US, Britain and France convene Security Council on Hamas sexual crimes

This Friday, Israel thanked the United States, the United Kingdom and France for calling an emergency meeting in the UN Security Council following the findings of the UN Special Representative’s report on October 7 accusing Hamas of sexual crimes.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz attacked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for not convening the council himself.

“The Secretary-General of the United Nations continues to turn a blind eye and ignore. “On International Women’s Day, his continued silence is outrageous and a stain on his reputation that will never be erased,” Katz said.

At Israel’s request, the Security Council’s permanent members, the US, the United Kingdom and France, yesterday filed a request for an emergency meeting of the body to address the findings of a UN report published this week on sexual crimes. Terrorist group. Palestinian Islamic Hamas.

The report by Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, states that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that violations were committed in the 7 October attack, adding that it is “clear and convincing” that some hostages were raped. to be done.

“I congratulate all those countries who have agreed to our decision to convene an emergency debate in the Security Council with the aim of discussing the serious findings and publishing a clear condemnation of Hamas for sexual crimes and a clear call for the immediate release of all those abducted. supported the request. There have been kidnappings in Gaza, and I hope other countries will join this petition,” Katz said.

“This is a major victory for justice and morality and an important step towards the return of abducted people to their homes,” he said.

Yesterday, the head of Israeli diplomacy sent a letter to Guterres asking him to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter to convene the Security Council, as he did months ago to address the Israeli retaliatory strike against Hamas in the Strip. Did it for.

“In the face of much worse atrocities, their silence is deafening. Katz took aim at Guterres, saying, “His recent speech on International Women’s Day and the absence of any mention of it in the report highlight a disappointing duality in his approach to human rights issues.”

The minister also demanded from Guterres that the United Nations declare Hamas, an Islamist group that carried out a brutal attack on Israeli soil on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and abducted 250, as a terrorist organization. Was.

with agency information