Former Hamas hostage Ilana Gritzewsky testified before the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday about the sexual violence perpetrated against hostages taken captive during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre.

During her testimony, Gritzewsky accused the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, Reem Alsalem, of denying evidence that such crimes against women occurred.

“On October 7 and in captivity, Jewish women were raped, abused and humiliated. And you, special rapporteur, you choose silence and denial,” Gritzewsky said at the Palais des Nations, addressing Alsalem, who was in attendance.

“You say there was no evidence of sexual violence on October 7. I’m standing here today, not as a report, not as a statistic; I am a woman who survived. I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas,” she continued, saying she “begged not to be raped” by her captors while in captivity.

Alsalem, in November 2025, falsely claimed that there was no independent probe finding evidence of rape during the Hamas attack.

However, a series of investigations have found evidence that Palestinian attackers raped Israelis during the invasion of southern Israel and while they were being held hostage in Gaza, including a 2024 report conducted by Pramila Patten, the UN’s special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.

"Ms. Alsalem, you said there was no evidence of sexual violence on Oct 7. I'm standing here today, not as a report, not as a statistic. I'm a woman who survived. I'm the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas." Powerful speech by ex-hostage Ilana Gritzewsky today at the UN. pic.twitter.com/Ycr4iRx2lv Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#Article_Incontent1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: 'Article_Incontent1', baseDivId: 'Article_Incontent1', } ]); }); } — Israel in UN/Geneva???????????????? (@IsraelinGeneva) June 23, 2026

"Ms. Alsalem, you said there was no evidence of sexual violence on Oct 7. I'm standing here today, not as a report, not as a statistic. I'm a woman who survived. I'm the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas."

Powerful speech by ex-hostage Ilana Gritzewsky today at the UN.........

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