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Harris wants to shed light on the cruel sexual violence during the Hamas attack in October

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Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during a campaign rally at Girard College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 29.


Washington
CNN
—

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to host an event at the White House on Monday that will address, among other things, the war between Israel and Hamas, including raising awareness of conflict-related sexual violence and the difficult negotiations for a ceasefire agreement.

Harris has spoken out forcefully about the situation in Gaza – particularly in speeches in Selma, Alabama, this year – and acknowledged that the humanitarian crisis in the region is placing an increasingly emotional strain.

But Monday’s event also comes at a time when the government is publicly exerting enormous pressure on Hamas to accept a hostage-taking and ceasefire proposal and is ramping up its rhetoric about the war between Israel and Hamas. Planning for the event has been underway for months, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Harris will deliver a speech at the White House on conflict-related sexual violence, followed by a panel discussion with survivors and experts from around the world and a partial screening of the documentary film “Screams Before Silence” on Hamas sexual violence on Oct. 7, a White House official said. Sheryl Sandberg, who directed the film, will give a speech before the screening.

“The Vice President spent her career as a prosecutor protecting women and girls from violence, and as Vice President she has continued that leadership around the world. The Vice President has worked to ensure that conflict-related sexual violence – and the focus on the status of women and girls – remains at the heart of our national security policy,” a White House official said, pointing to numerous actions the administration has taken to combat gender-based violence.

Earlier this year, The Association of Rape Victims Crisis Centers in Israel released a report finding that Israeli civilians were victims of “brutal sexual assaults” that were “systematic and deliberate” during the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The report, which includes testimony from eyewitnesses, first responders, forensic experts and newspaper articles, says that Hamas fighters who entered Israel used extreme sexual violence against their victims, in most cases killing them “after or even during the rape.”

According to evidence collected by ARCCI, an umbrella organization of nine regional rape crisis centers, men, women and children were victims of gruesome sexual abuse on October 7. The report describes witness accounts of the brutality of the sexual crimes, including the gang rape at the Nova music festival in the desert of southern Israel.

Two former hostages released in late November said they witnessed and heard attacks on other hostages during their captivity. The report stresses that these attacks are likely still occurring against the hostages remaining in Gaza.

A United Nations report also found “clear and convincing” information that hostages in the Gaza Strip have been sexually abused and that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that sexual violence continues.

“This event expresses a truth we must all believe: sexual violence is never okay and we must stand together as a global community to support survivors and hold perpetrators accountable,” said Sandberg, founder of the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden said he was not confident that a ceasefire could be reached in Gaza soon.

“No,” Biden said when asked whether he was convinced of an agreement. He said he had discussed this with world leaders at the G7 summit in Italy. Nevertheless, he added: “I have not given up hope.”

The US-backed Israeli proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal appeared to be in limbo Thursday, with neither side publicly acknowledging the plan. Biden on Thursday called on the terror group Hamas to intervene.

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