US Congress condemns Hamas sexual violence in bipartisan resolution; Tlaib abstains
Symbolic bill passes 418-0; top officials attend Capitol Hill event raising awareness of terror group’s atrocities
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bipartisan resolution condemning Hamas’s use of rape and sexual violence during and after its October 7 attack on Israel, alongside an event on Capitol Hill attended by several US lawmakers and senior Biden administration officials aimed at raising awareness of the terror group’s atrocities against civilians.
The bill passed 418-0, with only Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib voting “present.”
“Our bipartisan resolution says it loud and clear — rape and sexual violence are crimes against humanity and should never be used or accepted as weapons of war,” said Democrat Lois Frankel of Florida, who introduced the resolution.
“Hamas’s actions on October 7 and continuing [are] almost too difficult to speak about, raping, mutilating and burning to inflict psychological pain and unleashing trauma that continues to plague a grieving Israel,” Frankel said.
The October 7 massacre saw some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 250 hostages of all ages, mostly civilians, under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 360 people were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid acts of brutality and sexual violence.
Tlaib said she condemned all forms of sexual violence, but could not support the resolution because it “completely ignores and erases any sexual violence and abuse committed by the Israeli forces against Palestinians, especially children.”
While the evidence and testimony of horrific sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 have been widely documented, there have been no credible reports of sexual violence perpetrated by the IDF in Gaza.
We all have a responsibility to denounce sexual violence in all forms, regardless of who is responsible. War crimes cannot justify more war crimes. This resolution falls well short of also acknowledging the sexual abuse of Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/T4kdm1WXxk
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) February 14, 2024
The resolution noted that the Israel Police has gathered “thousands of testimonies from eyewitnesses of Hamas violence on October 7, 2023, including countless instances of rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual violence” and reaffirmed the US government’s “support for independent, impartial investigations of rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas on and since October 7.”
Testimony from October 7 survivors from the devastated southern communities and the Supernova music festival, as well as footage made by the terrorists during the attack and interrogations of Hamas terrorists captured by Israeli security forces, attest to the severe abuse that was inflicted.
Several US lawmakers and senior Biden administration officials attended the Capitol Hill event planned in coordination with the resolution, which included a closed briefing by a pair of Israel Police officers investigating the sexual violence allegations as well as an Ichilov Medical Center doctor who treated some of the victims.
The event was organized by the Israeli Embassy in Washington along with Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who came out of the briefing visibly shaken by what she had heard.
“I can’t go into the specifics of the investigations and the details that were shared with us, but I have never seen more sadistic evil perpetrated against another human than in the photos and videos that we saw earlier this morning,” Wasserman-Schultz said during the open part of the event.
“The evidence is abundant and beyond compelling. Through survivors coming forward, witnesses, video footage and independent analysis, we know that Hamas’s use of sexual violence including rape, mutilation, and brutality was not an anomaly. It was a premeditated part of its strategy to purposefully use sexual violence as a weapon against innocent civilians,” she added.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff said: “The evidence is there…you cannot ignore the facts and the evidence when they’re right in your face. Do not ignore it. You cannot deny it.
“We need to be able to clearly and unequivocally denounce this violence against women no matter what your thoughts or feelings are about any other issue that is happening with this conflict,” he added.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog said, “This is about basic human values. This is about humanity. And when you understand that, you understand why the Israeli sense of security… was shattered on [October] 7.”
The event was also attended by US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt and the executives of several major Jewish organizations.
Beyond the atrocities of October 7, hostages who were released as part of a deal in late November have also testified that they witnessed or experienced sexual violence at the hands of captors.
Hamas has denied all accusations of sexual abuse despite the overwhelming evidence and testimony.
