Allegations Of Genocide In The 2023 Israeli Attack On Gaza

The State of Israel has been accused of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war. Various scholars, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, have cited statements by senior Israeli officials, which they argue demonstrate an "intent to destroy" the population of Gaza, a necessary condition for the legal threshold of genocide to be met.

The government of South Africa has instituted proceedings, '' South Africa v. Israel'', against Israel at the International Court of Justice, alleging genocide. In an interim ruling, the International Court of Justice found Israel was operating under plausible intent to commit genocide and ordered Israel to observe its obligations under the Genocide Convention by taking all measures within its power to prevent the commission of acts of genocide, to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and to allow basic humanitarian services into Gaza. The Israeli government rejected the court's finding and accused the ICJ of antisemitism.

By mid-March 2024, Israeli forces had killed over 31,500 Palestinians – one out of every 75 people in Gaza – averaging 195 killings a day. A majority of victims were civilians, including over 25,000 women and children, and 95 journalists. It is believed that thousands more dead bodies are under the rubble of destroyed buildings. By March 2024, 374 healthcare workers in Gaza had been killed.

Background

On 7 October 2023, Hamas led an attack into Israel from Gaza, resulting in at least 1,139 deaths, most of whom were civilians. Israel's response, including its invasion of the Gaza Strip from 29 October 2023, has led to concerns that the Hamas-led attack was being used by Israel to justify genocide against Palestinians.; ; ; ; ;

Legal definition of genocide

The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". The acts in question include killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group. Genocide is a crime of special intent ("''dolus specialis''"); it is carried out deliberately, with victims targeted based on real or perceived membership in a protected group.

Victims

A EuroMed Rights report released on 18 November 2023, which labels Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide, reported that 15,271 Palestinians in Gaza had been killed, 32,310 Palestinians had been injured, and an estimated 41,500 were unaccounted for. Multiple news and academic outlets have subsequently reported on updated figures, with at least 20,000 Palestinians having been killed in Gaza by December 2023, an estimated 70% of whom were women and children. By 14 January 2024, 100 days since the beginning of Israel's assault on Gaza, over 23,900 people had been confirmed killed, with estimates placing the number at over 25,000. About 7,000 people are missing, likely buried under the rubble. Within the first 3 weeks of the assault on Gaza, more children had been killed than in all other conflicts since 2019 combined. Over 52,000 people had been wounded by December 2023, and by March 2024 this had risen to over 71,000 people.

Since the beginning of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, nearly 2 million people have been displaced within the Gaza Strip.

Alleged genocidal intent

In an article in ''Opinio Juris'' scholars opined that statements by Israeli officials since October 7 indicated intent to commit genocide. The NGO ''Law for Palestine'' compiled more than 500 statements by Israeli political and military officials that allegedly call for genocide.

Genocide scholar Mark Levene in discussing the genocidal actions and intent from 7 October, noted the increasing rhetoric of genocide and ethnic cleansing under the preceding Netanyahu governments. This was supported by Tia Goldenberg writing in AP News, where she highlights previous statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as increasingly genocidal rhetoric under Netanyahu's government. Israeli historian Raz Segal and legal scholar Luigi Daniele also pointed to increasing genocidal rhetoric prior to October 2023, highlighting a '' Times of Israel'' article, published May 2023, which states that the only way to achieve peace is to "obliterate" Palestine, saying that the existence of Palestine is "an affront to society, morality, humanity". The article further calls for the re-education of Palestinians, and declares that they can only enjoy rights if they no longer exist as a nation. Segal and Daniele draw parallels between the rhetoric of the ''Times of Israel'' article and scholarship that points to the equivalent rhetoric of Russian media outlets in the Russian invasion of Ukraine as being genocidal. Segal and Daniele also point to previous comments by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, former Knesset member Ayelet Shaked, and Smotrich, who in February 2023 called for the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Genocide scholar Shmuel Lederman detailed how these comments from Smotrich, alongside others denying Palestinian nationhood and calling for their destruction or removal from territory claimed by Israel, was in the forefront of political discussions by Hamas leadership in Gaza before the events of October 2023. News outlets at the time of Smotrich's comments also highlighted their genocidal nature.

In her 26 March 2024 report, Francesca Albanese asserted genocidal intent, stating, "Genocidal acts were approved and given effect following statements of genocidal intent issued by senior military and government officials."

Israeli cabinet ministers

Since 7 October 2023 a variety of official and semi-official sources and outlets have engaged in rhetoric suggestive of genocidal intent.

