A post by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Al-Salem has sparked a widespread digital and media campaign led by official Israeli accounts and their supporters. The backlash followed Al-Salem’s comment on X (formerly Twitter), in which she stated that, “No Palestinian applauded rape in Gaza. No independent investigation found that rape took place on the 7th of October,” during a discussion on double standards in evaluating crimes and responses to them.
After the comment, Israeli sources accused Al-Salem of “denying” the sexual violence that Israel claims Hamas committed on October 7, as well as of bias and professional misconduct. Official and pro-Israel accounts claimed her statement contradicted U.N. reports that they said confirmed instances of rape, and that Hamas itself had documented these crimes.
Misbar tracked the campaign and reviewed the U.N. statements and reports cited by Israeli sources. The investigation found that Al-Salem’s post was accurate: no U.N. report or independent investigation has confirmed that Palestinian factions committed rape during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Misbar also documented the campaign’s escalation, which moved from questioning and defamation to incitement and petitions calling for her dismissal.
This article addresses and refutes the claims circulated during the campaign, drawing on the original texts of reports and investigations issued in the two years following the operation.
Israel Claims Hamas Documented Alleged Rape Crimes
Official Israeli accounts have led a campaign targeting U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem. One such account, “Israel at the United Nations – Geneva,” claimed that Al-Salem “continues to deny violence against women — because they're Israeli,” and accused her of using her U.N. platform “to discredit and minimize the horrific crimes committed by Hamas on October 7” and downplay them, citing a report by U.N. expert Pramila Patten.
In the same context, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs explicitly accused Al-Salem of “denying rape crimes committed by Hamas” and said she failed to meet the professional standards expected of U.N. officials. The ministry also claimed that “Hamas itself documented these rape crimes,” suggesting that Al-Salem ignored what it described as “clear evidence.”
Pro-Israel organizations joined the campaign, including an account called “The Civil Commission,” which published a statement describing the sexual crimes allegedly committed on October 7 as “among the most documented atrocities in history.”
The account repeated claims promoted by official Israeli sources, alleging that the crimes are “documented in Hamas’s own videos and in official United Nations reports,” and describing them as “tragically clear.”
Debunking Israeli Claims of ‘Conclusive Evidence’ of Rape
Misbar examined Israeli claims that official entities sought to portray a statement by U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Al-Salem as if she were “denying” conclusive evidence of rape. The review found that the U.N. reports cited by these entities do not provide definitive proof that Palestinian resistance factions committed rape on October 7, 2023. Instead, the reports highlight the limited nature of the evidence and the difficulty of verification, consistent with Al-Salem’s observation about the absence of any “independent investigation.”
A March 2024 report by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, led by Pramila Patten, was cited by Israeli sources to challenge Al-Salem. However, the report uses highly cautious language, referring to “reasonable grounds to believe” sexual violence occurred—a legal term indicating suspicions that warrant investigation, not conclusive proof. It explicitly notes the “absence of comprehensive criminal evidence” and the lack of direct confirmation, despite reviewing more than 5,000 images and roughly 50 hours of footage provided by Israeli institutions. The report also states that the mission “did not meet any survivors or victims of sexual violence from October 7” despite persistent efforts.
A separate report issued in May 2024 by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed that the commission was unable to independently verify Israeli allegations due to “obstruction by Israeli authorities” and restricted access to “victims, witnesses, and incident sites.” The report also found that “some specific allegations were false, inaccurate, or inconsistent with other evidence or testimony, and were excluded from its assessment.”
Notably, none of the visual material presented by Israel or published on various platforms provided any evidence of rape, a finding confirmed by the U.N. mission’s review of thousands of images and hours of footage.
Israeli Officials Intensify Calls to Remove U.N. Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem
The Israeli campaign against U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem went beyond questioning her credibility, escalating to calls for her removal. The effort was led by Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, who posted on his official X account demanding the dismissal of any U.N. representative who denies that Hamas committed rape crimes.
Danon described Al-Salem’s “denial” of sexual violence on October 7 as a stain on the U.N.’s reputation, directly addressing Secretary-General António Guterres with the statement: “Your silence is complicity.”
The ambassador later shared a letter he said he sent to Guterres, urging action against Al-Salem. In it, he claimed her statement “fundamentally contradicts indisputable evidence,” citing the Secretary-General’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence. Misbar reviewed the report and found that it contains no conclusive evidence and does not confirm that Hamas committed the alleged crimes.
A detailed analysis by Misbar of Danon’s letter found that it primarily focused on expressing outrage, demanding an apology, accusing Al-Salem of bias, calling for her dismissal, and proposing a replacement. The letter provided no evidence, references, or citations of reports or investigations to support these claims.
Growing Pressure on U.N. to Dismiss Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem
The Israeli campaign calling for the dismissal of U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem has expanded, with pro-Israel organizations and social media accounts amplifying the official calls. Among them, The Lawfare Project also demanded her immediate removal.
The organization repeated claims that “Hamas documented the sexual abuse crimes themselves,” arguing that the rapporteur’s statement reflected not only a lack of information but also bias.
The campaign against Al-Salem has not been limited to digital activism and official political correspondence; it has extended to on-the-ground actions.
Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad documented in a post on his X account his participation in a protest outside the United Nations headquarters, alongside a small group he described as including Arabs, Jews, and Christians. The video showed no more than ten participants, who gathered to demand the U.N. dismiss Al-Salem.
Haddad called on the United Nations to expel Al-Salem, while participants chanted slogans such as, “Shame on you, Reem Al-Salem.” He described her post as a “disgusting and false denial of the rape that occurred on October 7,” repeating accusations circulated by Israeli sources and citing the same reports they claim prove Hamas committed the alleged crimes.
Growing Campaign Targets Reem Al-Salem Through Protests and Online Petitions
In an effort to give broader appeal to calls for the dismissal of U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem, additional Israeli accounts launched campaigns promoting an online petition demanding her immediate removal from the United Nations.
The campaigns employed inflammatory language, alleging that Al-Salem had become a “direct threat to survivors,” that her statements “encourage extremists,” and that she had “undermined the moral authority of the United Nations.” Her position was also described as a “dangerous assault on the credibility of global human-rights protection.”
Systematic Israeli Campaign Targets U.N. Experts
The campaign against U.N. Special Rapporteur Reem Al-Salem is not an isolated incident. It is part of a systematic Israeli effort to silence or undermine United Nations experts, particularly those who highlight Israeli violations or defend Palestinian rights.
In a similar case, Misbar previously documented a misleading propaganda campaign launched by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs against the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese. The campaign included paid Google advertisements attacking Albanese, accusing her of “anti-Semitism” and “bias.”
The parallels between the two campaigns reveal a consistent Israeli strategy that relies on recurring tactics. These include the use of prepackaged accusations such as “bias against Israelis” and “anti-Semitism,” as well as digital tools—including social media, search engines, and online petitions—to tarnish the reputations of U.N. rapporteurs and cast doubt on their professionalism.
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