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Israel Denies UN Report Claiming Israeli Forces Assaulted Palestinian Women
UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, October 27, 2022 (Photo: Screenshot)
Israel has denied allegations made by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) charging Israeli forces with rape, abduction and extrajudicial killings of Palestinian women in Gaza, labeling them “despicable and unfounded.”
The UN experts’ statement released on Monday said there were “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations” by the Israel Defense Forces against Palestinian women and girls.
“Many [Palestinian women and girls] have reportedly been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, denied menstruation pads, food and medicine, and severely beaten,” the statement from the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner said. “On at least one occasion, Palestinian women detained in Gaza were allegedly kept in a cage in the rain and cold, without food.”
“At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence,” the statement added.
The report did not mention how it carried out its investigation and neither did it provide any evidence of its allegations.
The Israeli government’s response was swift and stern.
“Israel forcefully rejects the despicable and unfounded claims published today by a group of so-called UN experts, including one who just days ago legitimised the massacre of October 7 in which more than 1,200 people were murdered, executed and raped, and another who publicly doubted the testimonies of Israeli victims of gender-based and sexual violence,” Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva said in a statement.
The experts cited in the UN report include Francesca Albanese, the UN monitor who came under fire for justifying the Hamas-led attack on October 7 because it was “in response to Israel’s oppression.” Albanese also denied that rapes and beheadings against Israelis ever took place. Another of the experts listed, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem, likewise denied sexual violence against Israeli women, calling it “disinformation.”
“These [UN] mandate holders have remained silent on the horrific sexual violence and gender-based violence perpetrated by Hamas on and since October 7. It is clear that the co-signatories are motivated not by the truth but by their hatred for Israel and its people,” the Israeli statement said.
Israeli MK Danny Danon (Likud), who served as Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said that the statement was “nothing more than an endorsement of terror and genocide.”
“Where were these purported ‘experts’ when instances of violence occurred, such as when Hamas committed heinous acts against women, children, and families, raping, torturing and burning people alive?” Danon told The Algemeiner.
“Where are these ‘experts’ today to speak out for the innocent women and children and the remaining hostages, brutally kidnapped by Hamas and still held by the terror group with zero access to any form of humanitarian aid?”
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, lawyer and chairwoman of legal aid group Shurat HaDin who has in the past represented the families of Israeli terror victims in cases against Hamas, said Monday’s report came as “no surprise” given the UN’s anti-Israel bias.
“Hamas is losing the war, so its supporters rush to help it in its last dying moments. The sole weapon of Israel’s enemies is illusory slander plots against Israel,” Darshan-Leitner told The Algemeiner.
Darshan-Leitner went on to note that the accusations against the IDF were the same atrocities perpetrated against Israeli women on October 7.
“Since they want to keep symmetry between Israel and Hamas, they pretend everything that Hamas has done against Israel on a monstrous scale Israel has done also on a lower scale. But lies have to be proven,” she said. “Israel does not rape, Israel does not kidnap babies, Israel does not separate children from parents. Only the Hamas monsters do that as their go-pro cameras have proven.”
The UN statement also claimed that an “unknown number” of Palestinian women and girls had “reportedly gone missing after contact with the Israeli army in Gaza” and went on to say that there were reports of at least one female infant was “forcibly transferred by the Israeli army into Israel.”
The post Israel Denies UN Report Claiming Israeli Forces Assaulted Palestinian Women first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Showcases New, Advanced Missile Systems Amid US Threat
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp revealed their latest missile systems on Saturday, which have been deployed on three different Iranian islands.
This comes amid increased US pressure to return to the negotiation table over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with US President Donald Trump implementing a return to his “maximum pressure” policy.
Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, the head of the IRGC’s naval force, threatened that “the enemy would be beaten” in the event of a military confrontation. He boasted missile units, submarines, unmanned aircraft, and defense systems deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, located in the Persian Gulf, and in the islands in the region.
A new hangar was revealed in one of the sites that contains the new missile systems. According to the IRGC, these missiles have the ability to destroy maritime targets up to 600 kilometers (373 miles) from their deployment sites.
Last week, a US official told i24NEWS that Trump gave Khamenei a two-month ultimatum to reach a nuclear agreement. National Security Council Spokesperson Brian Hughes threatened “devastating” results.
Therefore, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attacked Donald Trump in a speech he made, saying “I will not negotiate with you even under threats.” This, after a few days prior, Trump wrote a letter to Iran, asking to restart negotiations on the nuclear issue.
The post Iran Showcases New, Advanced Missile Systems Amid US Threat first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Houthis Falsely Claim to Successfully Hit Ben Gurion Airport, USS Harry Truman
Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 2, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Houthis claimed on Sunday that they targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with their alleged hypersonic Palestine 2 ballistic missile, with the strike “successfully achieving its goal.”
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree boasted that air traffic at the airport was suspended for more than half an hour.
Additionally, Saree claimed Houthi forces launched missiles and drones at the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea with missiles and drones. There is no indication that this attack succeeded, contrary to the Houthi statement.
At around 7:30 am, sirens blared throughout central Israel, with no injuries reported. The IDF said that a Houthi missile had been intercepted successfully outside of Israeli airspace.
This comes after the Houthis restarted their attacks on the Jewish state last week, triggering sirens in central Israel and the Jerusalem area.
Meanwhile, the US Central Command began an offensive against high-level Houthis and terrorist infrastructure in Yemen. US President Donald Trump has also stated that he will hold Iran responsible for any attack emanating from the Houthis.
The post Houthis Falsely Claim to Successfully Hit Ben Gurion Airport, USS Harry Truman first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas: Senior Official Salah al-Bardawil Killed in Khan Yunis Strike
Senior Hamas leader Salah al-Bardawil. Photo: File.
i24 News – Hamas confirmed on Sunday that Salah al-Bardawil, a member of its political bureau, had been killed in an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
His wife also perished in the attack. This targeted killing, initially reported by the Palestinian press agency Shehab, affiliated with Hamas, is said to have targeted “tents sheltering displaced persons.” The Israeli authorities have not yet commented on the reports.
This strike is part of a series of targeted operations carried out by Israel against the Hamas leadership. Over the weekend, the Israeli army and Shin Bet security agency also announced that they had eliminated Osama Tabash, who was the chief of military intelligence for Hamas in southern Gaza and led the organization’s surveillance and targeting unit.
According to the joint statement from the army and Shin Bet, Tabash was a “high-ranking terrorist” who possessed “significant operational knowledge for the terrorist organization.” He had held various positions of importance, including that of battalion commander in the Khan Yunis brigade.
The Israeli services attribute to him involvement in several attacks, including a suicide bombing carried out in 2005 at the Gush Katif crossroads in Gaza, which cost the life of Oded Sharon. In his recent roles, Tabash was responsible for developing the Hamas combat strategy and had participated in planning infiltrations during the massacre on October 7 in the Israeli communities in the south of the country.
The post Hamas: Senior Official Salah al-Bardawil Killed in Khan Yunis Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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