Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations announced on X that his country has been placed on a U.N. blacklist that names parties credibly suspected of committing patterns of sexual violence in conflict, with Hamas listed alongside Israel.
In a post on the social platform, Danny Danon called the development "This is a political decision! Disconnected from the facts and reality!" The Israeli mission to the U.N. said Danon learned of the listing during a phone call with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres had previously warned in his annual report to the Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence, published in August last year, that he was placing Israel and Russia "on notice" that they could be added in the current year to the roster of parties "credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence." That August warning, the report said, stemmed from "significant concerns regarding patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations."
The Israeli ambassador dismissed those concerns at the time as baseless. In the more recent online posts, Danon said equating Israel with Hamas represented a "new low" and reiterated that Israel had responded to each allegation in detail. He added that Israel had invited U.N. representatives to visit and examine the situation and that those invitations had not been accepted.
Israel’s foreign ministry announced late on Thursday that it would sever all ties with the Secretary-General’s office. In a post on X, the ministry said: "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 U.N. Secretary-General is appointed."
At a routine briefing, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric was asked about the Israeli ambassador’s remarks. Dujarric said: "I can tell you 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."
Guterres’ earlier warning specifically cited being "gravely concerned about credible information of violations by Israeli armed and security forces" involving Palestinians in several prisons, a detention centre and a military base. The August report also listed Palestinian militant group Hamas as a party "credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence" in armed conflict.
Hamas has categorically rejected those allegations. The U.N. office in Geneva and Hamas did not immediately provide comment on the reported addition to the blacklist when contacted.
The timing for publication of the report referenced by the Israeli envoy was described as imminent in the envoy’s post. Beyond noting that notification occurred during a phone call with the Secretary-General, the statements and the formal post from Israel’s foreign ministry make clear that Jerusalem regards the development as a serious diplomatic rupture with the office of the U.N. Secretary-General.
The situation remains fluid: the U.N. spokesperson has framed the Secretary-General’s posture as open to engagement, while Israel has announced it will suspend ties at the level of the Secretary-General’s office until a successor is named.