U.N. AN ARM OF HAMAS

UN fails to black list Hamas for rape, Israel condemns decision while US is silent United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres waits for the arrival of French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne before a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the crisis in the Gaza Strip at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., January 23, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ)

Hamas does not appear on the black list of groups who are suspected of having committed sexual violence during a conflict, the Foreign Ministry said.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: APRIL 24, 2024 10:18
The United Nations omitted Hamas from its blacklist of state and non-state parties guilty of sexual violence in 2023, due to a lack of evidence it deemed credible enough.

The blacklist was part of a larger annual report on sexual violence authored by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which was completed this month and debated Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council.

Guterres’s April report described sexual violence in 18 conflict settings or situations of concern, including the Hamas-led October invasion of Israel and Russia’s war against Ukraine.