Israel Cuts Ties With UN Chief Antonio Guterres After UN Blacklists Israel

The United Nations added Israel to a blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones, prompting Israel to cut ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres, according to Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon and the UN’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

“The United Nations has “added Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones”, prompting Israel to cut ties with UN chief Antonio Guterres, the country’s ambassador to the UN says”

Al Jazeera

Danon said in a video posted on X, "We are done with this secretary-general," as he denounced an upcoming report from Guterres’s office.

Al Jazeera

The UN’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence is customarily presented to relevant states before publication, and last August it warned Israel could be added to the list of parties suspected of, or responsible for, sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.

Dujarric said, "For our part, the secretary-general's door remains open," after Danon’s remarks.

The dispute sits against a wider UN-Israel breakdown since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack that preceded Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians.

At the UN headquarters in New York, Dujarric told reporters the UN hoped Israel would not undertake any "retaliatory measures" after its inclusion on the blacklist related to committing sexual violence in conflict zones.

When asked whether the UN fears an Israeli response, Dujarric said, "We strongly hope that will not happen," while noting Israel announced freezing its relations with Guterres’s office but that contact with UN units in Jerusalem remains ongoing.

Anadolu Ajansı

Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon said Israel would have no contact with Guterres’s office as long as he serves as head of the organisation, and he framed the decision as "outrageous" in a video posted on X.

The Anadolu Ajansı report also said that since October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have barred representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Palestinian detainees in prisons.

It added that Doctors for Human Rights, headquartered in Israel, reported in November 2025 that at least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons between October 2023 and November 2025 as a result of torture, ill-treatment, medical neglect, and sexual violence.

The blacklist controversy is tied to the UN’s conflict-related sexual violence reporting, which last August cited "credible information" regarding sexual violence allegedly committed by Israeli security forces against Palestinian detainees and said UN inspectors had been denied access to facilities.

Danon said Israel invited the UN to come to Israel to check the allegations, but "They chose not to come," and he argued the UN proceeded with inclusion anyway.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the list includes Hamas and that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) will be included on the 2026 list, while other Israeli authorities entered a monitoring framework for possible future inclusion.

It also said a country or armed group remains on the UN secretary-general’s list for a minimum of one year, and that Hamas was added last August.

The same reporting placed the dispute in the context of Gaza’s war, describing Israel’s inclusion as part of a leadership contest as Guterres’s term ends on December 31, and noting Israel’s claim that the decision followed pressure after Hamas’s inclusion.