On 9 October 2023, Yoav Gallant, Israeli Minister of Defense, stated "We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly", a statement that was characterized as an example of dehumanization. On October 10, Gallant said he had "removed every restriction" and was reported by the Associated Press as having added "Gaza won't return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything." The Associated Press, the ''New York Times'', ''The Guardian'' and NPR all issued corrections to the translated quote, restoring a second sentence which had been omitted in earlier reporting, making the quotation "Gaza won't return to what it was before. There will be no Hamas. We will eliminate everything."

Avi Dichter, Israeli Minister of Agriculture, called for the war to be "Gaza's Nakba" on Channel 12. Ariel Kallner, another Member of the Knesset from the Likud party, similarly wrote on social media that there is "one goal: Nakba! A Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of 948 Nakba in Gaza and Nakba to anyone who dares to join". Amihai Eliyahu, Israeli Minister of Heritage, called for dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza.

Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said "All the civilian population in Gaza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world."

Israeli president and members of Israeli parliament

President of Israel Isaac Herzog blamed the "entire nation" of Palestine for the 7 October attack. He further said "It is not true this rhetoric about civilians being not aware, not involved. It is absolutely not true."

Yitzhak Kroizer, representing the extreme-right Otzma Yehudit party in the Knesset, stated in a radio interview that the "Gaza Strip should be flattened, and for all of them there is but one sentence, and that is death." Tally Gotliv of the Likud party called for the use of nuclear weapons against Gaza.

Invocations of Amalek

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated invocation of Amalek during the war has been considered evidence of genocidal intent by many critics, including South Africa. In a speech on 28 October 2023, Netanyahu said (in Hebrew) "You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible," quoting from Deuteronomy 25:17 in the Hebrew Bible. The phrase "Remember what Amalek did to you" is used in Holocaust memorials, including Yad Vashem and the Hague Jewish Monument. Netanyahu later made another allusion to the verse in a letter to IDF soldiers and officers.

Critics have connected Netanyahu's allusion to Amalek with 1 Samuel 15:3: "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." Noah Lanard of '' Mother Jones'' describes verses discussing Amalek as among the most violent in the Bible and that they have a long history of being used by Jews on the far-right, such as Baruch Goldstein, to justify killing Palestinians. Amalek was "the foe that God ordered the ancient Israelites to genocide", and scholars have described the verse as an instance of 'divinely mandated genocide'. However, Yair Rosenberg of '' The Atlantic'' argues that the verse from Deuteronomy which Netanyahu cites refers to the need to remember an attack against the Jewish people and that connecting Netanyahu's remarks to Samuel is inaccurate, comparing the interpretation to tying the term ''jihad'' exclusively with Islamic terrorism. In addition to this, on October 7, Netanyahu said the people of Gaza would pay a "huge price", and Israel would turn parts of Gaza "into rubble".

Other Israeli officials

Major General Ghassan Alian, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, stated: "There will be no electricity and no water (in Gaza), there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell".

IDF Major general Giora Eiland wrote "Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist". He added "Creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieving the goal." Israeli historian and holocaust scholar Omer Bartov noted that no Israeli politician nor anyone in the IDF denounced this statement.

The spokesperson for the Israeli army said, in regards to Israel's bombing of Gaza, "while balancing accuracy with the scope of damage, right now we’re focused on what causes maximum damage". This statement was interpreted by legal scholars as intention of destruction.

In an interview far-right politician and former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin stated "There is one and only solution, which is to completely destroy Gaza before invading it. I mean destruction like what happened in Dresden and Hiroshima, without nuclear weapons". With Minister of Economy Nir Barkat later stating "I don’t remember Britain or the United States at the tail end of the Second World War bombing Dresden, thinking about the residents." The Bombing of Dresden has also been invoked by academics, non-Israeli politicians, and news organisations in justifying Israel's bombing of Gaza.

Alleged genocidal actions

Since 7 October 2023, the IDF has been accused of indiscriminate mass arrest and detainment, the extrajudicial killing of Palestinian unarmed detainees, doctors, and workers, making threats of mutilation, death, arson, rape, and torturing Palestinians detained without legal charges. It has also been accused of using excessive force against dozens of schools and hospitals, theft, the cruel and unnecessary desecration and mutilation of deceased Palestinians, and making no, or an inadequate distinction between Hamas forces and civilians. The targeting and destruction of a variety of cultural and educational sites have also been pointed to as genocidal actions. The use of unconventional weapons such as white phosphorus has been highlighted as a genocidal act. During the fighting, Channel 14 kept a count of every Palestinian killed, labelling all Palestinian casualties as terrorists, while , a Channel 14 journalist and anchor, publicly advocated Israel committing more war crimes.

