The allegations of genocide against Israel took more hits this week following the reported admission by a senior member of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Israel that claims had not been independently verified. This comes as the Palestinian Ministry of Health data shows Gaza’s population grew in 2025.
Critics say the accusations fueled antisemitism around the world and that those pushing the genocide claims — including major international media outlets — need to be made accountable for their words. In Sept. 2025, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel (COI) released a report stating that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza since Oct. 2023. In the report, the COI cited an article from the Guardian stating that 83% of Gazans killed in the conflict were civilians.
ISRAEL SLAMS UN REPORT AS 'POLITICAL BLOOD LIBEL' FOR ALLEGING DELIBERATE TARGETING OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN Following the release of data from the COI commissioner, Chris Sidoti, in an interview last week reported by JNS and posted on X was asked whether the COI had independently established that the remainder of Palestinians said to be killed in the fighting were civilians, Sidoti said, "No, we didn’t because we don’t have that information…We literally do not know, nor does anybody else know, including the IDF, how many militants were there." The former chair of the committee, Navay Pillay, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. The Palestinian MOH Health Information Unit recently released statistics on overall mortality in Gaza for 2025. This is the first update to include non-violent deaths since 2022, prior to the outbreak of conflict following the terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
UNICEF GAZA FINDINGS ‘COMPLETELY SHATTERS’ STARVATION CLAIMS AGAINST ISRAEL, STATE DEPT SAYS The MOH reported that 24,650 deaths were registered in 2025, with 18,085 (73.4%) being males and 6,565 (26.6%) being females. 70.1% of deaths, or 17,286 cases, were attributed to direct targeting in the war. The MOH also reported 50,227 live births in 2025. Fox News Digital reached out to officials at the ministry but did not get a response by press time.
Elliot Malin, president at Stratos Council, told Fox News Digital that the MOH data is further evidence against accusations of genocide. With the number of live births in 2025 far greater than the number of deaths, Malin says it is "very hard for us to infer the intent of Israel was to destroy Palestinians in Gaza to a substantial portion." "We’re not seeing a population under threat. We are seeing that it is actually able to sustain itself," Malin said.
He took issue with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declaration last year that famine had reached Gaza in the summer of 2025. Malin said that "if the population is sustaining and growing through this, what they call a famine, it indicates that there is enough caloric intake to sustain the population." Gabriel Epstein, senior policy associate at Israel Policy Forum, also told Fox News Digital that widespread allegations of genocide are not supported by the MOH report. First, the report "absolutely" demonstrates population growth in 2025, according to Epstein, who added it would "be surprising" if the population of Gaza, "one of the youngest…in the world," was not growing.
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