The Spectator told readers a UN report has 'no evidence' Israel targeted children. The report says otherwise. File an IPSO complaint in one click.

On 24 June 2026 Jonathan Sacerdoti's Spectator column told readers the UN Commission of Inquiry offers only 'a doctor's guess about which weapon caused a wound', that its material is 'unverified' with 'nothing connecting the dots', and that 'after 94 pages, the Commission cannot produce one' documented case. The report (A/HRC/62/CRP.2) used two independent forensic pathologists, forensic analysis in 15 of 17 cases, audio ballistic analysis, and documents named cases. These are false statements of fact about a public document. Send a formal IPSO Clause 1 (Accuracy) complaint in one click. Filed in your name; no IPSO ruling has been made.

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IPSO has repliedRefused to investigateJuly 2026

IPSO declined to investigate the Spectator article and found no possible breach of Clause 1.

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The complaint being filed (1)

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IPSO: The Spectator (Clause 1, Accuracy)

→ via IPSO complaints API (publisher_type=32)

One IPSO Editors' Code complaint, anchored to Clause 1 (Accuracy), addressing three false statements of fact about the contents of UN report A/HRC/62/CRP.2.

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About this campaign

On 24 June 2026, The Spectator published a comment piece by Jonathan Sacerdoti, in its Coffee House section, headlined 'No, Israel isn't 'deliberately targeting' children in Gaza'.

It is about the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry report 'The essence of childhood has been destroyed' (document A/HRC/62/CRP.2, 18 June 2026). You may agree or disagree with the author's opinion. This complaint is not about his opinion. It is about three statements of fact he makes about that report, each of which the report itself contradicts.

1. 'A doctor's guess.' He tells readers the weapon findings rest on doctors who are 'not [able] to identify which weapon fired the bullet'. The report says it consulted two independent forensic pathologists (CT scans, paragraph 10), did independent forensic analysis in 15 of 17 cases (paragraph 65), and used audio ballistic analysis to identify the weapon (paragraph 52).