Biden administration official accuses Israel of ‘sexually abusing’ Arab women – General

IDF general says State Department official has accused Israel of ‘systematically sexually abusing’ Palestinian Arab women.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior State Department official accused the Israeli military of “systematically” sexually abusing Palestinian Arab women, and denied that Hamas has stolen humanitarian aid flowing in to the Gaza Strip, an IDF general said last week.

Brigadier General (Res.) Amir Avivi posted a series of tweets on X/Twitter last Thursday, following a meeting with a State Department official he only identified as the holder of the Israel-Palestine dossier.

It is unclear if this was a reference to Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State, who heads up the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Avivi wrote following his meeting with the State Department official that she had pushed allegations, backed by the Hamas terror organization, that Israeli soldiers had systematically sexually abused Palestinian Arab women.

The official in question also allegedly questioned whether Hamas has in fact stolen humanitarian aid coming into the Gaza Strip.

“It’s hard to leave me speechless and shocked, but that is precisely what happened in my meeting at the State Department when the representative responsible for the Israeli-Palestinian dossier accused Israel of systematic sexual abuse of Palestinian women entirely on the basis of a concocted U.N. report that was written to try to find something to balance the atrocities of Oct. 7,” Avivi wrote.

“She added on to this the allegation that we did not provide proofs that Hamas proof that Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid, saying that publishing videos in the media is not enough.”

“Furthermore, [she claimed] that we have not explained how we will evacuate the Gazans in Rafah. The bottom line is that there is a lot of work that needs to be done at the State Department.”

Avivi discussed the conversation on Sunday in an interview with Radio 103FM.

“It was a meeting that really stunned me, I have to say. We were sitting there talking about the situation when all of the sudden she throws out an accusation at me that Israel is systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women.”

“This is absolutely disconnected from reality. But without hesitation, she said, ‘The UN presented evidence to the Israeli government.’ I told her, ‘Does it make sense that this phenomenon would exist and the media would never have reported on it?'”

“I wanted there to be much greater awareness, including among officials here in Israel, about what is really happening in the US State Department. In the end, I left there with the feeling that they simply don’t talk to us and don’t pass on any information.”

In February, two United Nations officials released a statement citing allegations of sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings in the Gaza Strip at the hands of the IDF.

The statement, drafted by Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, and Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, drew criticism from Israel, and praise from Hamas.

Responding to the statement, Hamas’ official Telegram channel lauded the UN claim as “confirmation and additional evidence of the crime of genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by the occupation led by the war criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi army against our people.”