Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault and violence.
The United Nations has added Israeli and Russian security forces to its blacklist for conflict-related sexual violence for the first time, according to an annual report to be released Friday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last year warned that both Israel and Russia would be added to the blacklist. Both countries rejected the allegations.
The report, which blacklisted 77 state and non-state actors in a dozen countries over alleged conflict-related sexual violence, said cases are set to increase faster in 2025 than in 2024.
UN reports sexual violence against Palestinian detainees
According to the report, Israeli forces have engaged in a documented pattern of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
“Violations included rape with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence on genitals, incidents of targeted shooting of genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without clear security justification, forced nudity, and threats of rape,” the report said.
The UN report identified the perpetrators as members of the Israeli military, security forces and prison services.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon described the report as “shameful and absurd”.
“Our work with the UN Secretary-General is finished,” Danon said in a statement on social media. “Guterres has put Israel on the same blacklist with Hamas, ISIS and the world’s most evil terrorist organizations.”
The blacklist also includes Hamas – which is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, EU and other countries including Israel – which was earlier added after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The report said that many of the claims against Hamas could not be independently verified because Israel continued to deny UN investigators the access needed to investigate.
The report comes after a few days the new York Times Published an investigation into widespread alleged sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees.
Moscow condemns attempt to ‘paint Russia as a villain’
The UN also cited 310 verified cases of sexual violence by Russian forces against military and civilian detainees in Ukraine.
Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzia said, “The unproven lies… again portray Russia as the villain, as they do all the time.”
He said Russia was preparing a report on how Ukrainians treated Russian prisoners of war.
Ukraine was not added to the list, although the report documented 31 cases involving Ukrainian security forces, most of which occurred before 2025.
Other countries on the list include Sudan, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Syria and Mali.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico