According to a new report from the Israeli human rights watchdog B’Tselem, sexual violence has been rampant since the start of the occupation. Israeli army and prison guard’s atrocities on Palestinian detainees. We know the United Nations is watching very carefully to see what happens in the report due 2024. They are calling on Israel to urgently act to halt these violations.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the gravity of that in a letter sent directly to Israel’s permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva. He stated, “I am putting Israeli armed and security forces on notice for potential listing in the next reporting cycle, due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations.” Guterres called for “necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence.”
The UN’s concerns are rooted in findings from a commission established in March, which reported that Israel had “increasingly employed sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence” against Palestinians. This report claimed that these actions were a part of a larger campaign to deny accepted Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
Pramila Patten, the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, noted that her team found “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape occurred” during the October 7 terror attack carried out by Hamas in Israel. Additionally, a separate UN team has found “clear and convincing reasonable grounds” to believe that sexual violence is ongoing within Israeli prisons.
Israel operates several detention facilities housing Palestinian detainees, including Sde Teiman and Ketziot in the Negev desert, as well as Megiddo and Gilboa prisons near the West Bank. Even with all of these allegations, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have regularly denied allegations of systematic abuse on Palestinian detainees. Guterres’ comments were an “outrageous attempt to slander” the Israeli military, said Israel’s mission to the UN.
In response to growing criticisms, Israel has transferred hundreds of Palestinian detainees from Sde Teiman following petitions from human rights groups. That is why the High Court of Justice issued a strong warning. As such, it required that the prison meet basic legal standards, but did not require its closure.
Yet Guterres’ letter lifted up an important cause for optimism. The continued denial of access to United Nations monitors is complicating efforts to validate these accusations. He documented egregious abuse in Israeli armed and security forces’ violations against Palestinians in multiple detention centers.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, called the Secretary-General’s letter an outrage. He stated, “The Secretary-General chooses once again to adopt as their word baseless accusations, which are steeped in biased publications.” Danon urged the UN to focus its attention on sexual violence committed by Hamas rather than solely on Israel’s actions.
