A few weeks ago, we exposed the glaring falsehoods in a laughably biased report from the U.N.’s so-called “independent” inquiry into Israel – an inquiry that confused facts with political fiction. Among the most outrageous claims? That Israel is guilty of “systematic sexual violence” not because Israeli forces committed such crimes (they didn’t) but because Israeli officials dared to mention the very real sexual atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. Yes, apparently, just talking about Hamas’ barbarity is now a war crime. Welcome to the U.N.’s brand of insanity. If I could insert a clown emoji here, it would be well-deserved.
In response, we submitted a detailed rebuttal to the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC), the very body that established the International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel (COI or Commission), laying bare the Commission’s unethical manipulation of testimony, misuse of legal terminology, and complete lack of credible evidence.
The U.N. seems determined to delegitimize the State of Israel, which is our vital ally. It’s a reminder that we must defend them. Sign our petition: Defend Israel From Anti-Israel Attacks Across the Globe.
As a recap, earlier this year, the U.N.’s COI released a report titled: “More than a human can bear: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since 7 October 2023.” The title evokes disturbing images of rape, sexual slavery, forced sterilizations, and other war crimes being committed. However, the Commission provided no evidence of this whatsoever because none exists.
In our new legal submission to the U.N. HRC, we explained:
Crimes of a sexual nature include rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, trafficking for sexual exploitation, mutilation of sexual organs, . . . or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity. . . .
The COI’s report provides no examples or evidence of such instances. Instead, it lists instances of destruction of hospitals or the roads leading to them, or the scarcity of maternity equipment, sanitary pads, and healthy food for women as examples of sexual, reproductive, or gender-based violence. Such examples, as sad as they are, do not even remotely constitute sexual, reproductive, or gender-based violence. (Emphasis added.)
Despite the report’s frightening headline and absurd allegations, it fails to provide any evidence of actual sexual, reproductive, or gender-based violence perpetrated by the Israeli forces. Instead, it spotlights instances that are the indirect consequences of war – many of which result from Hamas’ own actions – as intentional acts of sexual, reproductive, and gender-based violence.
For example, the Commission’s report alleges that any attack on a hospital (because hospitals have maternity wards) is “reproductive violence” because it adversely affects women’s health. Such an allegation further disregards the evidence that Hamas unlawfully uses hospitals to carry out its terrorist activities and turns them into legitimate military targets.
The Commission further calls the shortage of menstrual pads and healthy food for pregnant women “reproductive violence.” Examples of “reproductive violence” that the Commission cites are a pregnant woman who had to eat canned tuna due to the lack of flour to make bread; the lack of milk or eggs for the women; a woman who was no longer able to produce breast milk due to stress and anxiety brought on by the hostilities; and a woman who reported that “due to the lack of menstrual pads, she had to use children’s nappies on one occasion or a piece of cloth.” The Commission unashamedly alleges that these secondary consequences of war constitute “reproductive violence.” The Commission’s credibility continues to falter.
No doubt, these stories are heartbreaking realities of the conditions of war. However, to categorize them as deliberate acts of “sexual and reproductive violence” is a contortion of both the facts and the law.
As mentioned earlier, the Commission further accuses Israel of “systematic sexual violence” – not because Israeli soldiers committed such crimes but because Israeli officials cited Hamas’ use of sexual violence on October 7 to justify military actions in Gaza. It is impossible to make logical sense of this claim.
We informed the HRC that "Calling Hamas’s systematic sexual violence committed on October 7 'Israel’s systematic use of sexual violence'—simply because Israel has pointed out the horrific sexual violence committed on October 7 by terrorists from Gaza—is not only grossly unethical, it is shockingly appalling." (Emphasis added.)
The Commission’s report contains numerous other examples of its unethical distortion of the facts and the law in attempts to demonize Israel. In contrast to the Commission’s erroneous accusations, we detail where actual sexual violence occurred in the recent past and where it is ongoing.
On October 7, 2023, terrorists from Gaza brutally raped and sexually mutilated hundreds of women and men. Evidence of these horrible crimes was proudly publicized by Hamas. To call the scarcity of menstrual pads “sexual and reproductive violence” minimizes the severe sexual abuse suffered by the victims of October 7.
More recently, regarding the current armed conflict in Sudan, The Guardian recently reported that a medical charity has treated 659 sexual violence survivors between January and March of this year in South Darfur alone. More than two-thirds of these victims had been raped, often involving multiple perpetrators. “Several women who gave testimonies . . . described raids where fighters killed all the boys and men in a place before raping women and girls,” The Guardian reported. To call the lack of healthy food for pregnant women in Gaza “sexual and reproductive violence” minimizes the actual sexual violence suffered by the victims in Darfur.
In our recent legal submission’s conclusion to the U.N. HRC, we emphasize the following:
The COI’s report shows that its members do not care about the actual victims of sexual, reproductive, and gender-based violence. They have one agenda: to demonize Israel—yet they continue to fail to provide an iota of evidence to support their absurd allegations. In light of the COI’s unethically biased and grossly faulty reports, its mandate should be terminated, and its members investigated and reprimanded for gross unethical conduct.
The U.N. seems determined to drive politically driven distortions that undermine Israel. The Commission of Inquiry’s reckless mischaracterizations trivialize genuine atrocities, insult real victims of sexual violence, and erode trust in the international human rights system. We will continue to call out these so-called “independent” U.N. bodies for their gross distortion of the facts and the law under the guise of neutrality.
We remain steadfast in exposing the Commission’s baseless claims, demanding accountability, and defending the truth. The integrity of international law and the dignity of true victims depend on it, and we hope that such commissions will be held accountable. Join us in our defense of Israel: Defend Israel From Anti-Israel Attacks Across the Globe.
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