Trending 
Israel has cut all contact with the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, saying it was “outrageous” that Israel is being blacklisted over alleged sexual violence in conflict zones.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, announced this in a video posted on X on Thursday.
“We are done with this secretary-general. The decision to blacklist Israel and accuse us of using sexual violence as a weapon of war is an outrageous decision. The secretary-general and his team continue to spread lies against Israel. To put Hamas terrorists and us on the same list, that’s unacceptable,” he said, referring to an upcoming report from Guterres’ office.
Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the office was aware of Danon’s remarks.
“For our part, the secretary-general’s door remains open,” Dujarric said.
Still on the matter, Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein on X called the country’s inclusion on the UN sexual violence list “shameful and absurd.”
The move “is further proof of the UN’s true nature; a politicised and corrupt organisation that has abandoned its founding principles and systematically targets Israel as its primary mission,” Marmorstein said.
The UN secretary-general’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence is customarily presented to relevant states ahead of publication. In August 2025, the report warned Israel could be added to the list of parties suspected of, or responsible for, sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.
Relations between the UN and Israel have reached an all-time low since Hamas’s unprecedented 2023 attack that triggered Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israeli authorities have reproached Guterres and other UN officials for criticising devastating Israeli strikes against Gaza. The UN chief was declared “persona non grata” in Israel in 2024.
