A US official has said that Hamas likely held back on freeing female hostages, ending a pause in Israel’s offensive, because they did not want the women to speak publicly about sexual violence, AFP reports.

“It seems one of the reasons they don’t want to turn women over that they’ve been holding hostage and the reason this pause fell apart is they don’t want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Miller, citing sensitivities in discussing the treatment of captives, declined to give details on the treatment of the women.

“There is very little that I would put beyond Hamas when it comes to its treatment of civilians and particularly its treatment of women,” Miller said.

Hamas in a statement rejected accusations of rape and sexual violence as “unfounded lies.”