"UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once again caused an uproar on Friday, after he mentioned the sexual crimes committed by Hamas in its October 7 attack in Israel in the same breath as ‘reports of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees’.
The UN chief made the remarks in a speech he gave during an event on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The crimes committed by Hamas were confirmed in a report released by UN Special Rapporteur Pramila Patten on Monday.
UN experts have accused IDF soldiers of raping Palestinian Arab women and girls in detention but have not provided evidence to back those claims.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said in response to Guterres’ comparison, ‘Today at the event to mark International Women's Day at the United Nations, the Secretary-General once again openly demonstrated his bias and hatred against Israel.’
Ambassador Erdan added, ‘What kind of twisted conscience does the Secretary-General have to dare to compare evidence of sexual abuse, rape and war crimes that Israeli women went through on October 7 and that our hostages are still going through, and between false and unsubstantiated claims of physical searches of Palestinian women suspected of terrorism?’
Guterres has been repeatedly critical of Israel’s fight against Hamas in Gaza in response to the October 7 massacre..."