The United Nations confirmed it has placed Israel on its blacklist of states suspected of committing sexual violence against civilians, rejecting Israeli criticism over the inclusion. The list is part of the report on 'conflict-related sexual violence' released Friday. In response, Israel's Foreign Ministry announced it would sever all ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In August last year, the UN cited 'credible information' about sexual violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinian detainees in prisons and other detention centers, and said UN monitors had been denied access to those facilities. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon called the allegations 'absurd' and said the UN had not come to Israel to verify them. However, Pramila Patten, the UN official in charge of the report, said she had repeatedly asked Israel for information on preventive measures but received no substantive response. Patten confirmed Israel had issued an invitation, but there was disagreement over the scope of the visit and cooperation issues, and the visit was eventually postponed due to the war in Gaza.
This year's report documents 'multiple incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, including as a form of torture' against 14 men, 7 women, 9 boys and 1 girl from the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank in 2025. The report says 13 attacks occurred last year and 18 in 2023 and 2024. Violations include rape, gang rape, rape with objects, threats of rape, physical violence to genitals and forced nudity. Perpetrators include Israeli armed and security forces. The attacks mainly occurred during detention and interrogation at military camps, checkpoints and military operations. Victims include journalists and human rights activists.
The report also adds Russia to the list, after documenting 310 cases of conflict-related sexual violence by Russian armed and security forces in Ukraine, including rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to genitals, injuring 280 men, 26 women and 4 girls.
The report's blacklist now includes 77 parties, 62 of which are non-state forces. New additions include three non-state armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Being listed does not automatically trigger specific sanctions, but being named can cause significant reputational damage and repeated listing bars countries from UN peacekeeping activities. Patten said nearly 10,000 conflict-related sexual violence cases were documented worldwide last year, double the previous year, and that this is only 'the tip of the iceberg,' reflecting a record number of extremely violent conflicts and impunity that leaves crimes almost unpunished.
