Ilana Gritzewsky, a survivor of the October 7 Hamas attacks, directly addressed a United Nations expert on violence against women, accusing her of denying rapes committed by the terrorists. Gritzewsky testified before the UN Human Rights Council's 62nd session, offering an emotional account of her experience as a hostage.
"On October 7, terrorists stormed our Kibbutz, murdering, kidnapping and burning," Gritzewsky stated. "They touched me and sexually abused me." She detailed being sexually assaulted by at least seven Hamas terrorists, presenting herself as living proof of such violence. Gritzewsky directly questioned Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, about a previous report Alsalem had written that Gritzewsky contended found no evidence of sexual violence on October 7.
"Ms. Alsalem, you say there was no evidence of sexual violence on October 7," Gritzewsky said. "I am standing here today, not as a report, not as a statistic. I am a woman who survived. I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas."
Gritzewsky recounted being "beaten and mutilated before blacking out" and waking up with seven terrorists over her. She was released on November 30, 2023, as part of a weeklong ceasefire and in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Upon her return, she discovered a broken hip, and she described the lingering psychological trauma of captivity.
Alsalem's report, issued in December, stated she had received information regarding sexual and gender-based violence against Israeli women primarily from Israeli sources, including government and media outlets. The report also noted that the Israeli organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which provided some testimonies, later acknowledged that some of the referenced accounts had been "disputed or deemed unverifiable." Alsalem stated it was impossible for her to engage on specific reports of sexual violence related to the October 7 events due to these issues. She also noted receiving credible, corroborated information regarding Palestinian women and girls and accused Israel of refusing to cooperate with her inquiries.
However, in 2024, the UN stated it had found "reasonable grounds" to believe that Hamas committed rape and other sexual violence on October 7, according to the Associated Press. The International Criminal Court prosecutor has also stated he has reason to believe that three Hamas leaders are responsible for rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity.
The Embassy of Israel to the US reacted to Gritzewsky's testimony on X, stating that Hamas' sexual abuse of Israeli women had been "ignored by the UN and dismissed by the world." The embassy added, "Shame on the UN for enabling a culture of rape apologists."