9/6/2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
The United Nations included Israeli forces on the blacklist of entities involved in conflict-related sexual violence, as stated in the annual report on conflict-related sexual violence submitted by Secretary-General António Guterres to members of the United Nations Security Council.
Guterres stated that the report was based on documented information indicating the continued perpetration of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including men, women, and children, occurring during detention and interrogation periods, according to the UN report.
Basil Al-Sourani, Head of the International Advocacy Unit at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, also stated that the UN report reflects the reality of the grave violations to which detainees are subjected. He noted that the inclusion of 31 cases in the UN report “is not an indication of isolated incidents, but rather of a systematic policy that has been employed with the aim of inflicting widespread physical and psychological harm on Palestinians.” He added that the report also constitutes a strong response to the performance of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Edwards.
Al-Sourani said that Edwards’ reports did not reflect the scale of documented violations against Palestinian prisoners, despite being provided with materials and testimonies from Palestinian human rights organizations. Instead, she chose to focus disproportionately on Israeli prisoners, adding: “This led us, as human rights organizations, to boycott her in December 2024.”
Al-Sourani noted that his center has documented, since the early days of the war on Gaza, widespread patterns of violations against Palestinian detainees, including torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance.
He added: “Unfortunately, there appear to be hundreds of cases of sexual violence inside prisons, including rape. Some victims remain in detention, while others are feared to have died as a result of torture.”
He further pointed out that Palestinian human rights organizations play a key role in providing international mechanisms with information, and in connecting victims and witnesses with UN special rapporteurs and bodies, particularly given that those bodies are prevented from obtaining direct access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
For his part, Ramy Abdu, President of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, stated that the inclusion of Israel on the UN blacklist of conflict-related sexual violence constitutes an official recognition by the United Nations of the severity of violations committed against Palestinians.
He noted that this step enhances prospects for accountability and legal prosecution, and provides victims with greater space for acknowledgment of their suffering and rights. He stressed that the significance of this decision would remain limited unless translated into practical measures, including the opening of independent international investigations, holding perpetrators accountable, ensuring protection for victims and witnesses, and adopting effective international actions to prevent the recurrence of such crimes and guarantee justice for those affected.
In line with the above, the Union for Justice Foundation welcomes the United Nations decision to include Israel on the blacklist related to conflict-related sexual violence, considering it an important step toward international recognition of the scale of violations committed against the Palestinian people. It emphasized that systematic sexual violence and torture may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, warranting international criminal prosecution.
Abdullah Al-Zaghari, Head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, stated that the latest UN report constitutes a clear condemnation of the violations committed by Israel against Palestinian detainees, and confirms what Palestinian human rights institutions have consistently warned about and documented for more than two years.
He said that sexual violence practiced by Israel against Palestinian prisoners is no longer viewed as isolated incidents, “but rather as a systematic policy implemented by the occupation authorities within the detention system.”
The Foreign Ministry stated that Israel and its official and unofficial institutions have committed acts of torture, sexual violence, and rape against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in detention centers, internment camps, and prisons against Palestinian prisoners, as well as against solidarity activists. It added that sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. It further noted that starvation has also been used as a weapon of war during the genocidal war.
The statement emphasized that these practices constitute a systematic and widespread policy employed by Israel, the illegal occupying power, over the past years to intimidate the Palestinian people and create coercive conditions aimed at forced displacement.
End
