Netanyahu says human rights groups are turning a blind eye to alleged rapes by Hamas
Benjamin Netanyahu has accused human rights groups of turning a blind eye to rapes that Israel says were committed by Hamas during the 7 October massacre.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister accused the international community of playing down the attacks and even ignoring them.
He said he expects “all civilised leaders, governments, nations to speak up against this atrocity”.
“I say to the women’s rights organisations, to the human rights organisations, you’ve heard of the rape of Israeli women, horrible atrocities, sexual mutilation – where the hell are you?” Netanyahu told a news conference on Tuesday, speaking in English to emphasise his point.
US President Joe Biden called the reports of sexual violence “appalling” and urged the world to condemn “horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty”.
Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Boston, he called on the world to condemn the acts by Hamas “without equivocation” and “without exception”.
He also stressed that “Hamas’s refusal to release the remaining young women” is what ended a temporary truce and hostage agreement that the US helped broker.
Israel’s justice ministry says “victims were tortured, physically abused, raped, burned alive, and dismembered” however Hamas has rejected all allegations that its gunmen committed sexual assault.
‘Widespread’ sexual violence
A human rights group has reported that rape and sexual violence were “widespread” during Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel.
A group named Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, which has a long record of advocating for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, published an initial assessment in November.
“What we know for sure is that it was more than just one case and it was widespread, in that this happened in more than one location and more than a handful of times,” Hadas Ziv, policy and ethics director for the organisation, said on Tuesday.
“It is becoming more apparent that the violence perpetrated against women, men and children also included widespread sexual and gender-based crimes.
“What we don’t know and what the police are investigating is whether it was ordered to be done and whether it was systematic.”
While investigators are still trying to determine the scope of the sexual assaults, many witnesses of the atrocities have spoken out, with some giving harrowing details of terrorists raping, mutilating and murdering women.
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An army reservist who was tasked with identifying those killed said some of the women were found wearing only bloodied underwear.
Others said they found women semi-naked, bound, eviscerated, stripped, bruised, shot in the head or torched.
Hamas and other Gaza militant groups killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages that day.
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Two months after the attack on farming communities and army posts in southern Israel, police are still trying to put together the pieces.
In the immediate aftermath, priority was given to identifying bodies, not to preserving evidence.
Police say they’re combing through 60,000 videos seized from the body cameras of Hamas attackers, from social media and from security cameras as well as 1,000 testimonies to bring the perpetrators to justice.
It has been difficult finding rape survivors, with many victims killed by their attackers.
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This was Emilia’s first day back at school following her release.
Last month, Israel’s police chief presented to the international news media videotaped testimony of a rape witness at the music festival.
Her face blurred, she said she watched militants gang-rape a woman as she lay on the ground.
The woman in the video described watching the militants as she pretended to be dead.
“I couldn’t understand what I saw,” she said.
‘Absolutely concerned’ about sexual violence against hostages
At the Shura military base where victims are being identified, Shari Mendes, a member of the army reserve unit that deals with the identification and religious burial preparation of female soldiers, said some of the women’s bodies came in with little clothing.
“Often women came in in just their underwear,” she said.
“Sometimes we had people who – we just had a torso, okay – or they were very decomposed or they were mutilated.
“I saw very bloody genitals on women.”
Based on open-source information and interviews, the Physicians for Human Rights in Israel report documents incidents at the music festival, homes around the Gaza Strip and an Israeli military base, all attacked by Hamas.
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On Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet held a meeting with recently released hostages and family members of hostages still held in Gaza.
Some of those former hostages shared testimonies of sexual abuse during their time in Gaza, participants said.
Separately, a doctor who treated some of the 110 released hostages said that at least 10 men and women among those freed were sexually assaulted or abused, but did not provide further details.
According to the Israeli military, 138 hostages, including 15 women, are still held by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a military spokesman, said the army is “absolutely” concerned about sexual violence against female hostages.
Echoing these concerns earlier this week, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “It seems that one of the reasons they (Hamas) don’t want to turn women over that they’ve been holding hostage – and the reason this pause fell apart – is that they don’t want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody.”
World
Bodies of two more Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas – but uncertainty over missing remains
The bodies of two more Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas – but uncertainty still hangs over the fate of the missing remains of others.
Under the ceasefire agreement, all remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, were supposed to be returned by this Monday.
