A UN-commissioned panel has released a 72-page report accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza. The claim is false. Israel is defending its people against Hamas’s October 7 massacre while continuing to provide food, water, and medicine to civilians. The report — drafted by commissioners with a documented record of antisemitism — parrots Hamas propaganda and ignores the terror group’s crimes.
This is not a new debate. For years, anti-Israel activists have hurled the false charge of “genocide” to delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense. The Pillay–Sidoti–Kothari report is simply the latest version of the same libel, dressed up in UN language. In a recent campus debate, the late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk cut through the distortion: “A genocide is the targeted mass killing of people. So Hamas is guilty of genocide. A war crime is going into kibbutzes, going into the Nova music festival, going into people’s places of residence on October 7th.”
Who Wrote the Report?
On September 16, 2025, Navi Pillay, Chris Sidoti, and Miloon Kothari — all three already discredited for antisemitic statements — published the paper under a UN contract. Their report repeats the word “genocide” more than 250 times, while barely mentioning Hamas’s rocket fire, underground tunnel network, or command centers under hospitals. The trio has since resigned under pressure but continues to release reports recycling Hamas talking points under the UN’s seal. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately rejected the document as “distorted and false,” calling for the Commission of Inquiry’s abolition.
The False Accusation
The panel’s central allegation is that Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinians with the intent to destroy them as a people. International media amplified the claim without scrutiny, presenting the report as neutral fact-finding. Left entirely unmentioned: Hamas’s explicit charter calling for Israel’s destruction, its theft of humanitarian aid, and its routine use of schools and mosques as rocket sites. By omitting these realities, the report manufactures a false narrative where Israel alone is to blame and Hamas’s actions all but disappear.
The Facts on the Ground
Independent experts have already shredded the report. John Spencer of the Urban Warfare Institute dismissed it as “Hamas propaganda dressed up in UN language… an impressive assault on critical thinking.” UN Watch’s September 16 rebuttal concluded: “Every single genocide claim against Israel was found to be false, based on fabricated evidence, distorted data, or willful omission of Hamas’s conduct.” Meanwhile, Israel continues to facilitate aid convoys into Gaza — food, water, fuel, and medicine — even as Hamas diverts supplies to its fighters. This reality, verifiable through international monitors, directly contradicts the panel’s charge of “starvation.”
Israel’s Official Response
Israel’s MFA stated unequivocally: “Israel categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry.” The statement reflects a growing consensus among democracies that the UN’s human rights bodies have lost credibility by acting as vehicles for anti-Israel bias rather than as watchdogs of international law.
The Takeaway
Israel is not committing genocide. Hamas did — on October 7 — when it stormed Israeli communities, slaughtered over 1,200 civilians, and abducted more than 250 hostages. By laundering Hamas’s narrative, the UN’s panel has handed terrorists another propaganda victory while ignoring the real genocidal intent: Hamas’s call for the eradication of the Jewish state.
