UN places Israel and Russia on blacklist for sexual violence in conflict zones

The United Nations on Friday added Israel and Russia to a UN blacklist of countries suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict zones, a move that prompted Israel’s foreign ministry to say it would sever all ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Mr. Guterres’s annual report to the UN Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence goes a step further than last year, when he put Israel and Russia “on notice” that they could be added to the list of parties “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence.”

The latest report does that and contains harrowing descriptions of abuses at the hands of Israeli and Russian armed and security forces.

Israel’s arch enemy Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, was already on the blacklist and in a post on X on Thursday, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said ranking Israel with the militant group marked a “new low.”

“This is a political decision! Disconnected from the facts and reality!” Mr. Danon said in another post by the Israeli mission to the UN which said he was informed about it during a phone call with Mr. Guterres.

Russia’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, which Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, welcomed in a post on X.

Being added to the list does not automatically carry specific punitive measures such as sanctions, although public naming and shaming can cause significant reputational damage for the states involved, and those repeatedly listed are barred from UN peacekeeping operations.

Mr. Danon said Israel had responded in detail to each allegation and had invited UN representatives to visit and examine the situation, but that they had chosen not to do so.

“Given that Antonio Guterres has chosen to violate every standard of honesty, integrity and professionalism, Israel has decided to sever all ties with the Secretary-General’s Office and will wait until a new UN Secretary-General is appointed,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on X.

A new UN secretary-general is due to be appointed later this year.

The report’s compiler, Pramila Patten, Mr. Guterres’ special representative on sexual violence in conflict, confirmed at a news briefing that there had been an invitation from Israel, but referred also to disagreements about the scope of the visit and related issues of access and co-operation, and said it ultimately had to be suspended due to the war in Gaza.

She said cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the United Nations globally rose by more than 100 per cent in 2025 over 2024 and called it a very disturbing trend that was still only the “very tip of the iceberg.”

“This number can be attributed to the fact that we are going through a time when we have a record number of extremely violent conflicts, and the fact that perpetrators are feeling emboldened by a context of impunity, where this crime is almost costfree,” she said.

Asked about Mr. Danon’s comments at a regular briefing on Thursday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “From the Secretary-General’s point of view, his door remains open to Israeli representatives, as to the other 192 member states and the two observer states.”

This year’s report said that in 2025, “the United Nations verified multiple incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, including as a form of torture, inflicted against 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

It said 13 of the cases occurred in 2025, and 18 in 2023 and 2024.