The United Nations has \u201cadded Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones\u201d, prompting Israel to cut ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres, the country\u2019s ambassador to the UN says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are done with this secretary-general,\u201d Israeli ambassador Danny Danon added in a video posted on X on Thursday, denouncing the upcoming report from Guterres\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
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The UN secretary-general\u2019s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence is customarily presented to relevant states before publication. Last August, the report warned that Israel could be added to the list of parties suspected of, or responsible for, sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to blacklist Israel and accuse us of using sexual violence as a weapon of war is an outrageous decision,\u201d Danon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe secretary-general and his team continue to spread lies against Israel. To put us and Hamas terrorists on the same list, that\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Israeli mission to the UN said in a statement that it will have no contact with the secretary-general\u2019s office as long as Guterres serves as head of the organisation.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s foreign ministry also expressed anger over the upcoming report.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shameful and absurd UN decision to include Israeli entities in the annex to the CRSV (conflict-related sexual violence) report is further proof of the UN\u2019s true nature: a politicised and corrupt organisation that has abandoned its founding principles and systematically targets Israel as its primary mission,\u201d Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign ministry, said on X.<\/p>\n
Guterres\u2019s spokesperson said they were aware of Danon\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our part, the secretary-general\u2019s door remains open,\u201d Stephane Dujarric said.<\/p>\n
Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said adding Israel to the blacklist for sexual violence is \u201clong overdue\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis listing could not have come soon enough,\u201d Alsalem wrote on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had in the past expressed my disappointment that Israel was not listed already, given the systematic, large-scale and horrific sexual violence perpetrated by Israel against Palestinian women, men and children that have been independently documented and verified,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Systematic pattern of abuse<\/p>\n
Last August, the UN cited \u201ccredible information\u201d regarding sexual violence committed by Israeli security forces against Palestinian detainees in prisons and other detention centres, and said UN inspectors had been denied access to the facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe invited the representative of the UN to come to Israel to check those ridiculous allegations. They chose not to come,\u201d Danon said.<\/p>\n
Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, especially those taken from Gaza during Israel\u2019s brutal war since 2023, have long revealed<\/a> how they suffer dehumanising treatment by guards and soldiers, including torture and sexual violence. According to international human rights organisations,\u00a0these testimonies are part of a broader and systematic pattern.<\/p>\n Furthermore, a report from the West Bank Protection Consortium last month found that sexual violence and other forms of gender-based abuse committed by Israeli settlers and soldiers are spurring Palestinians to leave the occupied West Bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even foreigners, namely those on board a recent Gaza-bound aid flotilla, say that freed activists who were abducted from international waters faced abuse while in Israeli detention, including at least 15 separate cases of sexual assault or rape.<\/a><\/p>\n