So far, only the 20 living hostages have been returned, as well as seven dead hostages, according to Israel’s count, with two further bodies still being verified.
Just hours after today’s handover, the Israeli military said a tenth body previously turned over was not that of a hostage – and the confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
What has Hamas said?
Hamas has previously said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known.
Its armed wing put out a statement on Wednesday, saying it has returned all the bodies it could reasonably recover, but would require special equipment to hand over the remaining ones.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Red Cross vehicles escort a truck transporting the bodies of Palestinian hostages. Pic: Reuters.
That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains claimed they showed signs of mistreatment.
Trump issues warning
The return of all the hostages is a key pillar of the deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas, heralded by US President Donald Trump as having brought “peace in the Middle East”.
Israel – which has freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the peace deal – had already threatened to keep the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed on Wednesday, and limit aid entering Gaza, due to Hamas not returning all of the dead.
And in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mr Trump warned that Israel could resume the war if he feels Hamas is not upholding its end of the agreement.
“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said.
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Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023 – in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – the two sides have been at war.
Nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s subsequent offensive, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza.
The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts – though the ministry does not say how many of those killed are combatants.
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Similar incident in previous ceasefire
This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel.
During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, but testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Ms Bibas’ body was returned a day later.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.
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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military is operating along the deployment lines troops withdrew to under the deal, and he warned that anyone approaching the lines will be targeted, as happened on Tuesday with several militants.
Aid trickling in
The World Food Programme said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday on Tuesday.
The timing of the scaled-up deliveries – which are also part of the ceasefire deal – had been called into question after Israel said on Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel enter Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: AP
Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, lauded the trucks’ passage but said the situation remained unpredictable.
“We’re hopeful that access will improve in the coming days,” she said.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday.
Fifteen UK charities have launched a fresh appeal for donations to Gaza to address “catastrophic levels of need” in the devastated region.
The charities make up the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has been raising millions for Gaza – where tens of thousands have been killed over the past two years of war – and the wider Middle East.
After the initial stage of a much-sought ceasefire deal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza was agreed on by Israel and Hamas, aid has begun to trickle into the devastated region again.
According to the DEC, its charities and local partners have been scaling up their work in the Gaza Strip since the agreement took effect last week.
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It said lorries carrying food and other aid began to enter Gaza on Sunday, with the British Red Cross and Plan International UK among those confirming supplies had made it in.
After raising more than £50m since the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal was launched last October, the DEC is renewing calls for donations, saying £10 could provide blankets for two people, while £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.
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As goods are returning to Gaza’s markets, the DEC said, they are increasing cash assistance to help people buy essentials as they become more affordable.
They’re also distributing clean water, medicine, food, and nutrition support.
On its website, the DEC pointed to how famine was declared in Gaza City in August as it appealed for funds saying: “Your support can save lives.”
You can donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal at dec.org.uk.
Donald Trump has refused to say if the CIA has the authority to assassinate Venezuela’s president, after approving covert operations in the country to tackle alleged drug trafficking.
The classified decision, first revealed by The New York Times, marks a significant escalation in efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro‘s regime.
Mr Trump said large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela, much of it trafficked by sea.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.
When asked why the coastguard wasn’t asked to intercept suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been a longstanding US practice, Mr Trump said the approach had been ineffective.
“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he said.
He declined to answer whether the CIA has the authority to execute Mr Maduro.
The US has offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of connections to drug trafficking and criminal organisations – claims he denies.
President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters
US targets ‘drug boats’
Mr Trump also alleged Venezuela had sent a significant number of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the US, though he did not specify the border through which they reportedly entered.
On Tuesday, he announced America had targeted a small boat suspected of drug trafficking in waters off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in the deaths of six people.
According to the president’s post on social media, all those killed were aboard the vessel.
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Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social
The incident marked the fifth such fatal strike in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration continues to classify suspected drug traffickers as unlawful combatants to be confronted with military force.
War secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strike, according to Mr Trump, who released a video of the operation.
The black-and-white footage showed a small boat seemingly stationary on the water. It is struck by a projectile from above and explodes, then drifts while burning for several seconds.
Mr Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” was in international waters and targeted a boat travelling along a well-known smuggling route.
There has also been a significant increase in US military presence in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico.
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