Reuters/UNITED NATIONS On Monday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz urged the UN Security Council to “apply as much pressure as possible” to Palestinian extremists Hamas so that it would free the individuals it kidnapped during the attack on Israel on October 7.
Katz spoke to the fifteen-member council during its meeting to review a report from the United Nations that said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that sexual assault, including rape and gang rape, had happened at multiple sites during Hamas’ onslaught on October 7.
Katz addressed the Security Council, pleading with the group “to put as much pressure as possible on the Hamas organization to release immediately and unconditionally all the kidnapped hostages.” “We are asking you to condemn the sexual violence crimes these barbarians committed in the name of the Muslim religion,” Katz said.
He demanded that Hamas be subject to sanctions, claiming that the organization’s crimes were “worse then the terror actions carried out by al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terror organizations,” which the Security Council had designated as targets.
The Security Council has called for the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages in resolutions adopted in November and December. It is currently considering a U.S.-drafted resolution that includes a condemnation of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas “as well as its taking and killing of hostages, murder of civilians, and sexual violence including rape.”
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged council members to condemn Hamas.
“What occurred on October 7th is without dispute. The evidence in front of us is shocking and damning. The only thing left to ask is: How will we react? Will the sexual violence committed by Hamas be finally condemned by this council? “Or are we going to maintain our silence?” she posed to the Security Council.
According to Israeli counts, on October 7, Hamas slaughtered 1,200 people and took 253 hostages. According to Gaza’s health authorities, Israel replied by attacking Hamas in the Gaza Strip from the air and on the ground, killing about 31,000 Palestinians.In the Security Council, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour charged Israel with trying to “forcibly displace our people by making Gaza uninhabitable.”