The head of Portuguese diplomacy asserts the importance of holding accountable those responsible for sexual abuses in the October 7 attack. “Impunity is incompatible with peace and justice,” says Cravinho.
Portugal’s Foreign Minister, João Gomes Cravinho, emphasized the necessity of holding the perpetrators of “heinous cases of sexual violence” accountable, committed during the attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7, as reported by the United Nations.
“The United Nations report shows that the barbaric attacks by Hamas on October 7 included heinous cases of sexual violence. It is essential that the culprits be held accountable. Impunity is incompatible with peace and justice,” wrote the Portuguese diplomatic chief in a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
In a report presented by the the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, it is stated that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Hamas committed violations, “sexual torture,” and other cruel and inhuman treatment against women.
There are also “reasonable grounds to believe that this violence may still be ongoing,” according to the UN special envoy.
Hamas has vehemently rejected the findings of the document, stating that it “does not provide any evidence” and is based “on Israeli institutions, soldiers, and witnesses chosen by the occupying authorities to prove this false accusation.”
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel by launching thousands of rockets and simultaneously infiltrating approximately 3,000 militants who killed about 1,200 people in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.
The attackers also kidnapped over two hundred people, of whom about 100 are still alive in the Palestinian enclave, according to Israeli authorities.
