Israeli hostage tells UN rights council she is ‘living proof’ of Hamas sexual violence

Former Hamas hostage Ilana Gritzewsky testifies before the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva about sexual violence perpetrated against hostages taken captive during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre, and accuses the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women of denying evidence of such crimes.

“On October 7 and in captivity, Jewish women were raped, abused and humiliated. And you special rapporteur, you choose silence and denial,” Gritzewsky says at the Palais des Nations, addressing special rapporteur Reem Alsalem, who is in attendance.

“I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas”
“And you Special Rapporteur you choose silence and denial”

Hostage survivor Ilana Gritzewsky slams @UN Special Rapporteur @UNSRVAW Reem Alsalem with the truth. pic.twitter.com/MCX3sNWjLf

— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) June 23, 2026

“You say there was no evidence of sexual violence on October 7. I’m standing here today… [as] a woman who survived. I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas,” she continues, saying she “begged not to be raped” by her captors while in captivity.

Gritzewsky also testified before the UN Security Council last year, where she said her captors “sexually abused” her, leading her to lose consciousness, and that she had to tell them that she had her period in order not to be raped.

Remarks by Alsalem in 2025 falsely claiming that no independent probe had found that rape occurred during the October 7 attack sparked intense backlash from Israeli officials and Jewish organizations.

A series of investigations have found evidence that Palestinian attackers raped Israelis during the invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, and while they were being held hostage in Gaza, including a 2024 report by the UN’s special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.