Israeli ambassador to the UN says Tel Aviv will lower ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres over the upcoming report.
Printed On 28 Might 2026
The United Nations has “added Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in battle zones”, prompting Israel to chop ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres, the nation’s ambassador to the UN says.
“We’re executed with this secretary-general,” Israeli ambassador Danny Danon added in a video posted on X on Thursday, denouncing the upcoming report from Guterres’s workplace.
Advisable Tales
listing of three gadgetsfinish of listing
The UN secretary-general’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence is typically introduced to related states earlier than publication. Final August, the report warned that Israel could possibly be added to the listing of events suspected of, or answerable for, sexual violence in conditions of armed battle.
“The choice to blacklist Israel and accuse us of utilizing sexual violence as a weapon of struggle is an outrageous choice,” Danon mentioned.
“The secretary-general and his crew proceed to unfold lies towards Israel. To place us and Hamas terrorists on the identical listing, that’s unacceptable.”
The Israeli mission to the UN mentioned in a press release that it’s going to don’t have any contact with the secretary-general’s workplace so long as Guterres serves as head of the organisation.
The nation’s overseas ministry additionally expressed anger over the upcoming report.
“The shameful and absurd UN choice to incorporate Israeli entities within the annex to the CRSV (conflict-related sexual violence) report is additional proof of the UN’s true nature: a politicised and corrupt organisation that has deserted its founding ideas and systematically targets Israel as its main mission,” Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for the Israeli overseas ministry, mentioned on X.
Guterres’s spokesperson mentioned they have been conscious of Danon’s remarks.
“For our half, the secretary-general’s door stays open,” Stephane Dujarric mentioned.
Systematic sample of abuse
Final August, the UN cited “credible info” concerning sexual violence dedicated by Israeli safety forces towards Palestinian detainees in prisons and different detention centres, and mentioned UN inspectors had been denied entry to the services.
“We invited the consultant of the UN to return to Israel to verify these ridiculous allegations. They selected to not come,” Danon mentioned.
Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, particularly these taken from Gaza throughout Israel’s brutal struggle since 2023, have lengthy revealed how they endure dehumanising therapy by guards and troopers, together with torture and sexual violence. In line with worldwide human rights organisations, these testimonies are a part of a broader and systematic sample.
Moreover, a report from the West Financial institution Safety Consortium final month discovered that sexual violence and different types of gender-based abuse dedicated by Israeli settlers and troopers are spurring Palestinians to depart the occupied West Financial institution.
Even foreigners, specifically these on board a current Gaza-bound assist flotilla, say that freed activists who have been kidnapped from worldwide waters confronted abuse whereas in Israeli detention, together with no less than 15 separate circumstances of sexual assault or rape.
Earlier this month, Israel additionally rejected accusations of rape by its forces, which have been detailed in a column by longtime New York Occasions journalist Nicholas Kristof. The Israeli authorities had responded to the report by stating that it could take the extraordinary step of suing the paper. Kristof’s reporting was primarily based on the accounts of 14 female and male Palestinian victims.
Relations between the UN and Israel are fraught and have reached an all-time low since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an assault that preceded Israel’s genocidal struggle on Gaza, which has killed greater than 72,000 Palestinians.
Israeli authorities have criticised Guterres and different UN officers for his or her condemnation of its brutal conduct in Gaza. The UN chief was declared “persona non grata” in Israel in 2024.
