Israel put on UN sexual violence in warzones blacklist for first time

37 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleEmir Nader

Israeli guards were caught on CCTV appearing to sexually abuse a detainee from Gaza at the Sde Teiman detention facility (pictured)

Getty Images A view of Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert near the Gaza Strip — Israeli guards were caught on CCTV appearing to sexually abuse a detainee from Gaza at the Sde Teiman detention facility (pictured)

Israel has been added to a UN blacklist of countries that commit sexual violence in warzones for the first time.

A report by the office of Secretary General António Guterres said the UN had last year verified 31 cases of sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. It said 13 of the cases had occurred in 2025, and 18 in the two years prior.

The UN said its report should be seen as “indicative of incidents and patterns” rather than comprehensive.

Israel said it rejected allegations of sexual abuse and intended to break off relations with the secretary general’s office.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, accused Guterres on Thursday of spreading antisemitic lies. The Israeli UN mission said it will refuse contact with his office as long as he serves as head of the international body.

The report said the cases the UN had verified were carried out against 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl. The violations included rape, gang rape, forced nudity, and violence to genitals committed by officers from the Israeli military, police and prison service.

The UN said its attempts to fully investigate the issue had been obstructed by the Israeli government and threats made against detainees to prevent abuse being reported.

Last year, Hamas was added to the previous “Conflict-related Sexual Violence” report.

The UN said 12 former hostages released from Gaza had made allegations of sexual violence against Hamas captors, adding it had been unable to verify the reports as the Israeli government had denied access to UN bodies to carry out investigations.

Guterres said at the time that he was placing Israel on “notice”, urging it to take steps to investigate numerous allegations and improve detention conditions for Palestinians.

Since then, a series of high-profile cases have suggested a pattern of sexual abuse being used against Palestinian detainees.

In one now-infamous case, five Israeli guards were caught on leaked CCTV footage appearing to sexually abuse a detainee from Gaza at the Sde Teiman detention facility.

A doctor who subsequently examined the man found corroborating wounds to his rectum. Despite international scrutiny of the case, Israel’s top military lawyer dropped charges against the guards in March of this year.

Last December, two Palestinian men told the BBC they had experienced sexual abuse as part of torture they were subjected to as prisoners in Israeli detention sites.

The Israel Prison Service told the BBC at the time it operated in “full accordance with the law” and was unaware of the claims described.

The UN Committee against Torture said in November that it was deeply concerned about reports indicating “a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture and ill treatment” of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.

It said the allegations had “gravely intensified” after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.

More recently, a report by the New York Times based on the testimonies of 14 Palestinian sexual abuse survivors caused an irate reaction from the Israeli government.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a joint statement that they were launching a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, calling the report “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the state of Israel in the modern press”.

Throughout the war in Gaza, a number of human rights organisations have criticised a lack of accountability and apparent impunity for abuses committed by Israeli troops.

Last year, the research organisation Action on Armed Violence said nearly nine in 10 Israeli investigations into crimes committed by soldiers since the beginning of the Gaza war had been closed without finding fault or without resolution. Out of 52 cases studied, it said only one case resulted in a prison conviction.

The Israeli military responded to the report saying it “conducts examination and investigation processes regarding exceptional incidents that occurred during operational activity, in which there is a suspicion of a violation of the law”.

It added that it opened criminal investigations when there was reasonable suspicion of an offence “in accordance with its obligations under Israeli law and international law”.

Russian forces also blacklisted

Meanwhile, Russian armed and security forces were blacklisted for the first time – having also been warned by Guterres last year – for sexual violence against prisoners of war and civilian detainees during the war in Ukraine.

In Russia and Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, the report said it had identified 310 instances of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and genital mutilation, affecting 280 men, 26 women and four girls.

The war began in February 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the report, saying it was “a crucial step on the painful road to truth and accountability”. Russia has not publicly commented.