UN Blacklists Israel Over Sexual Violence Against Palestinians

The United Nations has added Israeli armed and security forces to its annual blacklist of parties suspected of committing conflict-related sexual violence, citing verified cases of rape, sexual torture, forced nudity and other abuses against Palestinian detainees from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The move, contained in the UN Secretary-General’s 2026 report on conflict-related sexual violence, marks the first time Israeli forces have been included in the list since the UN began issuing the review more than 15 years ago. The report also added Russian armed and security forces over documented sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees.

According to the report, UN investigators verified 31 cases of conflict-related sexual violence against Palestinians between 2023 and 2025. The victims included 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl from Gaza and the West Bank. Thirteen of the cases took place in 2025, while 18 occurred in 2023 and 2024.

The report said the violations included rape, repeated gang rape, attempted rape, rape with objects, physical violence to the genitals, targeted shooting of genitals, forced nudity, threats of rape, unwanted touching, and strip and cavity searches carried out without apparent security justification. It said rape and gang rape were committed against nine victims, most of them from Gaza.

The UN said the alleged perpetrators included Israeli armed and security forces, with abuses occurring primarily during detention and interrogation, but also at military camps, checkpoints and during military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory. Survivors included journalists and human rights defenders. In some cases, the report said, violations were filmed or photographed, including one case of rape.

The report drew a distinction between the forms of abuse reported by women and girls and those reported by men and boys. Female detainees were subjected mainly to threats of rape, forced nudity, unwanted touching and degrading strip searches, while men and boys were targeted with rape, attempted rape and direct violence to the genitals. Five male victims suffered severe rectal bleeding or swelling lasting days or weeks, according to the report.

UN officials stressed that the verified cases are not a full account of the alleged abuse. The report said the UN’s ability to investigate was limited by lack of access to detention facilities and detainees, fear of reprisals, shame, stigma and distrust of complaint mechanisms. Rights groups and UN experts have repeatedly warned that sexual violence and torture in Israeli detention settings have sharply increased since the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israel rejected the report and accused the UN of political bias. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Israel had submitted documents and detailed responses to every allegation and argued that placing Israel on the same blacklist as Hamas and ISIS was unacceptable. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it would sever ties with the office of UN Secretary-General António Guterres until the end of his term.

Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said Israel had extended an invitation for a visit, but disagreements over the scope of access and cooperation meant the mission was suspended during the war. She also said she had requested information from Israel about preventive measures and accountability steps but had not received substantive answers.

The listing does not automatically impose sanctions. However, the UN blacklist is one of the body’s most serious public accountability mechanisms on sexual violence in war. It can carry diplomatic consequences, reputational costs, and restrictions on participation in UN peacekeeping operations for parties repeatedly listed.

The report also keeps Hamas on the blacklist over alleged sexual violence during the October 7, 2023 attack and against hostages held in Gaza, though the UN said some allegations could not be independently verified because of restricted access.

The findings come after a series of UN and human rights reports alleging that sexual and gender-based violence has become part of a broader pattern of abuse against Palestinians in Israeli detention. In March 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry accused Israel of using sexual, reproductive and gender-based violence against Palestinians since October 2023, including in detention facilities. In 2026, UN experts again warned that torture and sexualized abuse in Israeli custody had become widespread.

For Palestinians and rights advocates, the new UN listing adds international weight to years of testimony about humiliation, torture and sexual assault in Israeli prisons and military detention sites. For Israel, it deepens an already severe diplomatic rupture with UN institutions. For the wider conflict, the report shifts sexual violence against Palestinian detainees from the realm of individual testimony and rights-group documentation into one of the UN’s most politically consequential accountability lists.