UN official says Israel provided no evidence on sexual violence prevention

UN dismisses Israeli claims on blacklist inclusion

The United Nations on Friday directly countered Israeli assertions regarding its placement on the international body's conflict-related sexual violence blacklist, with the report's author stating that Tel Aviv failed to furnish any documentation of efforts to prevent assaults. Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that she had spent nearly a year requesting information from Israel about measures it had adopted since Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in August that the country could be listed.

"I never received an iota of information on measures taken by the government of Israel on implementation of the preventive measures," Patten said, referring to an August 11 letter Guterres sent to Israeli authorities. She added that she had made multiple written requests and raised the matter during meetings, seeking details on command orders, access protocols and accountability mechanisms — but received no substantive response.

Israeli envoy rejected advance warning

In his letter, Guterres outlined steps Israel could take in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and "stressed in that letter that while the implementation of these preventive measures will be taken into account in the consideration of listing, the primary factors are the immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence and the unimpeded access for relevant UN entities, including to monitor compliance," Patten said. Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, responded the following day by rejecting both the potential listing notice and the eventual report content, she noted.

During subsequent months, Israel submitted only "laws on paper, legal frameworks on detention, conditions of detention, and policies and directives from the Israeli prison service, Israeli defense, Israeli police, but it's nothing on implementation," Patten said. She pointed to information on a limited number of cases that underwent preliminary investigation but never advanced to criminal proceedings, with authorities citing insufficient evidence or lack of cooperation. "There's nothing concrete on accountability in that submission," she added.

Verified cases include rape and gang rape

The UN's 2025 Conflict-related Sexual Violence Report documented a sharp increase in such crimes across war zones, marked by extreme brutality and predominantly targeting women and girls. Israel was added to the blacklist alongside Russia and 75 other entities this year. The UN verified 31 cases of conflict-related sexual violence against Palestinians — 14 men, 7 women, 9 boys and 1 girl — all from the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank. Thirteen cases occurred in 2025, with 18 others from 2023 and 2024.

Documented abuses included "rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape," according to the report. Rape and gang rape were documented against nine victims, the majority from Gaza. Israel's "systematic lack of accountability" for crimes against Palestinians helped create a "climate of impunity that may enable the commission of conflict-related sexual violence," the report found.

Israel severs ties with Guterres' office

Israel announced Thursday, ahead of the report's release, that it was severing ties with Guterres' office. Danon stated that Tel Aviv "invited the representatives of the UN to come to Israel to check those ridiculous allegations. They chose not to come." Patten countered that she had made clear from the outset that access to her office would not resolve the underlying issues. The report's release came as international scrutiny of Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories has intensified, with multiple UN bodies documenting alleged violations of international humanitarian law since October 2023.