U.S. ** Biden accused Hamas of refusing to release civilian female hostages leading to the end of a temporary ceasefire. He said reports of women allegedly committing crimes against Hamas were "appalling."
Speaking at a closed-door fundraiser in the Boston area on Tuesday, Biden said: "We initially received a report that Hamas used ** to intimidate women and girls during its attack on Israel on October 7. ”
"Over the past few weeks, both survivors and eyewitnesses of the attack have told of unimaginable cruelty," he said. "There are reports of women being ** — repeatedly ** — their bodies being mutilated while they are alive - women's bodies being desecrated and Hamas *** inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as they can and then killing them. It's horrible. ”
Mr. Biden made the remarks amid a controversy over critics accusing the United Nations, women's rights groups and a Democratic lawmaker critical of Israel of failing to quickly and categorically condemn the attacks.
Ending violence against women has always been one of the goals of my life. But the world cannot afford to turn a blind eye to what is happening. It is incumbent upon all of us – *international organizations, civil society, and corporations) to unequivocally and strongly condemn Hamas***'s acts of sexual violence. Undoubtedly, without exception. ”
On CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday, host Bash challenged Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a strong supporter of Palestinian rights, asking her why progressive leaders were silent about what she said Hamas was treating as war.
I said it's horrible," Jayapal said. "I think ** is terrible. It's terrible," Jayapal responded. "I think that happens in a war. Terrorist organizations like Hamas are clearly using these as tools. ”
"However, I think we have to strike a balance in the fight against the Palestinians," she said. Fifteen thousand Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes, three-quarters of them women and children. ”
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 160,000 people were killed in Gaza, while 1,200 were killed in Israel, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
Shortly after Biden's remarks on Tuesday, Jayapal released a statement online in an attempt to clarify her remarks.
"Let me be completely unequivocal about my unequivocal condemnation of Hamas's use of ** and sexual violence as an act of war," she said. ”
She added: "My comments about balance have nothing to do with ** and have no intention of demeaning ** and ** criminals in any way. ”
Biden's remarks coincided with a press conference by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the release of a document by the IDF detailing evidence and eyewitness testimony of sexual violence and other atrocities perpetrated by Hamas*** on October 7.
Netanyahu said: "I've heard, and you've heard, that the criminals and the cases are very cruel. "But I must say that until a few days ago, I had not heard the voice of human rights organizations, nor the voice of women's organizations, nor the voice of the United Nations. I didn't hear their cries. I said to them, 'Are you a**?'Are you silent because these are Jewish women?”
"I want to say to women's rights organizations, human rights organizations, that you have heard about Israeli women being subjected to terrible atrocities, sexual mutilation," he said. "Okay - where the hell are you?"I hope that the leaders of all civilizations, ** countries, will stand up against this atrocity. ”
Hamas issued a statement denying Israel's claims.
"We strongly oppose the ** accusations spread by the occupiers, which are designed to distort resistance and divert attention from the humane and ethical treatment of the detainees," the statement said. ”
In recent days, the UN Secretary-General and UN Women, the agency responsible for promoting gender equality, have issued calls for all gender-based violence to be investigated and prosecuted on or after October 7.
An ongoing United Nations commission of inquiry is investigating alleged war crimes committed by both sides of the conflict, and the focus will also include on Hamas's alleged use of sexual violence. But so far, Israel has not cooperated with the investigation, claiming that the committee leading it has an anti-Israel bias.
Referring to the remaining female hostages, Biden did not respond to the claim made Monday by U.S. spokesman Robert Miller that Hamas was holding them to stop them from talking about sexual violence.
"It seems that one of the reasons they didn't want to hand over the hostages, and the reason this suspension failed, was that they didn't want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them in detention," Miller said. He later added that it was not a "conclusive assessment."
"These are civilian women, mostly between the ages of 20 and 39," Biden said. Under the ceasefire agreement I helped negotiate with the Qataris, Hamas refused to release them. "I spent a few hours mediating with Qatar and other countries to maintain and extend this agreement," he said. I rescued more than 100 hostages. ”
"Let me be clear: Hamas refused to release the remaining young women, and it was they who broke this agreement and ended the moratorium on fighting," he said. ”
"These women and all those who are still being held hostage by Hamas need to be immediately returned to their families," he said. "We're not going to stop — we're not going to stop until we bring each of them home, it's going to be a long process. Palestinian-Israeli conflict