Published by The i Paper (1st June 2026)
Israel has been placed on a United Nations blacklist of countries, terror groups and militia accused of using sexual violence as a weapon of torture in conflict zones. A report issued by secretary general António Guterres claimed to have verified 31 incidents against men, women and children that included gang rape, targeted shooting of genitals, touching private parts, threats and forced nudity. Most cases involved “multiple forms of abuse” and some, including one rape, were filmed. The alleged victims, from Gaza and the West Bank, included human rights activists and journalists. Some were threatened against reporting their suffering.
This could scarcely be more damning for a democratic nation formed in the wake of genocidal atrocities. Israel was placed alongside Russia, Myanmar, Sudan, Hamas and the Islamic State – although accused, like the Kremlin, of unusually targeting men as well as women amid a global rise in conflict-related violence. The UN identified perpetrators as members of the armed forces, police and prison service, stressing the report should be seen as “indicative of incidents and patterns” rather than comprehensive due to Israel’s denial of access to both Gaza and its detention centres. Even the Red Cross has been barred since October 2023 from visiting the thousands of detained Palestinians.
Israel rejected the allegations, and its officials responded in typical fashion by accusing Guterres of spreading antisemitic lies and “blood libels” with its UN ambassador saying they had cut ties with him over this blacklisting. The timing was unfortunate since two weeks earlier prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to sue The New York Times for defamation after its respected journalist Nicholas Kristof wrote a long article alleging sexual abuse by interrogators, soldiers and settlers. “There is no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes,” Kristof wrote. “But in recent years, they have built a security apparatus where sexual violence has become… one of Israel’s standard operating procedures.”
These are not unique allegations. The BBC has interviewed Palestinians claiming such torture. A leaked video showed five Israeli guards apparently sexually abusing a detainee, later found to have an injured rectum by a doctor – although charges against his alleged assailants were dropped and Netanyahu hailed them as heroes.Yet, many on the American right rounded on the UN for highlighting such shocking claims, insisting Israel has a “robust” rule of law and should not be placed on the same list as Hamas. Meanwhile, there is silence over such barbarism from Israel’s British apologists on both the left and right – and even, at the time of writing, from those, such as ex-foreign secretary William Hague, who have taken a leading stand against conflict-related sexual violence.
This shows again the corrosive tribalism, symbolised by this awful conflict, that is so destructive for our own democracy. On one side, there are those that defend any action carried out by Israel, however disturbing, and fling around bogus charges of antisemitism to silence those daring to show sympathy for Palestinians being bombed, brutalised, hounded out of their homes and slaughtered by an Israeli government now demanding control of 70 per cent of the Gaza strip. On the other, prominent leftist voices question sexual atrocities inflicted by Hamas amid its October 2023 killing spree in Israel and brush aside blatant antisemitism even as Jewish citizens are stabbed in the streets of in our country.
I find this both alarming and baffling. I have just read Hostage, a short book by Eli Sharabi about his 491 days in captivity after being dragged by Hamas terrorists from his kibbutz home. This is a gripping read, if gruelling, by a man sustained in horror and hunger by thoughts of seeing his British wife and two teenage daughters. He dreamed of going with them to London after release – only to find they had been murdered, along with his beloved brother. It is a powerful story of human resilience that also offers stark reminder of the inhumane savagery that sparked this latest explosion of blood-letting in the Middle East.
Yet, why is it hard for many people to accept that both Hamas and Israel are guilty of terrible crimes? Or to see that millions of citizens in both Israel and Palestine – good people as I have met from Gaza to Galilee who simply want to live in peace – are all victims of appalling leadership that betrays their best interests? On one side are the likes of Netanyahu and his repulsive security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who taunts handcuffed foreign activists and encourages armed settlers to drive Palestinians from their traditional homes. Yet, Palestinians have endured dreadful leaders too – from lethal Hamas gangsters in Gaza through to corrupt old men dominating West Bank politics. And never forget it was Yasser Arafat who bears the primary guilt for failure of a deal that could have ended such conflict at the start of this century.
Instead, we see a complex issue treated like a football match, with fans cheering on their chosen side rather than supporting the values of democracy, human rights and justice supposed to underpin our society. This blinkered tribalism is intensified by social media – inflaming divisions by rewarding outrage and downplaying nuance – while timid politicians dare not show real leadership amid surging populism. This leads to even more polarisation, although polling shows that even on Gaza – as hardliners grow more hostile to their foes – the majority of Britons do not take a side over the conflict. Many moderates, however, fear to speak out given the toxicity of debate – just as with other complicated and tribalised issues, such as trans rights.
We have seen the same with those on the left who ignore repression by ghastly dictatorships in China or Cuba, or those on the right backing feudal bigots in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. We hear it with conservative free speech warriors who stay silent over Islamophobia or socialists who excuse antisemitism. Yes, liberalism can seem lonely, the middle ground desolate and moderation takes strength in today’s combative and divided world. Yet ultimately, appeasement of atrocities – by allies or enemies – only ends up corrupting our own democracy and weakening our country.