UN chief says accounts of sexual violence ‘during abhorrent acts of terror by Hamas’ must be probed

After UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the first time called for an investigation into allegations of sexual violence committed during the October 7 Hamas massacres, his official X account posts a quote from the speech in which he made the call and adds the words “by Hamas,” which were not uttered in his speech.

“There are numerous accounts of sexual violence during the abhorrent acts of terror by Hamas on 7 October that must be vigorously investigated and prosecuted,” the Guterres tweet reads. “Gender-based violence must be condemned. Anytime. Anywhere.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry tore into the women’s rights group UN Women 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, then delete the post.

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