Raz Segal detailed in November 2023 three actions that the Israel Defense Forces were engaging in which were genocidal in nature: acts of killing, infliction of severe bodily harm, and implementation of measures strategically designed to destroy Palestinian existence. As evidence, he accuses the IDF of engaging in total warfare by destroying mass swathes of Gaza and imposing a strict blockade of essential goods.

On 26 February Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both released statements declaring Israel had failed to comply with the International Court of Justice's 26 January ruling to prevent genocide by blocking aid from entry into Gaza. In both statements they reference the 16-year long blockade of Gaza which has intensified since 9 October. In a report released by Refugees International, they found that Israel had "consistently and groundlessly impeded aid operations within Gaza". Historian Melanie Tanielian argues that starvation, famine, and blockade should be foregrounded as methods of genocide alongside mass bombing. She references Dirk A. Moses' appeal to not ignore less spectacular forms of violence in the destruction of populations, and highlights multiple other genocides where famine and starvation were used as methods of destruction.

In October 2023 the World Food Program warned of the dwindling food supply in Gaza, and from December, alongside the United Nations, reported that more than half of the population of Gaza was "starving" and more than nine in ten were not eating every day and 48% suffering from "extreme hunger". Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, who is part of the Palestinian Authority, said Israel was using starvation as a weapon, saying "they are starving because of Israel's deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war against the people it occupied". An Israeli official responded that the charge was "blood-libellous" and "delusional". Human Rights Watch similarly found that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war by deliberately denying access to food and water in December 2023. On 16 January 2024, UN experts accused Israel of "destroying Gaza's food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people".

The law professor and United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, said that Israel is "culpable" of genocide, as according to Fakhri, firstly "Israel has announced its intention to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part, simply for being Palestinian", and secondly Israel was denying food to Palestinians by halting humanitarian aid and "intentionally" destroying "small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza ��We have never seen a civilian population made to go so hungry so quickly and so completely, that is the consensus among starvation experts. Israel is not just targeting civilians, it is trying to damn the future of the Palestinian people by harming their children." Since the ICJ ruling there has been a 40% drop in the number of aid trucks being allowed into Gaza by Israel. In an Israel Democracy Institute survey of 510 Israeli citizens in early February, 68% of survey respondents supported preventing all international aid from entering Gaza.

In an interview with Sveriges Television, the Israeli journalist and author Gideon Levy, who has reported on Israel's settlement policy for the left-liberal newspaper Haaretz for 35 years, stated the following about his work as a correspondent in Palestine: "I'm whistling in the dark in Israel. No one wants to listen or read. But I cannot change. Unlike other Israelis, I see with my own eyes what we do because I have been covering the occupation for almost 35 years now." and "All Swedish TV viewers, even in the northernmost village in Sweden, have seen more from Gaza than an Israeli in Tel Aviv. It's just about the soldiers, their bravery, the hostages, and their families, the soldiers who have fallen. Nothing about the Palestinians' suffering, it doesn't exist. And if you dare to show empathy for those who are suffering in Gaza, you're considered a traitor."

Mark Levene and Elyse Semerdjian locate the mass destruction of infrastructure within Israel's Dahiya doctrine that has been implemented against Gaza since 2006, with Levene labelling it as urbicide and a tool of genocide.

In articles published in November in the Lancet, and February 2024 in the journal BMJ Global Health, multiple doctors detailed how in their professional opinions the targeting of Gazan health infrastructure and medical personnel, coupled with the open genocidal rhetoric of various Israeli politicians amounts to genocide, this assessment has also been support by legal scholars. The healthcare system of Gaza faced several humanitarian crises as a result Israel's assault on Gaza. Due to Israel's siege, hospitals faced a lack of fuel, and by 23 October, Gaza hospitals began shutting down as they ran out of fuel. When hospitals lost power completely, multiple premature babies in NICUs died. Numerous medical staffers have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, and ambulances, health institutions, medical headquarters, and multiple hospitals have been destroyed. has reported scores of ambulances and medical facilities were damaged or destroyed, including the deaths of staff. By late-October, the Gaza Health Ministry stated that the healthcare system had "totally collapsed".

On 11 March 2024, 12 Israeli human rights organisations signed an open letter accusing Israel of failing to abide by the ICJ ruling to prevent genocide by facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid.

UN human rights expert Francesca Albanese prepared a report for the United Nations stating that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, and advocated a global arms embargo on that basis. She stated that the genocidal actions included: "killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to groups' members; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part", and highlighted that 70% of those killed were women and children, and that Israel has failed to show the 30% who are adult men were Hamas fighters.

