Israel says it will sever all ties to UN's Guterres after inclusion in sexual violence report

“Israel says it will sever all ties to UN's Guterres after inclusion in sexual violence report Submitted by MEE staff on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 17:47 The United Nations documented dozens of cases of rape of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers Israeli soldiers patrol the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on 23 May 2026 (Mussa Qawasma/Reuters) Off Israel has lashed out against United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres for its inclusion as a perpetrator in this year's Conflict-Related Sexual Violence report , which was released to the public on Friday. Israel said it would no longer work with the UN chief. The report adds Israel to a slate of countries whose soldiers and security forces have shown a pattern of using rape against captives or vulnerable groups. The secretary general warned that he would do so last year , when he put Israel "on notice" for not providing sufficient access to UN investigators. The UN has long documented Israeli sexual violence towards Palestinians, most particularly in its March 2025 report about the "systematic" use of such force in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and then again in July when it highlighted a pattern of "genital beatings" and "burns". After viewing an internal copy of the report earlier this week, Israel's mission to the UN said on Thursday that it would no longer work with Guterres and that its ambassador, Danny Danon, "set him straight" during a phone call. "WE’RE DONE WITH YOU! @antonioguterres," Danon wrote on X. "To put our soldiers, my son, my daughter, in the same list with the terrorists of Hamas, who committed the horrible crimes of October 7... There is a line, and we decided that enough is enough," he later told the Israeli news channel i24. In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry called the report's findings "shameful and absurd". It said the UN is a "politicized and corrupt organization that has abandoned its founding principles and systematically targets Israel as its primary mission", and for that reason, "Israel has decided to sever all ties with the Secretary-General’s Office and will wait until a new UN Secretary-General is appointed". Guterres' term is due to end on 31 December. UN stands by its report US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz also weighed in on the report, calling the UN "ridiculous" for putting "a democracy like Israel—with robust rule of law that conducts investigations and holds criminals accountable—on the same level as terrorist organizations". Middle East Eye reached out to Guterres' spokesperson for comment. New York Times article details brutal rape of Palestinians. Israel calls it 'blood libel' Read More » "The Secretary-General stands by his own report. The report has been issued and is not open for change," Stephane Dujarric said. A day earlier, Dujarric told reporters at a press briefing that Guterres' "door remains open to Israeli representatives". The sexual violence report, which examined cases from 2023 onwards, cites 31 verified cases of "sexual violence... as a form of torture" committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians, most of whom were held in detention. Ten of the victims were minors. "Violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape," Guterres wrote in the report. The perpetrators, he said, span a wide swath of the Israeli security apparatus: Israel army forces, the Israel Prison Service, the Keter special forces, and the Police Counter-Terrorism Unit (Yamam). Their use of sexual violence is said to have occurred across several interrogation and imprisonment sites, including military camps like Sde Teiman, Etzion, Majnunah, and another unidentified base. Attacks were also carried out at the Israeli prisons of Megiddo, Ofer, Ramla, Hasharon, Shatta, Nafha and Damon, and at Gush Etzion police station. "Survivors included journalists and human rights defenders," Guterres found. "Sexual violence against female detainees included mostly threats of rape, forced nudity, unwanted touching, and humiliating or degrading strip searches without justification, while men and boys were targeted with rape, attempted rape and violence to the genitals, resulting in five male victims suffering severe rectal bleeding or swelling for multiple days or weeks and, in some cases, without receiving medical treatment." 'Blood libel' The secretary general noted there has been "continued denial of access by the Government of Israel to competent United Nations bodies to carry out investigations", and also that "Hamas has not recognized any incidents of sexual violence and has not made commitments or taken measures to address violations". There have been no known indictments in Israel of Israelis accused of raping Palestinians, Guterres said. Earlier this month, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a landmark piece describing how Palestinians have been mounted by dogs, penetrated by carrots, and had their rectums torn by batons. Israeli activists protest at New York Times building after article exposes rape of Palestinians Read More » Kristof qualified his piece by adding that "American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment, so this is sexual violence in which the United States is complicit". The Israeli foreign ministry swiftly condemned the opinion article as " blood libel ", and there were calls for the New York Times to remove it and get rid of Kristof. The Israeli government has not allowed the Red Cross to inspect the conditions of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons for years. "If the US ambassador visited rape survivors with cameras in tow, if we conditioned arms transfers on an end to sexual assault, we could send a moral and practical message that sexual violence is unacceptable no matter the identity of the victim," Kristof later wrote on X. "For starters, the ambassador could ensure that those Palestinians who dared to speak for this article are not brutalized again for their courage," he added, referring to US ambassador to Israel and avowed Zionist Mike Huckabee. Human Rights News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

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