UN inquiry member Sidoti says panel did not independently verify some Gaza findings

Right · 1Chris Sidoti, a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the Palestinians, said at a public debate that the commission did not independently verify a statistic it used on civilian deaths in Gaza, according to JNS. 1 Right · 1The event took place at Caulfield Hebrew Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue in Melbourne, where Sidoti debated American military law expert Brian Cox. 1 Right · 2An audience member noted that the commission cited a figure that 83% of Gazans killed were civilians. When asked whether the commission had independently verified it, Sidoti replied that it had not because it lacked the information, adding: "We literally don't know, nor does the IDF know." JNS described the 83% statistic as widely debunked, which is JNS's own characterisation. 1 2

Right · 1Sidoti also said that proving genocidal intent is "a very, very high test", and that the commission's conclusion rested on evidence on "reasonable grounds", which is "not a high standard". Sidoti said: "We are not a court. We are not even prosecutors. We are an investigative body." 1 Right · 1Sidoti argued that even if Israel's goal is destroying Hamas, genocide could still be the strategy used to reach it. Sidoti also said the panel does "not come to conclusions unless we ourselves have conducted an investigation". 1 Right · 1Sidoti also addressed the International Court of Justice: after Brian Cox played a clip of former ICJ president Joan Donoghue saying the court never ruled the genocide claim plausible, Sidoti said the commission's paragraph was "entirely consistent" with her comments. 1

Right · 2JNS contrasted Sidoti's remarks with those of Navi Pillay, the commission's former chair, who it said told a German newspaper that the panel "essentially worked like a court" and that "every fact was verified by us". Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the previous week. 1 2 Right · 2Israel has repeatedly denied the genocide charge. The commission's September 2025 report concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza since October 2023. 1 2 Right · 1Fox News linked Sidoti's remarks to newly released Gaza Ministry of Health figures for 2025. The ministry reported 24,650 registered deaths, of which 17,286 (70.1%) were attributed to direct targeting in the war, and 50,227 live births. The ministry did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 2

Right · 1Fox News quoted Elliot Malin of Stratos Council, Gabriel Epstein of Israel Policy Forum and Andrew Fox of the Henry Jackson Society, who said the figures count against genocide and famine claims. Epstein cautioned that the actual rate of population growth cannot be determined given emigration and immigration. The IPC did not respond to Fox's questions about its famine declaration. 2 Right · 1An IDF spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the IDF targets terrorists and military objectives, not civilians based on age or gender, and that the high share of military-age men among the dead is consistent with terrorist groups being mostly made up of men in that age group. 2 Right · 1The commission's response to the reporting is not given in either article, and Sidoti's remarks are known only through JNS's account and a recording or post it reported, so the full context of the exchange is unverified here. 2