INTERNACIONAL
Netanyahu slams ‘terrorist-supporting’ UN council that accused Israel of committing sexual crimes
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is facing intense backlash from Israel over its report accusing Israel of employing sexual violence against Palestinians since October 2023. The report, entitled «’More than a human can bear’: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since October 2023» contains serious allegations against the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on the report, calling the UNHRC «an antisemitic, corrupt, terrorist-supporting and irrelevant body.»
«Instead of focusing on crimes against humanity and the war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organization during the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the UN once again chooses to attack the State of Israel with false accusations, including outrageous and baseless allegations of sexual violence. This is not a Human Rights Council – it is a Blood Rights Council,» Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on December 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
UN FINALLY RECOGNIZES THAT ISRAELI WOMEN WERE RAPED, SEXUALLY ATTACKED BY HAMAS TERRORISTS
Multiple Israeli officials said the report constituted a «blood libel» and said it ignored the acts of sexual violence on Oct. 7.
US Ambassador Designate to the United Nations Elise Stefanik also condemned the «baseless report» as «antisemitic and anti-Israel slander.»
«The so-called ‘Human Rights Council’ has failed to condemn the barbaric atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israel including the brutal slaughter, torture, kidnapping of thousands of innocent civilians, and Hamas’ horrific use of rape and sexual violence against Israeli women and girls, yet disgracefully attacks Israel with unfounded smears,» Stefanik said in a statement.
Additionally, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called the report «another vile and distorted document from the UN.»
«This report is not even worth the paper it was printed on. Anyone who supported this false publication is complicit in whitewashing Hamas’ war crimes and trampling on the truth,» Danon said in a statement. «The UN is busy looking for ways to blame Israel instead of facing reality. History will judge you.»
Israeli Permanent Member to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks during a session of the Security Council at the New York City headquarters. (Israel United Nations mission)
UNITED NATIONS SLAMMED FOR SILENCE OVER HAMAS RAPES, MUTILATION AND MURDER OF ISRAELI WOMEN, CRITICS SAY
UNWatch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital, «the U.N. inquiry is as objective as a Stalinist show trial, and that’s why they completely twisted the facts to falsely accuse Israel of the crimes that Hamas actually committed.»
The report documents a wide range of alleged abuses by Israeli troops, which it calls the Israel Security Forces (ISF), rather than the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the military’s actual name in both Hebrew and English. The report also condemned how Israel was carrying out the war, saying that the destruction led to «disproportionate violence against women and children.»
Additionally, there are complaints in the report of forced public stripping. However, Israel has said that this is necessary to ensure detainees are not hiding explosives. Former IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus was quoted in the report as saying this in a 2023 CNN interview. Even the report acknowledges that «strip-searches for security justifications are not unlawful,» but claims that Israel’s process was not up to international standards.
A view of the United Nations Headquarters building in New York City, United States on July 16, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Chair of the Commission Navi Pillay condemned the «deplorable increase in sexual and gender-based violence.» She also says that Israel uses sexual violence to «terrorize» Palestinians and to create «a system of oppression that undermines their right to self-determination.»
«For decades, the head of the Inquiry, Navi Pillay, has been the world’s leading champion of the 2001 UN ‘Durban Declaration’ slander that a Jewish state is a racist state. Inquiry members have referred to the ‘Jewish lobby’ controlling social media and then complained that antisemitism is ‘always raised as a diversion,’» Anne Bayefsky, Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and President of Human Rights Voices told Fox News Digital.
The commission claims that sexual violence, including rape, is part of the IDF’s «standard operating procedures towards Palestinians.»
Bayefsky alleges the commission «ignored hundreds of thousands of submissions which challenged their conclusions… They have also refused to hear testimony from NGOs that would have contradicted the veracity of their pre-determined end product.»
«The Independent International Commission of Inquiry is an independent body mandated by the Human Rights Council, over which the secretary-general has no authority,» Secretary-General António Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital. «The secretary-general has spoken out repeatedly at the horrors we have seen in this conflict. He continues to be deeply alarmed by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and reiterates his call for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He underlines that there needs to be accountability.»
Hamas agreed Friday to release Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American, will be released along with the bodies of four other hostages, according to a deal offered by mediators. As of Friday, Alexander has been held captive for 525 days, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
The bodies that will be released are of dual-national hostages, the Associated Press reported. It’s unclear when the transfer will happen, but it comes as talks are ongoing in Qatar to establish the next phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the first phase of which ended on March 1.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday that he will convene his ministerial team on Saturday to receive a detailed report from negotiators and decide on the next steps for the release of the hostages.
MEET EDAN ALEXANDER, THE LAST LIVING AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN HAMAS CAPTIVITY
Edan Alexander, born in Tel Aviv and raised in New Jersey, is currently being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. (Hostage Family Forum)
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, presented to Israel and Hamas a U.S. proposal for extending the ceasefire by several weeks in exchange for more hostage releases from Hamas and the resumption of humanitarian aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip, Axios reported Thursday, citing sources with direct knowledge of the plan.
