U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Hamas had repeatedly raped women and mutilated their bodies during its Oct.7 assault on southern Israel, citing survivors and witnesses of the attacks.
I don’t know how reputable that site is, but it sounds reputable
The pushback is apparently in response to comments from US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller Monday that Hamas terrorists likely held back on freeing female hostages because it did not want them to speak publicly about being subjected to rape and other sexual violence.
The pushback is not on the claim of rape and mutilation. The pushback is on the rapes being a reason to hold back on hostage release.
And I agree. The (likely) fact of the rapes and mutilation is horrific. But to even imply that is a reason that hostages are not being exchanged hurts both sides and prolongs the war. Because it implies an avenue of propaganda that would make hamas less likely to engage and it infuriates idf soldiers which leads to even more atrocities.
And the IDF is already walking it back:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-appears-to-push-back-on-irresponsible-us-claim-hamas-refusing-to-release-raped-hostages/
Just like with the “40 beheaded babies!!” don’t jump to conclusions, wait for the facts to come out.
p.s. How bad does it have to be for the IDF to say “The conversation around the issue is irresponsible, inaccurate and should be avoided.”
I don’t know how reputable that site is, but it sounds reputable
The pushback is not on the claim of rape and mutilation. The pushback is on the rapes being a reason to hold back on hostage release.
And I agree. The (likely) fact of the rapes and mutilation is horrific. But to even imply that is a reason that hostages are not being exchanged hurts both sides and prolongs the war. Because it implies an avenue of propaganda that would make hamas less likely to engage and it infuriates idf soldiers which leads to even more atrocities.
This whole situation is hopefully going to be a learning experience for many.
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Israel doesn’t want to give Hamas more reasons not to release hostages, despite this being true.
Any conversation that hurts hostage recovery is irresponsible, in their view, because we can just have those conversations later.