Pramila Patten, the UN secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict and an undersecretary-general, is set to publish on Monday the secretary-general's annual report on sexual violence in armed conflicts worldwide.
According to a source familiar with the upcoming publication who spoke to Israel Hayom, the section on Israel and the "occupied Palestinian territories", the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, was the focus of political pressure aimed at placing Hamas and Israel on the same footing, in what critics saw as an attempt to create a false moral equivalence.
Diplomatic efforts by Israel's UN delegation blocked that move. Still, Israel appears in the report under a "warning" that it could be added to the "blacklist" next year, citing alleged "systematic violations" involving sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners.
Regarding Hamas, the report contains an annex detailing sexual violence committed by the terrorist organization, including rape, gang rape and other crimes during and after the October 7 massacre, against hostages.
Patten's previous report, released in April 2024, remains the UN's most significant institutional recognition of the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. That document drew heavily on findings from her January–February 2024 visit to Israel, during which she was shown evidence and testimonies of the terrorist group's war crimes.
During the visit, Patten and her team examined more than 5,000 photos and about 50 hours of footage, toured key attack sites including the Nova festival grounds, Route 232, Kibbutz Re'im, Kibbutz Be'eri and the Nahal Oz base, and held dozens of meetings with government officials, the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet, police, survivors, eyewitnesses, hostage families and civil society groups.
Whereas the shock over Hamas' atrocities, particularly its sexual crimes, set the tone in Patten's last report, the new one shows a clear effort to "balance" the treatment of both sides, with greater focus on alleged violations by Israel.
Despite the "warning," Israel has not been placed this year on the UN's "blacklist" of perpetrators of sexual violence. Given Israel's troubled standing internationally, especially at the UN – known for its biased and often critical stance toward the Jewish state – this outcome is seen in Jerusalem as a relative success, 22 months into the war.
