Yet Again, the U.N. Is Treating Hamas Lies as Fact

"A new Independent International Commission of Inquiry report relies on flawed and unproven claims about Israel.

In June, an Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council issued a lengthy conference-room paper accusing Israel of ‘deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian children’ and other crimes in its war against Hamas after the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack. Israel and the United States rejected the report as another example of bias from the commission for failing to address the complicity of Hamas in civilian deaths. Others criticized the report for relying on one-sided allegations lacking in evidentiary support.

What has been less noticed, however, is the paper’s heavy reliance on flawed or disproven claims, allegations, and reporting from U.N. humanitarian agencies.

The litany of crimes alleged by the COI paper is extensive, including, but not limited to, use of torture, sexual violence, deliberate killing of children, targeting of civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools, and an imposition of conditions — such as preventing access to adequate food — leading to excessive morbidity of children. These allegations, if substantiated, would constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

However, there are reasons to doubt that the allegations, which are presented as fact, are fully substantiated through investigation and concrete evidence.

First is the record of bias against Israel in the Human Rights Council and among some past and current members of the commission who have a record of antisemitic statements and support for sanctions against Israel. While not dispositive, it does speak to the objectivity of the COI.

Most important, however, is the lack of uncontrivable proof of the charges. The report alleges the deliberate targeting of children and civilians by Israel with no purpose other than killing or harming Palestinian children. As explained in the methodology section, for evidence, the paper relies on open-source reporting and information gleaned from interviews with children, parents, health-care workers, academics, and journalists. Such input, often based on secondhand or anonymous reports, is insufficient to prove intent or guilt. Physical evidence is often absent and, when available, chain of custody is generally broken. The report often dismisses or fails to consider important information about circumstances relevant to intent, such as whether combat was occurring nearby or the fact that Hamas habitually placed arms and command centers near, in, and under civilian buildings, hospitals, and schools. Additionally, the report classifies a child as anyone under 18 years old ignoring the fact that Hamas regularly recruits teenagers into its ranks.

As noted by researcher Salo Aizenberg, ‘In each case, the COI constructs an entire narrative of intentional killing through stacked assumptions rather than verified facts, transforming uncorroborated allegations into definitive findings of criminal conduct.’...

Beyond intent, there are reasons to question the data. The paper cites U.N. organizations, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Ultimately, however, each of these organizations derives its Gaza casualty data from the government entities in Gaza operating under the political direction of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. The appearance of being broadly sourced is an illusion.

Hamas has every incentive to distort deaths for political advantage. In fact, early claims from the Hamas government media office proved so unreliable that OCHA stopped reporting them in May 2024 and sharply revised downward its estimates of women and children killed using Gaza Health Ministry data. The OCHA revisions are welcome, but explanations and public corrections were lacking. UNICEF, WFP, FAO, and WHO have failed entirely to publicly and directly correct the record..."