A United Nations report released on Monday claims it has found grounds to support the sexual violence allegations believed to have occurred against women during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, as well as evidence to show the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip were also assaulted.
The report is calling for a full investigation, said The New York Times.
Issued by the U.N. Secretary General's special envoy on sexual violence under conflict, the report comes in response to several accounts of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack led by Hamas. It also includes allegations by Palestinian officials that Palestinian women in detention and the West Bank had been assaulted. The report is asking for Israel's permission to grant U.N. officials access to work through the investigation of the Palestinian accounts.
Vice President Kamala Harris, one of the leading voices for Palestinians in closed-door meetings as of late, is expected to broker a temporary ceasefire in Gaza with Benny Grantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet and opponent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House Monday afternoon.
An anonymous White House official shared that Harris is expected to discuss immediate steps to securing a hostage deal and minimizing the humanitarian crisis that has swept Gaza alongside Israel's war on Hamas.
The vice president is also said to be discussing postwar plans for Gaza to include the Palestinian Authority and reiterate U.S. goals to heighten aid efforts to the region. Harris expressed concern for the more than one million displaced Palestinians in Rafah amid U.S. airdrops of food that began on Saturday.
Directing her remarks at Hamas, she stressed that she and the president remained "unwavering in our commitment to Israel's security."
What Does This Mean For The Biden-Harris Re-election Campaign?
As elections in the United States draw closer, Harris has started to emphasize the urgency to the administration not to dismiss the anger of Palestinian-Americans and others opposed to Biden's handling of the war. The quick shift in remarks to the administration's public position on Gaza is to address the growing political divide over Biden's commitment to Israel as he campaigns for reelection this year.
Her direct focus on Israel and the Middle East is a means to support her minimal foreign policy credentials as concern deepens over Biden and her readiness to take over should something happen to the president.
Harris' slight change in tune comes on the heels of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza that only seems to worsen. She issued a statement after 100 Palestinians were targeted and killed in a massacre while attempting to reach a food convoy.
"Just a few days ago, we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families after weeks of nearly no aid reaching Northern Gaza," she said. "And they were met with gunfire and chaos."
On Sunday, she said that "people in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act."
Later, she added that the "Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses."
Gantz, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, is due to meet separately with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, according to a statement from his office, members of Congress, and pro-Israeli lobbyists.
The U.S. declared negotiations are underway, and Israel has "more or less accepted" a proposal for the hostage deal, but also that Hamas has yet to agree to it. Both Israel and Hamas have failed to broker a peace deal over the last five months, as they continue to reject proposals from one another amidst the help of foreign mediators.
Mr. Netanyahu's office revealed in a statement that the prime minister had not approved Gantz's travel to Washington and that he did not represent the government on his trip to Washington. The Israeli official insists that Netanyahu is in communication and good standing with President Biden.
Several groups that have called for a permanent ceasefire don't think Harris has gone far enough and said her remarks don't signal a radical shift in policy that may help the situation.
Layla Elabed, campaign manager of Listen to Michigan, the group behind 100,000 Michigan voters marking "uncommitted" against Biden in the Michigan primary, recently affirmed in a statement:
"But let's be clear: This is a temporary ceasefire, or what they used to call a humanitarian pause. Our movement's demands have been clear: a lasting ceasefire and an end to U.S. funding for Israel's war and occupation against the Palestinian people."
