Biden calls world to ‘forcefully condemn’ sexual violence by Hamas

President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged global condemnation of Hamas’ “horrific” use of sexual violence against women and girls in Israel during the group’s Oct. 7 attack.

The president, citing survivor and witness accounts, said Hamas repeatedly raped women and girls during the assault and that their bodies were mutilated while they were still alive.

“Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them. It is appalling,” Biden said during a campaign reception in Boston.

“It’s on all of us — government, international organizations, civil society and businesses — to forcefully condemn the sexual violence of Hamas terrorists without equivocation. Without equivocation, without exception,” he added.

Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and captured some 240 hostages on Oct. 7. Since the attack, stories have continued to emerge of sexual assault and mutilation. Israel’s justice ministry has said “victims were tortured, physically abused, raped, burned alive, and dismembered.” Hamas has denied the accounts.

Biden’s remarks come just a day after 800 people, including activists and diplomats from 40 countries, gathered in the United Nations’ headquarters in New York for a presentation highlighting the violence against women. These stories have received little attention from human rights groups and the media amid the larger war.

“Silence is complicity,” said Sheryl Sandberg, the former Meta executive who helped organize the presentation alongside Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. “On Oct. 7, Hamas brutally murdered 1,200 souls, and in some cases, they first raped their victims.”

The president on Tuesday also blamed Hamas for the crumbling of a deal struck last week, which included a pause in fighting and the release of several hostages. Biden said Hamas’ “refusal to release the remaining young women is what broke this deal.”

Since fighting resumed, Israel has expanded its ground operations in southern Gaza. More than 16,000 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks, according to the Gaza Health ministry.