UN Watch Rebuttal to the Pillay Commission’s September 16, 2025 Conference Room Paper Titled: Legal Analysis of the Conduct of Israel in Gaza Pursuant to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Salo Aizenberg (UN Watch), September 16, 2025

This rebuttal argues that the UN Commission’s genocide allegations against Israel rely on distorted evidence, omission of Hamas’s military role, misuse of casualty statistics, and legally insufficient proof of genocidal intent, ultimately framing the report as politically driven rather than credible international legal analysis.

1. The rebuttal argues the UN Commission fails to prove genocidal intent, the core legal requirement for genocide under international law.

2. The report argues the Commission systematically erases Hamas as an active belligerent while ignoring its military infrastructure and human shield tactics.

3. The rebuttal argues the Commission relies on unreliable casualty data and flawed methodology to inflate civilian death claims.

4. The report argues the Commission manufactures evidence of genocidal intent by selectively quoting Israeli leaders and removing military context.

5. The rebuttal argues many of the UN Commission’s specific allegations rely on speculative or unverified evidence.

6. The report argues the Commission falsely treats wartime suffering and humanitarian crisis as automatic evidence of genocide while ignoring urban warfare realities and Hamas’s role.

⭐ Star Facts

• The rebuttal argues genocide requires dolus specialis—specific intent to destroy a protected group—and cites the legal principle that genocidal intent must be “the only reasonable inference” from the evidence.
• The report claims the UN Commission largely omits the October 7 attacks, in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 hostages taken by Hamas.
• The rebuttal emphasizes that Hamas maintained an estimated 30,000-strong fighting force and approximately 500 kilometers of tunnels throughout Gaza, arguing the Commission ignored the scale of Hamas’s military infrastructure.
• The report argues Hamas fired more than 13,000 rockets into Israel during the war, yet claims the Commission barely discussed ongoing Hamas attacks.
• The rebuttal challenges the Commission’s use of the “83% civilian deaths” claim, arguing the underlying figure counted only Hamas fighters individually identified by name while excluding thousands of unidentified militants and fighters from other groups.
• The report cites demographic analysis claiming that 72% of deaths among Palestinians aged 13–55 were males, which it argues is inconsistent with claims of indiscriminate targeting of women and children.
• The rebuttal repeatedly argues the Commission ignored Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure, citing:
  • tunnels under Al-Shifa Hospital and UNRWA facilities,
  • rocket launches from humanitarian zones,
  • tunnels under homes and mosques,
  • and weapons stored in residential buildings.
• The report disputes the Commission’s famine narrative, claiming that over 2 million tons of aid and 1.6 million tons of food entered Gaza after October 7.
• The rebuttal claims the Commission relied heavily on unverified testimony and media reporting for allegations involving:
  • sniper attacks on children,
  • deliberate hospital targeting,
  • and the destruction of the Al-Basma IVF clinic.
• The report argues the Commission omitted evidence that Hamas used hospitals for military purposes, including allegations involving:
  • tunnels beneath hospitals,
  • detention of hostages,
  • and operations near medical facilities.
• The rebuttal argues the Commission distorted international law by implicitly treating any civilian death in Gaza as evidence of illegality, despite the laws of war permitting civilian casualties under proportionality and distinction standards.