«While Israel has accepted the Witkoff proposal, Hamas remains firm in its refusal and has not moved an inch,» Netanayhu said Friday. «At the same time, it continues to employ manipulations and psychological warfare.»
Last week, Witkoff told reporters outside the White House that «Edan Alexander is very important to us as all the hostages are.»
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Fox News on Friday that «a delegation from the Hamas movement’s leadership received a proposal from mediators yesterday to resume negotiations, and responded responsibly and positively.
«The movement submitted its response early this morning, agreeing to release… Edan Alexander, who holds U.S. citizenship, along with the remains of four others with dual citizenship,» Naim added. «We reaffirm our full readiness to engage in negotiations and reach a comprehensive agreement on the issues of the second phase, and call for obligating the occupation to fully implement its commitments.»
Though he spent most of his life in New Jersey, Alexander was born in Israel a few months before his parents moved to the U.S., according to the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
After graduating from high school, Alexander decided he would enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rather than enroll in college.
Yael Alexander, the mother of hostage Edan Alexander, speaks during The ‘Run for Their Lives’ rally and run in Central Park on the 100th day since the October 7 attack by Hamas, on Jan. 14, 2024 in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
On Oct. 7, Alexander, who was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade, an infantry unit, was patrolling near Gaza when Hamas’ attacks on Israel began. The attacks ended with 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 hostages taken, including Alexander.
Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, recounted the day he was taken hostage in a recent interview with AJC’s «People of the Pod.» Yael was in Israel in early October 2023, visiting her family and hoping to see Edan. On the morning of Oct. 7, she spoke with Edan, who said that he was seeing «terrible stuff,» but he assured her that he was safe. Then he was taken hostage.
On Nov. 30, 2024, more than a year after Alexander was captured, Hamas released a video of Alexander speaking in Hebrew and Arabic. Alexander, like other hostages forced to make propaganda videos, delivered messages about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-President-elect Donald Trump.
AFTER TRUMP THREAT, HAMAS REFUSES TO RELEASE MORE HOSTAGES WITHOUT PHASE 2 CEASEFIRE DEAL
Donald Trump, is shown photos of Edan Alexander by his mother Yael Alexander at Ohel Chabad Lubavitch on Oct. 7, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A few days after the video’s release, Adi Alexander, Edan’s father, spoke with «Fox & Friends First,» calling the film «very emotional» and «disturbing.» He said it was the first time they had seen a sign of life from their son since he was taken hostage.
Trump warned Hamas earlier this month to «Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you.»
«A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!» Trump said.
Donald Trump is seen posing with a photo of Edan Alexander on Oct. 7, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Friday that it «wholeheartedly welcomes the return of every hostage — whether they come home for rehabilitation or burial.»
«The return of any number of hostages must only be the beginning of an immediate and comprehensive deal to secure the release of ‘all hostages,’» it added. «As President Trump has assured our families and the world, and as he has stated time and again, the return of all hostages is a top priority for his adminsitration. His commitment to bringing our loved ones home has given us hope during this darkest of times.
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«As of today, 59 hostages remain,» the group also said. «We pray every single day for a deal that brings every one of them home, immediately.»
Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel, Trey Yingst, Rachel Wolf and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
Entonces, ¿qué va a pasar?
INTERNACIONAL
Zelenskyy accuses Putin of trying to stall ceasefire talks, pushes Trump for tougher sanctions
As Russian and U.S. officials prepared to speak about the 30-day ceasefire proposal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of looking to prolong the war.
«Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians,» Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. «That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible.»
Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via REUTERS/Leah Millis/Alina Smutko)
TRUMP ‘HOPES’ PUTIN AGREES TO CEASEFIRE AS MOSCOW SIGNALS NO TRUCE YET
After Ukraine agreed to the U.S. ceasefire proposal earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio put the onus on Russia and told reporters that the «ball is now in [Russia’s] court.»
«As we have always said, the only one stalling, the only one being unconstructive, is Russia. They need this war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war day after day,» Zelenskyy added.
Now, Zelenskyy says tougher sanctions are necessary to push Putin towards making a deal and ending the bloody three-year war. While President Donald Trump told reporters he wanted peace, not sanctions, he acknowledged that the U.S. could make financial moves that are «very bad for Russia.»
«In a financial sense, yeah, we could do things, very bad for Russia. It would be devastating for Russia,» Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. «But I don’t want to do that because I want to see peace.»
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz sitting next to him, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
PUTIN THANKS TRUMP FOR PRINCIPLES OF CEASEFIRE PUSH, BUT DOES NOT SAY YES
On Thursday, Putin said he agreed with the U.S. plan for a 30-day ceasefire in «principle,» but signaled that Russia would not be signing onto the agreement in its current form. Ukraine agreed to the plan following talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia, as long as Russia commits to the plan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Rostelecom, Russia’s largest telecommunications provider, president at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 7, 2023. (GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
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Trump said on Thursday that if Russia does not come to the table and agree to the ceasefire, «it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world.» The president vowed throughout his campaign to end the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that if he had remained in office in 2020 the war, which began with Russia’s 2021 invasion of Ukraine, would not have started.
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