Hamas Official Osama Hamdan Rejects UN Report On Hamas's Sexual Violence On October 7: The Woman Who Wrote It Should Be Fired; One Female Hostage Had Cosmetic Surgery Because She Thought She Was Not Pretty Enough To Be Sexually Assaulted

Hamas Political Bureau member Osama Hamdan slammed the recent UN report on sexual violence committed against Israelis during the October 7 attack. In a March 6, 2024, interview on Mayadeen TV (Lebanon), he said that Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), Ms. Pramila Patten who compiled the report, should be fired. Hamdan explained that the report was a "scandal in the halls of the UN"; that it was not based on evidence, and that it was unprofessional. He continued to claim that the Israeli women who were "taken captive" on October 7 stated upon their release that they were not sexually attacked. Hamdan asserted that one of the women (referring to Mia Schem) even underwent cosmetic surgery because she thought she was not attractive enough to be sexually assaulted. In other parts of the interview, Hamdan said that America had not thought anyone would dare strike U.S. targets, but the Houthi attack on MV True Confidence shows that harming Americans has become "normal." He said that Israel is still suffering the pain of October 7, and that the attack on Israel has "opened the gate towards the end of the Zionist entity."

Osama Hamdan: "The Americans went crazy because of the attack on the MV True Confidence, because they thought that no one would dare to strike Americans. And y et striking and harming Americans has become normal. This will have repercussions in the future. We are talking about an empire. It knows that if it is struck in one place, that will encourage many others [to strike it] in other places. What is America's image like if everyone has the audacity [to attack it]? And that will happen.

"The same is true for Iraq. They believe that they have a firm grip on Iraq, only to discover that the resistance in Iraq is fulfilling its role. That it does not care about [the American] grip and threats, and that Iraq in its entirety is resolved to confront the Americans. I believe that this indicates that when Israel negotiates with the resistance in Gaza, it does not read the situation correctly, because it is suffering from megalomania, and it is still very much suffering the pain inflicted upon it on October 7 of last year.

"I still believe that this attack has opened the gate towards the end of the Zionist entity, inshallah.

"The UN report [on sexual violence on October 7] has three essential problems that necessitate the dismissal of [SRSG Pramila Patten] who published it. The first problem is that the report is not based on any evidence. The second issue is that only the Israeli narrative was heard, not the counter-narrative, which includes many details about what happened – none of those were adopted.

"The third scandal is that what was written in the report is the opposite of the facts. She wrote that the Israeli women who were taken captive by the resistance were [sexually assaulted]. When these women were released, they said themselves that they were not attacked. I can say as anecdote that one of them underwent cosmetic surgery because she thought that she was not assaulted because she was not pretty enough. In other words, they say one thing, and then the committee says the opposite. This is a scandal in the halls of the U.N.

"Revoking the report is not enough. I think the woman who wrote it should be fired, because the report is unprofessional and not objective."