Condemning rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas in its war against Israel.

This resolution condemns acts of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war, including those acts committed by Hamas on and since October 7, 2023. The resolution also calls on all nations to criminalize rape and sexual assault and hold accountable all perpetrators of sexual violence, including state and non-state armed groups.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 966 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 966

   Condemning rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas in its war 
                            against Israel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 16, 2024

Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Ms. Manning, 
 Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Ms. Adams, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. 
   Auchincloss, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Bilirakis, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Boyle of 
   Pennsylvania, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Carey, Mr. Carl, Ms. 
Castor of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Ciscomani, Mr. Cline, 
      Mr. Cole, Mr. Costa, Ms. Craig, Mr. D'Esposito, Ms. Dean of 
    Pennsylvania, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Duarte, Mr. Dunn of 
  Florida, Mr. Evans, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Finstad, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. 
  Fleischmann, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. Frost, Mr. Fry, Mr. 
Gallagher, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Garbarino, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Goldman of New 
 York, Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Granger, Mr. Graves of 
 Louisiana, Mr. Harris, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mrs. Hinson, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
Houlahan, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Kean of New Jersey, Mr. Keating, Mrs. 
 Kim of California, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Kustoff, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Lamborn, 
Mr. Landsman, Mr. Langworthy, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. LaTurner, 
Mr. Lawler, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Letlow, Mr. Lieu, Mrs. Luna, Ms. 
   Mace, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Mast, Mrs. McBath, Mr. 
   McCaul, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McCormick, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Meng, Mrs. 
  Miller of West Virginia, Mr. Miller of Ohio, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. 
Moore of Utah, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Nickel, Mr. Norcross, Mr. 
 Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. 
Peters, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Porter, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Ryan, 
 Ms. Salazar, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schneider, 
  Ms. Schrier, Mr. Self, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Sherrill, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. 
Soto, Mrs. Spartz, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Steube, Ms. Stevens, 
 Mr. Takano, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of California, Ms. 
 Titus, Ms. Tokuda, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Torres of New York, 
 Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Trone, Mr. Van Drew, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Walberg, Mr. 
Waltz, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Weber of Texas, 
Ms. Wild, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Wilson of 
 South Carolina, Mr. Yakym, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Matsui, Ms. 
  DeGette, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Williams of New York, Ms. Escobar, Mr. 
   Alford, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Mills, Ms. Brown, Mr. 
 Phillips, Mr. Ivey, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, 
 and Mr. Cohen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Condemning rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas in its war 
                            against Israel.

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and brutally 
        murdered 1,200 men, women, and children, injured thousands, and took 240 
        hostages including babies and children;
Whereas Israeli police have gathered thousands of testimonies from eyewitnesses 
        of Hamas violence on October 7, 2023, including countless instances of 
        rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual violence, 
        and are continuing to gather evidence;
Whereas photographic evidence, forensic medical units, and morgue workers have 
        identified bodies subjected to mutilation and trauma consistent with 
        sexual assault and rape, including shattered pelvises;
Whereas eyewitness accounts from survivors of the attacks and Hamas body camera 
        footage in Israel's southern communities and the Nova music festival in 
        Re'im document gang rape and genital mutilation;
Whereas terrorists captured by Israeli security forces admitted they had been 
        ordered by Hamas leaders to carry out sexual violence against Israeli 
        civilians;
Whereas it has been reported that many victims of rape and sexual assault on 
        October 7th, were murdered by the Hamas perpetrators and are unable to 
        provide testimony;
Whereas released Israeli hostages have reported instances of sexual assault or 
        abuse that occurred while held hostage by Hamas;
Whereas Israel's police, in coordination with Shin Bet, Israel's internal 
        security service, has launched investigations to build cases on charges 
        of mass murder, rape, torture, and bodily mutilation of civilians during 
        the Hamas attacks;
Whereas human rights lawyers, criminologists, and researchers leading the 
        ``Israeli Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women 
        and Children'' have concluded that Hamas terrorists ``weaponized 
        violence against women'' to inflict physical and psychological trauma;
Whereas rape and sexual violence have, throughout history, been used as weapons 
        of war around the world to terrorize and subvert populations;
Whereas rape and sexual violence have serious and difficult mental, physical, 
        and emotional impacts on victims, their families, and communities; and
Whereas some international bodies have been slow to condemn Hamas brutal actions 
        on October 7th, and in some cases, failed to explicitly mention 
        instances of sexual and gender-based violence against women: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns all rape and forms of sexual violence as 
        weapons of war, including those acts committed by Hamas 
        terrorists on and since October 7th;
            (2) calls on all nations to criminalize rape and sexual 
        assault, and hold accountable all perpetrators of sexual 
        violence, including state and non-state armed groups;
            (3) calls on all international bodies to unequivocally 
        condemn the barbaric murder, rape, sexual assault, and 
        kidnapping by Hamas and other terrorists on and since October 
        7th, and hold accountable all perpetrators;
            (4) reaffirms the United States Government's support for 
        independent, impartial investigations of rape and sexual 
        violence committed by Hamas on and since October 7th; and
            (5) reaffirms its commitment to supporting survivors of 
        rape and sexual violence, including those brutalized on and 
        since October 7.
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