In late March it was reported that Israel had designated unmarked "kill zones" in Gaza, where any civilians would be shot on sight.

Academic and legal discourse

There is currently some disagreement among scholars as to whether Israel's actions can be described as a genocide against the Palestinians.

On 13 October, Raz Segal described the intensified blockade of Gaza, which included the denial of water and food to the civilian population, as a "textbook case of genocide" and connected it to the Nakba, the expulsion of Palestinians during the establishment of Israel in 1948. With other academics also detailing Israel's attacks on infrastructure, food, and water as being genocidal in nature. Also on 13 October, journalist Eric Levitz of '' The Intelligencer'' argued that governmental administrations of the United States, such as the Biden administration, have given approval to Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in the Israel–Hamas war, and that no military solution can achieve Israel's security goals short of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ernesto Verdeja, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, told '' Time'' on 14 November, that Israel's actions in Gaza were gravitating towards a "genocidal campaign", noting that "the response when you have a security crisis…can be one of ceasefire, negotiation, or it can be genocide." These sentiments were later supported by genocide scholar Mark Levene applying A. Dirk Moses' analysis that "absolute securitization lends itself to collective targeting of human groups, more precisely civilians, regardless of issues of ethnos or genos."

On 19 October 2023, 100 civil society organizations and six genocide scholars sent a letter to Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, calling on him to issue arrest warrants to Israeli officials for cases already before the prosecutor; to investigate the new crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, including incitement to genocide, since 7 October; to issue a preventative statement against war crimes; and to remind all states of their obligations under international law. The letter noted that Israeli officials, in their statements, had indicated "clear intent to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and incitement to commit genocide, using dehumanizing language to describe Palestinians." The six specialist genocide scholars that signed the document were Raz Segal, Barry Trachtenberg, Robert McNeil, Damien Short, Taner Akçam and Victoria Sanford. Segal called the war a "textbook case of genocide." The same day, lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights stated that Israel's tactics were "calculated to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza", and warned the Biden administration that "U.S. officials can be held responsible for their failure to prevent Israel's unfolding genocide, as well as for their complicity, by encouraging it and materially supporting it."

On 9 November 2023, 47 scholars in the fields of history, law, and criminology published an open letter describing Israel's Gaza offensive as genocide. Published by the International State Crime Initiative based at Queen Mary University of London, the scholars wrote that "the Israeli state is employing its extensive and advanced military capacity to inflict violence on Palestinian peoples on such a scale that it is accurate to frame it as the annihilation phase of genocide." On 3 November 2023 in an interview on '' MSNBC'' Omer Bartov stated that "the possibility of genocide is staring us in the face", and subsequently on 10 November 2023 Bartov stated in a ''New York Times'' opinion piece: "My greatest concern watching the Israel-Gaza war unfold is that there is genocidal intent, which can easily tip into genocidal action." In a response to Bartov's article a group of five holocaust scholars while acknowledging the "despicable statements that can not be ignored" of Israeli officials, sought to mitigate that statements to only a few officials, and justify them by pointing to the crimes of Hamas, the five scholars ultimately stated that the dehumanising language was "not evidence of genocidal intent".

On 13 November 2023, David Simon, director for genocide studies at Yale University, stated that it was possible that a court could find the Israel Defense Forces guilty of committing an act of genocide, but added that "it's certainly not textbook in that connecting the intent to destroy ethnic group as such is difficult." Yale's Ben Kiernan opined that events did "not meet the very high threshold that is required to meet the legal definition of genocide." Adam Jones, author of a textbook on genocide, took the view that beyond killing civilians ''en masse'', Israel appeared to be inflicting "conditions of life calculated to bring about he targeted group'sphysical destruction," thus violating the Genocide Convention; other scholars such as Dov Waxman said that while there was a "risk of genocidal actions" in Gaza, claims it was already happening were "stretching the concept too far, emptying it of any meaning." Martin Shaw on the other hand argued that the term "genocide" was under-deployed as states wished "to avoid the responsibilities to 'prevent and punish'" imposed by the convention; moreover, he argued, there was "a special aversion to investigating its implications for Israel's conduct. Western states continue to protect it out of a misplaced belief that Jews, having been prime historical victims of genocide, cannot also be its perpetrators."

