Reem Alsalem, the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, has accused IDF soldiers of rape. However in a recent interview, she expressed incredulity when informed that Hamas is firing rockets at Israeli cities.
Alsalem was being interviewed by Bar Shem-Ur of Y-Net on Tuesday when she claimed that Israel is committing “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and an unfolding genocide.”
In the course of the interview, Shem-Ur commented “But in Israeli cities and Israeli schools are also being bombarded every single day.”
Alsalem asked in an incredulous tone, “Every single day?”
When she realized that was indeed the case, she said, “Well I would recommend, if that is the case, I would recommend that you also send that information to the special procedures so that we can look into it.”
“Don’t you see the reports?” Shem-Ur asked. “Don’t you see the missiles coming from the north by Hezbollah and from the south by Hamas?”
“At this point, I have not seen that, no,” Alsalem confirmed.
On Oct. 7, Hamas fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel as a cover for the ground attack. Since that day, Hamas has fired an additional 9,000 rockets at Israel. In the same period, Hezbollah has fired over 3,000 projectiles at Israel. The day before the interview, one man was killed and seven wounded, two seriously, in a Hezbollah anti-tank rocket attack on northern Israel. On the same day as the interview, over 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Kiryat Shmona.
Alsalem also told Shem-Ur that she had not seen enough evidence of Hamas’ sexual brutality and systematic rapes of women and men on Oct. 7 and may be ongoing against the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.
“Credible circumstantial information, which may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment was also gathered,” the report said. It also said that the team “found clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence [and] has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.”
Her statement comes one day after a panel of UN experts completed a two-week investigation, concluding that sexual violence was carried out on Oct. 7 and may be ongoing.
Last month, Alsalem released a formal statement accusing IDF soldiers of “credible” allegations of “multiple forms of sexual assault”, such as rape and strip-searches, against Palestinian women and girls. Israel denied the allegations. Asked where she got her information for this report in an interview with Channel 13’s “Hazinor,” she said the “reasonably credible information” had come from sources she could not cite and Euro-Med, a media run by anti-Israel conspiracist Richard Falk
A Jordanian national, Reem Alsalem was born in Cairo, Egypt. She has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls since 2021. She was criticized for not speaking out on reports of sexual and gender-based violence against Israeli women carried out by Palestinians during and following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack. In response, Alsalem said she had condemned “what happened on 7 October”, had contacted NGOs in Israel without reply, and said she could not make “sweeping statements” without receiving evidence.
