The United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, is alleging that Israel uses sexual violence as a tool of war. At the same time, the Israeli health ministry, in a letter to the International Red Cross, is reporting that hostages in Gaza are being subjected to extreme torture, including constant sexual assaults. “I am putting Israeli armed and security forces on notice for potential listing” in an upcoming report, the UN chief wrote to the Israeli ambassador at the UN, Danny Danon, on Tuesday. In the letter, seen by the Sun, Mr. Guterres raises “significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations.” The secretary-general urges the Israeli government to “take the necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence, and make and implement specific time-bound commitments.” Among those, he demands that security forces and jailers of Palestinian detainees undergo increased disciplinary measures, that Israel investigate and convict wrongdoers, and that it open up for UN inspections all prisons where Palestinian terrorists are held. Mr. Guterres “chooses once again to adopt as their word baseless accusations, which are steeped in biased publications,” Mr. Danon said in response, referring to Hamas. “The UN must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas, and the release of all hostages.”The Jerusalem health ministry on Tuesday issued a report based on testimonies of 12 hostages who were released and sent it to the Red Cross, urging the organization to act on behalf of the remaining 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. The ministry report documented prolonged physical and psychological torture from which the survivors of Hamas captivity are yet to fully recover. “Torture included cases of sexual assaults against both female and male hostages,” according to the report. “One female survivor said she was sexually harassed by her captors for months.”A year after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that launched the Gaza war, the UN representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, issued a report that documented sexual violence, rape, and other Hamas atrocities, including at the Nova festival near the Gaza Strip. That day’s assaults on women, group rape, and mutilation of bodies are well-documented. Yet, many groups pushed back against Ms. Patten’s report, claiming it was based on allegations rather than fact.Perhaps in an attempt to counter the narrative, the UN Human Rights Council issued a March 2025 report titled “‘More than a human can bear’: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since 7 October 2023.”The most celebrated allegation of Israeli rape started in July 5, 2024, with the arrest of five wardens at Sde Teiman, an army base in southern Israel that has been turned into an incarceration site for captured Hamas terrorists. A videotape that was leaked to the press seemed to suggest that the accused soldiers committed an act of sexual violence against a male detainee. The episode was widely reported in Israel, as several right-wing lawmakers tried to prevent the military police from executing the arrest warrant. Left-wing commentators alleged that sexual torture is commonplace at Sde Teiman, and demanded to close the camp down. Yet, the prosecution later dropped the sexual violence charges, even as charges of abuse are pending against the soldiers. The episode displayed the court system’s diligence in investigating allegations against troops. Regardless of the veracity of the allegations, it also marked widespread public revulsion over reports of use of sexual violence by soldiers. Mr. Danon was outraged over Mr. Guterres’s latest attempt to blame Israel on the basis of vague allegations of sexual violence, even as Hamas’s rape and torture is widely substantiated. “Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law,” he said.
