Previously, the UN body for gender equality has faced severe criticism for not calling out the terrorist group on the sexual assault

Eight weeks after the October 7 attack, during which many Israeli women were subjected to sexualized violence by the Hamas terrorists, the United Nations (UN) Women, the organization’s body for gender equality and women’s empowerment, expressed its condemnation of the Hamas’s actions.

“We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October,” read the statement. “We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks.” Earlier in November, the UN Women made a similar post on its official Instagram account. The post was soon removed and replaced with a statement calling for hostages release. The new message did not condemn Hamas.

UN Women told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the post had been scheduled in advance and “no longer reflected where the organization wanted to put its main focus.”