Watan-An Israeli newspaper has exposed several cases of sexual violence occurring within hotels where evacuated Israeli women and children have been relocated to. Meanwhile, the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women has demanded action against these violations faced by vulnerable segments of the population, describing the situation as a “pressure cooker” on the brink of explosion at any moment.
According to the Times of Israel, Benina Tamano Shata, the chairwoman of the Knesset committee on women’s status and gender equality, recounted on Tuesday that a young girl living in a hotel for evacuated Israelis – due to the war – was sexually assaulted by a man residing in the same hotel.
This statement was made during a special session regarding sexual and physical assaults against women and minors who were evacuated to hotels at the beginning of the war against the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza.
These scandals in Israel come amidst allegations circulated by Israeli media about cases of rape against Israeli female prisoners held by Hamas, allegations that have been refuted even by Western media sympathetic to Israel.
Evacuation chaos
According to the same source, Miri Frank, director of social welfare, said: “There was a 23-year-old man involved with a 13-year-old girl, and her mother was completely unaware because she was amidst the chaos of evacuation.”
The account of the sexual assault on the evacuated young girl was one of many stories heard by the committee, as representatives of the occupation government programs and other officials spoke about the issues faced by what they described as vulnerable residents living in the hotels.
Rape and assault cases
Maya Oberbaum from the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel told the committee, chaired by Knesset member Benina Tamano Shata, that “one of the residents who was evacuated exposed himself and urinated in front of the children at the hotel entrance.”
An elderly person struck a young girl in the elevator and was transferred to another hotel in Tel Aviv. She said that one survivor contacted the committee and confirmed that she had been raped by a man evacuated with her to the hotel.
A girl said she was beaten by a 15-year-old boy, and another girl reported that a person exposed her underwear in an elevator used by hotel guests.
Additionally, other reports indicated sexual assaults in educational environments within the systems established for evacuated Israelis, and a security guard was accused of assaulting a young girl.
Tens of thousands of Israeli settlers have been evacuated from settlements near the Gaza border since October 7, following the start of “Operation Farthest Tempest.”
Dozens of these settlements in southern and northern Israel have also been evacuated after Hezbollah began semi-daily attacks across the Lebanese border. Dozens of settlers from Kibbutz Nir Am were temporarily relocated to the Herods Hotel in Tel Aviv on January 3, 2024.
Statistics indicate that nearly 200,000 Israelis have been evacuated after four months, with approximately 56,000 evacuated individuals still displaced, living in 380 hotels across Israel, revealing atrocities within them thereafter.
Pressure cooker
A representative for the occupation police told the committee on Tuesday that the police had opened 116 cases related to the evacuated individuals living in hotels. Of this number, there are 40 cases of domestic violence.
The police representative, known as Kahan, warned that hotels have become a “pressure cooker,” telling the committee that women living in these hotels often feel harassed by groups of men who sit in hotel lobbies for hours due to the lack of organization in their daily lives.
He said: “Young people sit in the hotel in Eilat or in Haifa, creating a sense of insecurity.”
He added: “There are conflicts between the hotel management and the evacuated individuals in the hotel who feel like they are at home and violate the hotel rules.”
In her address to the committee, Tamano Shata issued instructions to government representatives and Israeli occupation police to collect accurate data from each hotel to address the escalating violence.