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White House excludes Israeli rape victims from sexual violence fact sheet until backlash from Jewish Democrats

The new iteration of the fact sheet mentions the Oct. 7 sexual assaults in the first paragraph and outlines the various ways in which the administration has recognized them.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

The White House has added references to the rampant sexual assault perpetrated by Hamas terrorists during their Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel to a fact sheet it recently released on sexual violence in conflict zones following widespread outcry for making no mention of the Israeli rape victims.

The Biden administration updated the fact sheet to include references to Hamas, the Oct. 7 massacre, and the Palestinian terrorist group’s Israeli victims after Jewish Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff (CA) and Dan Goldman (NY) sent a letter to US President Joe Biden criticizing the omission.

On Wednesday, Schiff and Goldman sent a letter to Biden sharing their “deepest concern” that the Israeli girls and women raped and otherwise sexually brutalized by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists were not mentioned in the initial version of the fact sheet.

The original version mentioned sexual assault victims in Ukraine, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria.

“Clearly missing from this list of victims are the women who experienced sexual violence on Oct. 7, 2023, as a result of the brutal attack by Hamas against Israel. There is substantial evidence that Hamas perpetrated sexual violence against Israeli women on that terrible day, as well as against the hostages they took in the ensuing days and weeks,” the letter read.

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“Given the evidence of these horrific incidents, the brutal and vicious sexual violence committed by Hamas must not be omitted from the White House’s Fact Sheet,” the letter continued.

“The administration and Congress must never lose sight of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israel or give Hamas special dispensation in seeking accountability for its actions.”

After receiving the letter from the Jewish lawmakers, the White House swiftly updated the fact sheet to include detailed references of the sexual violence committed against Israeli women on Oct. 7.

The new iteration of the fact sheet mentions the Oct. 7 sexual assaults in the first paragraph and outlines the various ways in which the administration has recognized them.

It also references a June 17 White House screening of “Screams Before Silence,” a documentary by former Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg that examines the Oct. 7 rapes.

US Vice President Kamala Harris hosted the screening with Amit Soussana, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 and endured sexual assault, in attendance.

The document also noted Biden’s previous acknowledgments of the rapes perpetrated against Israeli women. “President Biden has been clear when it comes to highlighting Hamas’ horrific acts of sexual violence on Oct. 7,” the document reads.

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Mounting evidence has revealed that Hamas carried out systematic sexual violence against the Israeli people, including torture and mass gang-rape, during its Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israeli, where the terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others.

A recent United Nations report concluded that there is “clear and convincing information” of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israelis both on Oct. 7 and subsequently against those taken hostage into Gaza.

The New York Times also launched a two-month investigation into the sexual assault allegations and uncovered a “pattern of rape, mutilation, and extreme brutality” committed against Israeli women by Hamas.