UNITED NATIONS AP - The U.N. chief warned Israel that the United Nations has "credible information" of sexual violence and other violations by Israeli forces against detained Palestinians, which Israel's U.N. ambassador dismissed as "baseless accusations."
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Ambassador Danny Danon that he is "gravely concerned" about reported violations against Palestinians by Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention center and a military base.
Guterres said he was putting Israeli forces on notice that they could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict "due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations."
Danon, who circulated the letter and his response Tuesday, said the allegations "are steeped in biased publications."
"The U.N. must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages," he said.