When Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the violence extended beyond gunfire. Last month, the United Nations released a report that cited evidence Hamas fighters used sexual violence as a weapon of war that day. Women and men were raped; some had their genitals mutilated, according to the report.
“And we have reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may still be ongoing against those in captivity,” said Pramilla Patten, the special representative on sexual violence in conflict at the United Nations, during a U.N. Security Council briefing in March.
More than 1,200 Israelis were killed, making it the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. The House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Hamas’ use of sexual violence in February.
“We know how difficult it is for people to recover from sexual violence, whether it’s a rape or some other kind of sexual violence, in a normal scenario,” said Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C. “There is nothing normal about what is happening to these women.”
Manning says the U.S. will continue to put pressure on Hamas to release the more than 100 Israelis still held hostage. But with the fighting between Hamas and Israel raging on, Hamas has repeatedly resisted such demands.
When asked if there’s anything more Congress can do besides condemning Hamas for its use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., replied: “I think part of the problem we have here in ever-expanding government is Americans have become deluded to the fact that the federal government can solve these problems."
Sen. Johnson says Congress can simply offer moral clarity through condemnation. But Julie Rayman, the managing director of policy and political affairs at the American Jewish Committee, argues there is room for more congressional action.
She says lawmakers can urge the U.N. to declare Hamas a terror organization, something a bipartisan group of Senators urged in November. Lawmakers have also been using their bully pulpits.
“One of the most important things that we’ve seen since Oct. 7 is individual members of Congress using their voice,” Rayman said. “Amplifying those stories with their credible, trusted, authoritative voice. That’s really really important.”
Keeping the issue alive is important to the families of those still being held hostage.
Yarden Gonen has been to Washington, D.C., numerous times since her sister Romi was taken captive by Hamas.
“I know that if she would be released right now, this is something, it would take years, but she could overcome it," Gonen said. "But the one thing that I’m so scared that she wouldn’t be able to overcome is if someone touched her, and I was so scared about that from day one.”
Rayman is concerned that critics of Israel are sweeping aside the sexual violence against Israelis.
“Now what’s happening is that the silence has morphed into denial and distortion in the ugliest, most grotesque ways,” she said.
Rayman also points to a flood of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses across the country.
“But to say that a woman, an innocent woman, is somehow a legitimate target for this weapon of war because only she’s an Israeli is so grotesque and so disgusting,” she said.
The Israeli hostages have been held for nearly seven months, and there is worry that some women might be pregnant. The U.S. continues to call for the release of all hostages.