Khouloud Daibes, the Minister of Women’s Affairs in Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s new PA, spoke out on Tuesday against violent attacks on women in Gaza.  Daibes did not give details of the attacks, but said that many women have been used by Hamas terrorists in order to convince their families to surrender.

Several human rights groups have criticized the treatment of women in Gaza and in parts of Judea and Samaria controlled by the PA.  Among other things, the groups point to the frequency of honor killings, in which women are murdered by family members who suspect them of illicit behavior, and to the public humiliation of women as revenge against their husbands.