UN sexual violence envoy pulls out of Security Council briefing on Hamas hostages [View all]

[Beastly Boy]

The UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict Pramila Patten pulled out of a Security Council session where she was supposed to brief members about the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, a UN diplomat told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.

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Patten — the UN special representative whose purview most closely overlaps with the topic — was named as the first of three briefers along with a civil society representative and a released Israeli hostage or relative of a hostage.

But in the updated invitations — or “concept notes” — sent out to members on Monday and also obtained by The Times of Israel, Patten was no longer listed among the briefers.

A UN diplomat said on condition of anonymity that Patten’s withdrawal was not due to scheduling issues. The diplomat hinted that the decision was politically motivated, as her office has faced pressure not to be seen as prioritizing the plight of the Israeli hostages over that of the Palestinians caught in the middle of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-sexual-violence-envoy-pulls-out-of-security-council-briefing-on-hamas-hostages/