A U.S. official has speculated that Hamas is refusing to release more hostages, specifically female hostages, out of fear that could reveal the poor treatment and other atrocities inflicted upon them by the terrorist organization.
In a Dec. 4 U.S. Department of State daily press briefing, Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Biden Administration had no reason to doubt reports of alleged sexual violence and rape against female hostages perpetuated by Hamas. However, he did note that one of the main reasons the White House had yet to make a firm statement condemning the actions was because they hadn’t independently verified some of the reports yet.
