Israel said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had threatened to add it to a blacklist of countries and groups, including Hamas, for which there was credible reason to believe used sexual violence as a weapon of war. File Photo by COP28/UN Climate Change/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Israel received a formal warning from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that its military and security agencies faced being added to an annual "blacklist" of countries and groups believed to be committing acts of sexual violence in armed conflict.
Israel escaped inclusion in this year's U.N. Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, but Guterres wrote Danny Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., placing Israel on notice over "grave concerns" regarding allegations in the report of sexual violence by its security forces against Palestinians in Israeli detention.
In the letter, shared by Danon, Guterres warned that Israel was on watch and could be added to the blacklist in next year's report, saying consistently documented patterns had triggered "significant concerns."
Guterres complained that Israel's consistent refusal to allow U.N. monitors access to verify abuse had made the task of making a "definitive determination regarding patterns, trends and systematicity" of sexual violence very problematic.
