UN envoy says 'reasonable grounds' to believe Hamas committed sexual violence on October 7 and afterwards

The UN envoy who focuses on sexual violence in conflict has said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe Hamas committed rape, "sexualized torture," and other inhumane treatment of women in its October attack in southern Israel.

Pramila Patten, who visited Israel and the West Bank with a nine-member technical team, said there were "reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing" when it came to hostages.

Patten said, based on first-hand accounts of released hostages, the team had "found clear and convincing information" that some women and children were subjected to the same sexual violence during their captivity.

The UN envoy added that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that multiple incidents of sexual violence took place" at the Nova music festival and its surroundings "with victims being subjected to rape and/or gang rape and then killed or killed while being raped."

"There are further accounts of individuals who witnessed at least two incidents of rape of corpses of women," Patten said.

"Other credible sources at the Nova music festival site described seeing multiple murdered individuals, mostly women, whose bodies were found naked from the waist down, some totally naked."

She said that some had been shot in the head, some were bound and tied to trees or poles. 

Patten's conclusions were drawn from witness testimony and circumstantial evidence which she said "may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence," but so far no victims of sexual violence have come forward. 

The UN envoy called for further investigations, stressing that "the true prevalence of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attacks and their aftermath may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known."

The report comes nearly five months after the October 7 attacks, in which Hamas killed more than 1,100 people and took some 250 others hostage.

Israel has said it believes 130 of the 250 captives remain in Gaza, but that 31 have been killed.

Israel's war against Hamas has since razed much of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 30,000 people, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Turkish police detain 7 over alleged Israel spying — Anadolu

Turkish police have detained seven people suspected of spying for Israeli intelligence, according to Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency.

Anadolu cited security sources as saying that one of those detained was a private detective and former public servant who is suspected of gathering information on Middle Eastern companies and individuals in Turkey, placing tracking devices and engaging in surveillance.

The Anadolu-cited sources said the detective had been trained by Israeli intelligence service Mossad in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, and received payments in cryptocurrency.

The detentions were part of an operation by Turkey's national intelligence agency, MIT, and Istanbul counter-terror police.

Turkish and Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the Anadolu report.

This is not the first time Turkish authorities have detained people under suspicion of spying for Mossad.

In January, a Turkish court ordered the arrest of 15 individuals and the deportation of eight others suspected of having links to Mossad, and in February seven more were detained for allegedly selling information to the Israeli intelligence service.

Turkey has warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it tries to hunt down Hamas members living outside of the Palestinian territories. Turkey hosts Hamas offices and does not consider the militant group to be a terrorist organization, unlike some of its NATO allies such as Germany and the US.

Gaza detainees 'completely traumatized' — UNRWA

The head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, says that Palestinians detained by Israeli forces are reporting a "broad range" of abuses.

Lazzarini told a media briefing that detainees from Gaza said they were subject to threats of electrocution, being photographed naked, sleep deprivation and intimidation from dogs.

"We have seen these people coming back from detention, some of them for a couple of weeks, some of them for a couple of months, and most of them coming back [are] completely traumatized by the ordeal they have gone through," Lazzarini said.

"A number of people have been... debriefed about their ordeal, and we have indeed [compiled] an internal report about their experiences."

Israel has accused UNRWA of employing hundreds of Palestinian militants, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the body would not be a part of post-war Gaza.

A separate UN report on Monday said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that Hamas committed rape and sexual violence during its October 7 attacks that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly civilians.

Swiss-owned container vessel hit by Houthi strike — CENTCOM

A strike by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has damaged a container vessel in the Gulf of Adan, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

CENTCOM said that one of two anti-ship ballistic missiles launched by the group hit the Liberian-flagged, Swiss-owned ship.

There were no initial reports of injuries. CENTCOM said that the vessel did not request assistance.

A Houthi spokesperson said on Monday that they targeted the vessel with "a number of suitable naval missiles."

The Houthis are targeting international ships in the Red Sea, citing their opposition to Israel's offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The group also announced on Monday that they would require ships entering Yemeni waters to request a permit.

UNRWA chief warns agency's future is at stake

The head of the Palestinian refugee agency UNWRA has warned the organization is "functioning hand-to-mouth" after 16 countries paused a total of $450 million in funding to it.

Donations from countries including Germany were put on hold after Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the October 7 attack by Hamas militants.

"The fate of the agency, and the millions of people who depend on it, hang in the balance," Lazzarini told the UN General Assembly.