In first, UN chief calls for investigation of sexual violence during October 7 onslaught

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the first time urges that allegations of sexual violence committed during the October 7 massacres be investigated.

“There are also numerous accounts of sexual violence during the attacks that must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted,” Guterres says during a briefing to the UN Security Council. “Gender-based violence must be condemned. Anytime. Anywhere.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry tore into the UN office for women’s issues last week for taking 50 days to comment on the evidence of sexual violence perpetrated during Hamas’s onslaught last month, only to issue a brief statement expressing “alarm” on the matter.

On Instagram, UN Women posted a condemnation of Hamas before deleting it shortly later and replacing it with a call to release all hostages in Gaza.