UN Secretary-General Flags Israel for Potential Sexual Violence Blacklist Amid 2025 Report Release

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has formally placed Israel “on notice” for potential inclusion in the UN’s critical “blacklist” of entities credibly suspected of perpetrating patterns of sexual violence in armed conflict. This significant development comes as the UN’s annual Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence for 2025 is being finalized, a draft of which has already seen Hamas listed for the first time.

While the current draft of the 2025 report, expected for imminent public release, does not yet include Israel in its formal annex, Guterres expressed “grave concern” within the main body of the document. These concerns stem from allegations of sexual violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinians across multiple prisons, detention facilities, and a military base.

In a recent letter to Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, Guterres explicitly warned that Israel is under watch and could be added to next year’s annex. The Secretary-General cited difficulties in verification due to alleged refusal of access for UN inspectors but underscored “significant concern” over documented patterns of abuse. Among the serious allegations are multiple accounts of the rape of Palestinian male detainees, including a reported assault during a transfer to the Sde Teiman facility last year.

Hamas’s inclusion in the annex marks a significant first, following recently published reports detailing systematic sexual violence during the October 7, 2023, attacks and against hostages held in captivity. Previously, the terror group was not blacklisted due to insufficient evidence. Ambassador Danon has vehemently rejected the allegations against Israel as “unfounded,” demanding Israel’s removal from any consideration for listing and calling for sanctions on Hamas, emphasizing the disparity in documented patterns of abuse.

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