UN head puts Israel 'on notice' over alleged 'sexual violence' against Palestinians

A letter written by UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Israel that it may be listed in a “Conflict-Related Sexual Violence” report, due to “credible” allegations of sexual violence against Palestinians.

“I am gravely concerned about credible information of violations by Israeli armed and security forces, perpetrated against Palestinians in several prisons, a detention centre and military base,” Guterres wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon.

The letter stated that the UN has had difficulty in determining the extent of these alleged crimes “due to consistent denial of access to United Nations monitors.”

Despite this, Guterres said he is “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.”

He further urged Israel to “ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence,” and listed several measures the UN would like Israel to take to ensure they won’t be included in the report.

Guterres concluded by writing that he and other UN officials “stand ready to support the Government of Israel in the implementation of these preventative measures, as appropriate.”

In response to the letter, Danon accused the UN of spreading “baseless accusations.”

“The UN must focus on Hamas’ shocking war crimes and the immediate release of all the hostages,” he said.

The UN has made such allegations before, saying that “Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians.”

In a report published in March, many such incidents were described by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.

The report stated that “since October 7 2023, hundreds of Palestinian men and boys have been photographed and filmed in humiliating and degrading circumstances while subjected to acts of a sexual nature, including forced public nudity and stripping, full or partial.”

It also said the “Commission documented cases of rape and sexual assault of male detainees,” and that “female detainees were also subjected to sexual assault and harassment in military and Israel Prison Service facilities.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said at the time that the report was “one of the worst cases of blood libel the world has ever seen (and the world has seen many).”