Israel Is Cutting Ties With The Head Of The UN After He Blacklisted It For Sexual Violence Against Palestinians
Israel's UN ambassador said the country was "done with this secretary-general" and announced Israel would have no further contact with Guterres's office.
Israel has said it is cutting all ties with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and his office after the UN included Israel on a formal list of parties that have committed sexual violence in conflict zones.
Every year, the UN secretary-general publishes a report on sexual violence in conflict.
As part of that report, the UN maintains a list of countries, militaries and armed groups that are credibly suspected of committing sexual violence as part of warfare or detention and parties remain on the list for at least one year.
In August 2025, Guterres added Hamas to the list and placed Israel formally "on notice," meaning it could be added to the blacklist if it did not take steps to prevent and address sexual violence.
The UN's special representative on sexual violence in conflict and the author of the report Pramila Patten said she spent the following year trying to get a response from Israel, but “never received an iota of information on measures” taken by Israel on implementation of the preventive measures.
On May 29, the UN released the report, adding two new parties to the list, Israel and Russia.
The report said the UN had verified 31 instances of sexual violence against Palestinians by Israeli forces between 2023 and 2025, 13 of them in 2025 alone.
The victims included 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl, all from Gaza or the occupied West Bank.
The document contains long accounts of abuse by Israel military, including a report about the Sde Teiman detention facility incident, when Israeli soldiers gang raped a Palestinian detainee.
Five soldiers were indicted over the incident, but Israel’s military dropped all charges against them later.
Israel denied all the findings.
Its foreign ministry called the listing "shameful and absurd" and accused Guterres of fabricating "baseless accusations."
Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon said the country was "done with this secretary-general" and announced Israel would have no further contact with Guterres's office for the remainder of his term, which ends at the close of 2026.
Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
