UN adds Israel to its blacklist for conflict-related sexual violence; Israel says it will cut ties with Guterres

The United Nations has said that the upcoming edition of the Secretary-General's annual report on conflict-related sexual violence will add Israel to the associated list. According to Al Jazeera, Israel's permanent representative to the UN said in a statement that the country is suspending all contact with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's office. The list is part of an inventory maintained over many years by the UN Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, which covers states, non-state armed groups and other actors across different conflict contexts.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the case categories included in the report; UN Women and human-rights organisations said they had provided technical input to the report and that the documentation followed international standards. Palestinian Authority officials described the announcement as 'an important step in international accountability'; Türkiye's Foreign Ministry and EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said the details should be assessed alongside the official release of the report.

In the period ahead, the timing of the report's presentation to the UN Security Council, Washington's posture on the Council, and any additional documentation steps by independent commissions of inquiry alongside the UN mechanism will be watched closely. This article does not adopt an editorial verdict; all positions are attributed to the UN, Israeli officials, Palestinian Authority officials and international observers. Accounts from conflict zones cannot always be independently verified in full.