Jerusalem – In parallel to the forthcoming report of the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Gaza, NGO Monitor and UN Watch have prepared an independent, fully-sourced, systematic, and detailed book on issues related to the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict. This publication, submitted to the Human Rights Council and all UN member states, provides missing context and covers issues that are likely to be minimized or ignored altogether in the report of the Gaza Commission of Inquiry, but that are critical to understanding and analyzing the 2014 war.

“Like previous UNHRC missions examining Israeli military actions, such as the Goldstone Commission, the report to be issued in a few weeks will likely employ a skewed narrative and heavily rely on unverified claims provided by a group of political advocacy NGOs,” said Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor’s legal advisor. “Many of these groups are active in BDS campaigns.”

UN Watch and NGO Monitor’s 215-page book, Filling in the Blanks: Documenting Missing Dimensions in UN and NGO “Investigations” of the Gaza Conflict, focuses on some of the central dimensions related to international humanitarian law and human rights that are essential to understanding the context and combat in asymmetrical war. These issues include the production and import of rockets and missiles to terrorist organizations based in Gaza and the financing of Hamas in violation of international law; evidence regarding the abuse of humanitarian aid provided by different sources to Gaza and Hamas; and the credibility of reports and allegations from NGOs regarding the 2014 conflict.

Contributors to the publication include Professor Gerald Steinberg, Anne Herzberg, Hillel Neuer, Jonathan Schanzer, Uzi Rubin, Richard Kemp CBE, and Trevor Norwitz. All experts in their fields, these authors have proven experience in international human rights law, international relations, research of terrorism financiers, missile technology, and best practices for human rights and humanitarian NGO fact-finding.

Herzberg added, “We hope that our book will provide a valuable source of alternative information about the Gaza conflict that is routinely ignored in reporting produced by the UN and the Human Rights Council, in particular. We also hope that our work will finally motivate the UN and NGOs to adopt the principles of transparency and impartiality in future fact-finding endeavors and end their double standards and ethical violations when it comes to their reporting on Israel.”

The expert contributors to the book are available for interviews about its contents or to comment on the UNHRC and the Commission of Inquiry headed by Judge Mary McGowan Davis.