UN's Antonio Guterres puts Israel 'on notice' over sexual violence by armed forces

Hamas also face being placed on United Nations 'blacklist'

A police officer stands near a gate at the Sde Teiman prison where nine soldiers alleged to have sexually abused a Palestinian detainee. Reuters

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has placed Israel "on notice" for possible inclusion in the UN's "blacklist" of countries and groups suspected of committing sexual violence in armed conflict, a letter posted by Israel's ambassador to the body showed.

In his letter to Ambassador Danny Danon, Mr Guterres said he was "gravely concerned" about reports of violations against Palestinians by the Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention centre and a military base.

The UN chief said Israel could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict "due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations".

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“Cases documented by the United Nations indicate patterns of sexual violence such as genital violence, prolonged forced nudity and repeated strip searches conducted in an abusive and degrading manner,” Mr Guterres said.

Israel has denied access to UN monitors and Mr Guterres said this made it difficult to make a "definitive determination" about the patterns, trends and use of sexual violence by Israeli forces. He called on the Israeli government to take the necessary measures to end all acts of sexual violence and allow investigations.

In March, UN-backed human rights groups accused Israel of sexual and gender-based violence. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory documented violations and accused Israeli forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has placed Israel 'on notice' for possible inclusion in the UN's 'blacklist' of countries and groups suspected of committing sexual violence in armed conflict. AFP

Last year, the Israeli army said it had detained nine soldiers over the alleged sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman prison. At the time, Israeli media published a video appearing to show soldiers sexually assaulting a male prisoner, with the US State Department describing it as "horrific".

Mr Danon dismissed the concerns as baseless accusations.

"The UN must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages. Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law," Mr Danon said.

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Hamas was also listed in the report as a group "credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence" in armed conflict.

“We categorically reject all these allegations," senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters. The inclusion of the group comes after recently published reports documenting alleged sexual violence during the October 7, 2023 attack and against hostages in captivity.

Reuters reported that Mr Guterres had also issued a similar warning to Russia. The UN chief wrote that he was "gravely concerned about credible information of violations by Russian armed and security forces and affiliated armed groups" primarily against Ukrainian prisoners of war, in 50 official and 22 unofficial detention facilities in Ukraine and Russia.