On Thursday, the UN added Israel to its blacklist for sexual crimes committed during conflict. According to Middle East Eye, the blacklist forms part of the annex to the UN secretary-general’s annual report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). It identifies parties credibly suspected of committing patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence during armed conflict.
Israel’s UN ambassador Dany Danon denounced the decision as “political” and “detached from the facts and from reality” and declared that his country was “done” with Mr Guterres. The Israeli mission to the UN said it would have “no contact” with the Secretary General’s office as long as Mr. Guterres leads it.
The addition of Israel to the UN blacklist a follows multiple reports by human rights organizations and media outlets—including Middle East Eye—documenting allegations of rape and other forms of sexual violence by Israeli forces against Palestinians since October 2023. This is includes widely reported abuses against Palestinians in Israeli prisons where at least 100 prisoners have reportedly died in custody under these conditions.
Last year, a United Nations inquiry accused Israel of using sexualized torture and rape as “a method of war... to destabilize, dominate, oppress and destroy the Palestinian people.”
