UN adds Israel to blacklist' for conflict-related sexual violence

The UN added Israel to a blacklist of conflict-related sexual violence, prompting Israel to announce it will cut ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said Israel is done with Guterres and condemned the upcoming report from Guterres’s office. Danon called the decision outrageous and rejected accusations that Israel uses sexual violence as a weapon of war. Israel’s UN mission said it will have no contact with the secretary-general’s office while Guterres remains in the role. Israel’s foreign ministry called the decision politicized and corrupt. Guterres’s spokesperson said the secretary-general’s door remains open, and the UN said it had cited credible information last August regarding sexual violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinians.

"Israeli ambassador to the UN says Tel Aviv will cut ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres over the upcoming report. The United Nations has added Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones, prompting Israel to cut ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres, the country's ambassador to the UN says. We are done with this secretary-general, Israeli ambassador Danny Danon added in a video posted on X on Thursday, denouncing the upcoming report from Guterres's office."

"The UN secretary-general's annual report on conflict-related sexual violence is customarily presented to relevant states before publication. Last August, the report warned that Israel could be added to the list of parties suspected of, or responsible for, sexual violence in situations of armed conflict. The decision to blacklist Israel and accuse us of using sexual violence as a weapon of war is an outrageous decision, Danon said. The secretary-general and his team continue to spread lies against Israel."

"To put us and Hamas terrorists on the same list, that's unacceptable. The Israeli mission to the UN said in a statement that it will have no contact with the secretary-general's office as long as Guterres serves as head of the organisation. The country's foreign ministry also expressed anger over the upcoming report. The shameful and absurd UN decision to include Israeli entities in the annex to the CRSV (conflict-related sexual violence) report is further proof of the UN's true nature: a politicised and corrupt organisation that has abandoned its founding principles and systematically targets Israel as its primary mission, Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign ministry, said on X."

"Guterres's spokesperson said they were aware of Danon's remarks. For our part, the secretary-general's door remains open, Stephane Dujarric said. Last August, the UN cited credible information regarding sexual violence committed by Israeli security forces against Palestinian d"

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