The U.N. envoy focusing on violence against women in conflict said in a new report Monday that there are �reasonable grounds� to believe Hamas committed assault, torture, and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

There are also �reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing,� said Pramila Patten, who visited Israel and the West Bank from Jan. 29 to Feb. 14 with a nine-member team.

In the report, she said the team �found clear and convincing information� that some hostages have been subjected to the same forms of conflict-related violence including assault and torture.

Patten�s report said the team�s visit �was neither intended nor mandated to be investigative in nature.�

Team members held 33 meetings with Israeli institutions and conducted interview with 34 people including survivors and witnesses of the Oct. 7 attacks, released hostages, health providers and others.

Based on the information it gathered, Patten said, �there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related… violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including [assault] and gang [assault], in at least three locations.�

Across various locations, she said, the team found �that several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered � mostly women � with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head.�

At the Nova music festival and its surroundings, Patten said, �there are reasonable grounds to believe that multiple incidents of [such] violence took place with victims being subjected to [assault] and/or gang [assault] and then killed or killed while being [assaulted].�

On Road 232 � the road to leave the festival � �credible information based on witness accounts describe an incident of the [assault] of two women by armed elements,� Patten said. Other reported assaults couldn�t be verified during their time in Israel.

But she said �the mission team also found a pattern of bound naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down, in some cases tied to structures including trees and poles, along Road 232.�

Patten said that in Kibbutz Reim, the mission team verified the assault of a woman outside a bomb shelter and heard of other allegations of assault that could not yet be verified.

At Kibbutz Be�eri, Patten said, her team �was able to determine that at least two allegations of [such] violence widely repeated in the media, were unfounded due to either new superseding information or inconsistency in the facts gathered.�

These included a highly publicized allegation that a pregnant woman�s womb was reportedly ripped open before being killed with her fetus stabbed inside her, Patten said.

(AP)