GazaHerald – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has formally warned Israel that its armed and security forces could be added to the UN’s “blacklist” of states and groups suspected of committing patterns of sexual violence in armed conflict.
In a letter sent Monday to Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” by credible information documenting violations by Israeli forces against Palestinians in multiple detention sites.
“I am putting Israeli armed and security forces on notice for potential listing in the next reporting cycle, due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations,” Guterres wrote.
The UN chief said the documented cases include genital violence, prolonged forced nudity, and repeated strip searches conducted in abusive and degrading ways. These incidents, he noted, have been reported in several prisons, a detention center, and even a military base.
Guterres stressed that Israel’s refusal to grant access to UN monitors has made it “challenging to make a definitive determination” about the scale or systematic nature of these violations.
Nonetheless, he urged the Israeli government to take immediate action to end all acts of sexual violence and to implement “specific time-bound commitments” to address the allegations.
Such commitments, he said, should include unimpeded access for UN monitors, thorough investigations of abuse, and the issuance of clear orders and codes of conduct prohibiting sexual violence by military and security forces.
These concerns echo findings made earlier this year. In March, UN-backed human rights experts accused Israel of “the systematic use of sexual, reproductive, and other gender-based violence” against Palestinians.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said it had documented a range of violations targeting Palestinian women, men, girls, and boys, including allegations of rape and sexual violence against detainees.
