UN blacklists Israel over conflict sexual violence
The UN annual report has, for the first time in more than 15 years, added Israeli forces to its blacklist over the treatment of Palestinian detainees.
- The United Nations has, for the first time in more than 15 years, added Israeli forces to its blacklist over the treatment of Palestinian detainees.
- Russian forces were included in the same report.
- During 2025 the UN verified cases of sexual violence against 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl from Gaza and the West Bank.
- Israel's foreign ministry has announced it is cutting all ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The United Nations has, in its annual report on sexual violence in conflict, added Israeli forces to its so-called blacklist for the first time in more than 15 years, citing the treatment of Palestinian detainees. The decision, taken in New York, places Israel among the actors found responsible for grave violations, and the same document also names Russian forces, making it one of the most politically sensitive UN reports in years.
For Serbia, which keeps a careful balance between cooperation with Israel and its historical support for Palestinian statehood, the move is not a distant matter. It shifts the weight inside the multilateral bodies in which Belgrade operates, and raises the question of how Serbian diplomacy will position itself towards a document that places a friendly country in the same category as Russia.
What the report actually states
During 2025 the United Nations verified cases of sexual violence against 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl from Gaza and the West Bank. The violations listed in the report include rape, physical violence and threats of rape.
The figures relating to Israeli forces are part of a far wider picture. Worldwide, nearly 10,000 cases were recorded during the reporting period, making the document one of the most extensive in the field of protecting civilians in armed conflict.
Being placed on the blacklist carries symbolic and diplomatic weight. It does not bring automatic sanctions, but it is an official identification of actors found to bear responsibility, and it traditionally draws sharp responses from the states named.
How did Israel respond?
Israel’s foreign ministry has announced that it is cutting all ties with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, raising the response to the highest institutional level. That deepens the diplomatic confrontation between Israel and the UN secretariat, with Guterres at the centre of a dispute that goes well beyond the technical nature of an annual report.
Adding to the political charge is the fact that Israeli forces now sit on the same list as Russian forces, in a document read in the Security Council that shapes the debate over responsibility for civilian casualties in ongoing conflicts.
How will Belgrade respond to a report that places one of its partners in the same category as Moscow?
