Israel put on UN sexual violence in warzones blacklist for first time

It said the allegations had "gravely intensified" after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.More recently, a report by the New York Times based on the testimonies of 14 Palestinian sexual abuse survivors caused an irate reaction from the Israeli government.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a joint statement that they were launching a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, calling the report "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the state of Israel in the modern press".Throughout the war in Gaza, a number of human rights organisations have criticised a lack of accountability and apparent impunity for abuses committed by Israeli troops.Last year, the research organisation Action on Armed Violence said nearly nine in 10 Israeli investigations into crimes committed by soldiers since the beginning of the Gaza war had been closed without finding fault or without resolution. Out of 52 cases studied, it said only one case resulted in a prison conviction.The Israeli military responded to the report saying it "conducts examination and investigation processes regarding exceptional incidents that occurred during operational activity, in which there is a suspicion of a violation of the law". It added that it opened criminal investigations when there was reasonable suspicion of an offence "in accordance with its obligations under Israeli law and international law".Russian forces also blacklistedMeanwhile, Russian armed and security forces were blacklisted for the first time - having also been warned by Guterres last year - for sexual violence against prisoners of war and civilian detainees during the war in Ukraine.