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UN chief Guterres puts Israel 'on notice' over sexual violence by military forces

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 13 August 2025 10:41 AM

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued a warning to Israel regarding its potential inclusion in the world body's "blacklist" of entities and groups suspected of involvement in sexual violence during armed conflicts.

In a letter addressed to Israeli ambassador Danny Danon, Guterres said that he was "gravely concerned" about the reports of violations against Palestinians by the Israeli military and security forces occurring in multiple prisons, a detention center, and a military base.

The UN chief said that Israel could be categorized as abusers in his forthcoming report regarding 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."

"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," Guterres noted.

Israel has refused entry to UN monitors, and Guterres stated this complicates the ability to reach a "definitive determination" regarding the patterns, trends, and instances of sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli forces.

He urged the Tel Aviv regime to implement the necessary actions to cease all acts of sexual violence and permit investigations.

In March, UN-backed human rights organizations said Israel had committed acts of sexual and gender-based violence. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory recorded these violations and charged Israeli forces with rape and sexual violence against Palestinian abductees.

Last year, the Israeli military announced the detention of nine soldiers in connection with the sexual abuse of a Palestinian abductee at the notorious Sde Teiman prison.

At the time, Israeli media outlets released a video that depicted soldiers engaging in the sexual assault of a male abductee, which the US State Department characterized as "horrific."

According to prisoners' rights organizations, Israel has abducted approximately 18,500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023. Some of the individuals have been released.

By early July, about 10,800 Palestinians were still incarcerated in Israeli prisons, comprising 49 women and 450 children, marking the highest figures since the Second Intifada in 2000.

The conditions under which Palestinian inmates are held by Israel are deplorable, with insufficient hygienic standards. Additionally, Palestinian abductees have faced ongoing torture, harassment, and repression.

Palestinian abductees have persistently engaged in open-ended hunger strikes to convey their anger regarding their unlawful detention.

Human rights organizations assert that Israel persists in infringing upon all rights and freedoms afforded to abductees under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international laws.

As reported by the Palestine Detainees Studies Center, approximately 60 percent of Palestinian abductees held in Israeli jails are afflicted with chronic illnesses, with several of them having died either during their detention or following their release as a result of the severity of their conditions.