By: Fern Sidman

The report released in late March by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel has sparked intense controversy for its sweeping and incendiary allegations against the Israeli Security Forces (ISF). Purporting to document systematic sexual and gender-based violence by Israeli personnel in Gaza and the Judea and Samaria region since October 7, 2023, the report represents a deeply flawed and politicized indictment. It is also another troubling example of the UN’s long-standing institutional bias against the State of Israel.

At the core of the Commission’s accusations is a grim and unsubstantiated narrative: that the ISF deliberately targeted Palestinian women and children in a campaign of reproductive violence, aiming to destroy Palestinian society “in whole or in part.” These claims accuse Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even acts tantamount to genocide—without presenting verifiable, independently corroborated evidence. Most disturbingly, the report fails to mention, let alone seriously investigate, the catalyst for the Israeli military operation: the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas, in which over 1,200 Israeli civilians were brutally murdered, raped, and kidnapped.

As noted by Israel Hayom and a number of security analysts, the UN’s report appears to begin with a predetermined conclusion: that Israel is guilty of egregious violations, and that any attempt it makes to defend its citizens is criminal by default. In doing so, the Commission casts aside even the pretense of impartiality. Nowhere does the report address in detail Hamas’s well-documented military strategy of embedding operatives and munitions within civilian infrastructure—schools, hospitals, and apartment complexes—a tactic that violates the laws of armed conflict and places Palestinian civilians in jeopardy.

The United Nations website presents the Commission’s findings as urgent and authoritative, but the methodology is shrouded in opacity. Testimonies are largely anonymous and unsourced. Accusations of “systematic” abuse are not corroborated by neutral international organizations. Instead, the report appears to lean heavily on submissions from a handful of politically motivated non-governmental organizations (NGOs), some of which have demonstrable ties to groups openly hostile to Israel and have been criticized for biased data collection and lack of transparency.

Equally alarming is the glaring omission of Hamas’s own war crimes, including the use of rape and sexual violence against Israeli hostages, indiscriminate rocket fire targeting civilians, and the brutal October 7 massacre. On that day, women were raped, mutilated, and executed in front of their children—acts that were verified by international media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and CNN. The UN report mentions these horrors only in passing, referring to the events of October 7 as “the terrible massacres” without legal qualification or substantive analysis.

This selective framing is not an anomaly. It is part of a decades-long pattern in which Israel has been singled out for uniquely harsh scrutiny at the UN. According to the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch, the UN General Assembly has passed more resolutions criticizing Israel than the rest of the world combined. The Human Rights Council’s infamous Agenda Item 7, which mandates discussion of alleged Israeli violations at every session, has no equivalent for any other nation—not for Iran, North Korea, or even Syria, where actual genocidal violence has been documented.

In fact, since its inception in 2006, the UN Human Rights Council has issued more resolutions condemning Israel than all other countries combined. In 2022 alone, Israel was condemned 15 times—more than China, Iran, and Russia put together. Such a lopsided focus has led former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to admit that there is a “disproportionate focus” on Israel in UN forums.

This is part of a broader trend dating back to the 1975 UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, which infamously equated Zionism with racism—a resolution that was ultimately revoked in 1991, but not before it had done considerable damage to the UN’s credibility as an impartial actor. The UN’s bias has not been limited to rhetoric. It extends to structural institutions like UNRWA, whose textbooks and staff have been repeatedly linked to incitement and antisemitism, and whose facilities have been used by Hamas for storing weapons and launching attacks.

Further illustrating this institutional imbalance is the UN’s past history of reports authored by individuals with open biases. The 2009 Goldstone Report on the Gaza War initially accused Israel of intentionally targeting civilians—claims which Judge Richard Goldstone himself later publicly retracted. Similarly, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has faced numerous scandals over the years, including revelations that its facilities have been used by Hamas to store weapons and launch attacks.

In the case of the current report, the attempt to equate Israel’s military campaign against a genocidal terrorist organization with a campaign of sexual genocide against Palestinian civilians is not only morally offensive, but factually baseless. It conflates defensive warfare with predatory violence, thereby diminishing the gravity of actual sexual violence and trivializing the standards of international law.

Critics of the report have also pointed out that while Israel has acknowledged the complexity and tragedy of the war in Gaza, and continues to investigate alleged misconduct through independent judicial mechanisms, Hamas has glorified terrorism, refused to release hostages, and openly called for the destruction of Israel. Yet, according to the report, it is Israel that stands accused of “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction” of a population—a charge that aligns disturbingly well with Hamas propaganda.

The broader implications of this report are grave. By offering a legal fig leaf to a radical narrative that paints Israel as genocidal, the UN risks fueling antisemitic sentiment under the guise of human rights. It also disincentivizes Palestinian reconciliation and rewards Hamas’s strategy of civilian exploitation and propaganda warfare.

The international community has a moral and legal obligation to investigate war crimes wherever they occur. But to be credible, such investigations must be grounded in evidence, balance, and impartiality. The latest UN report, as presented on the United Nations website, fails on all three counts. Instead, it reads more as a political manifesto than a legal document, one that dangerously distorts reality and further undermines the already fragile legitimacy of the Human Rights Council.

In doing so, the report not only misrepresents the conflict in Israel and Gaza, but also betrays the very values the United Nations purports to uphold. If justice is to be served, it must begin with truth—and this report, unfortunately, is far removed from it.