Victoria Sanford, professor of City University of New York, compared events in Gaza to the 1960–1996 killing and disappearance of 200,000 Mayans in Guatemala, today known as the Guatemalan genocide. Sanford along with the holocaust and genocide scholars Barry Trachtenberg and John Cox detailed the similarities between statements made by Israeli government officials and ministers and that used in the genocide cases of Guatemala, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, northern Iraq, and Myanmar. Norman Finkelstein has argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's description of the Palestinians as "Amalek" was a call for genocide; he accused Israel of engaging in a "genocidal war". On 15 October, TWAILR published a statement signed by over 800 legal, conflict studies, and genocide scholars expressing "alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip" and calling on UN bodies, including the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to "immediately intervene, to carry out the necessary investigations, and invoke the necessary warning procedures to protect the Palestinian population from genocide."

Sociologist Eva Illouz wrote in October that Israel's "military response … against an enemy which has violated borders and international law, … is not genocide", though in a November article she said that the actions of Israel may be war crimes, then she stated in February 2024 that multiple senior members of the Israeli government have called for genocide in response to the 7 October attacks.

In December 2023, in correspondence published in the Lancet multiple specialists in international medicine and humanitarian aid reiterated warnings of the risk of genocide, while detailing how Israel's blocking of humanitarian support and aid were leading to unnecessary deaths, and how the death rate and death toll would only continue to worsen. They called signatories to the Genocide Convention to enforce a ceasefire on Israel. Also in December, a group of 60 holocaust and genocide scholars published a statement addressing evidence war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Israel's attack on Gaza, where they called for "scholars, programs, centers, and institutes in Holocaust and Genocide Studies to take a clear stance against Israeli mass violence and join us in efforts to stop it and prevent its further escalation."

In January 2024, a number of prominent Israelis, represented by human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, sent an 11-page open letter to Israel's attorney general and state prosecutor, detailing examples of "the discourse of annihilation, expulsion and revenge". The signatories alleged that the Israeli judiciary was ignoring incitement to genocide in Gaza.

Shmuel Lederman in discussing the Gaza, labels the actions of Israel as genocidal violence, but does not prescribe the term genocide, critiquing the simplification of intent in discussing the term genocide. He locates the situation of Gaza within a long and ongoing history of oppression, including mass surveillance, collective punishment, restrictions on travel and work, and settler-colonialism. He selects sociologist Eva Illouz's discussions on Gaza alongside human rights attorney Rabea Eghbariah's determination that Israel is conducting a genocide, to highlight how even specialists using the same frame of analysis (the United Nations genocide convention), there can be disagreement. Lederman has been criticised for not choosing specialist genocide scholars to analyse whether such disagreement exists as to whether Israel is conducting a genocide.

In previous accusations of Israel committing a genocide against Palestinians, there has been strong pushback, including labelling such accusations as antisemitic and arguing that such accusations are made with the aim of delegitimising or demonising Israel. The anthropologist and sociologist Didier Fassin has detailed this pushback also occurring with accusations of genocide in regards to the Israeli operations since October 2023. Fassin highlights three rhetorical formations that seem to repeatedly occur, these are: presenting 7 October 2023 as the beginning of events, ignoring any history prior to that date; hyperbolising statements, such as declaring the events of 7 October as "a new Holocaust"; and distortion, where actions taken in Gaza are disputed and the statement of Israel having "the most moral army in the world" is frequently repeated.

In February 2024, Mark Levene detailed how at the very least Israel's actions are ethnic cleansing, in line with Israeli intelligence ministry's policy paper for a forcible and permanent transfer of all Gazans, supported by calls for such action from Netanyahu's government. While arguing that the actions of Israel and statements from Israeli politicians and government officials show that Israel is engaging in genocide.

In February 2024 the journal ''Children's Geographies'' published an editorial identifying the harm done to Palestinian children and declaring that Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza is "neither self-defence nor legitimate", and later detailing in the context of the ICJ's ruling, that ceasing hostilities must also be accompanied by restorative measures to rebuild communities and structures in Gaza to mitigate the long term disabling effects on children and childhood within Gaza.

In March 2024, the Middle East Studies Association released a statement condemning the "accelerating scale of genocidal violence being inflicted on the Palestinian population of Gaza" while also stating that Israel's conduct constituted a cultural genocide. The statement read: "We must also bear witness to the decimation of thousands of years of historical material culture that constitute a part of our shared world heritage. The current multipronged attacks against Gaza appear calculated to achieve nothing less than the total erasure of the Palestinians and their history from this small coastal strip."

The sociologist and genocide scholar Uğur Ümit Üngör views the 2023 Israeli assault on Gaza as continuation of a history of "asymmetrical power relations, and annihilatory attitudes towards civilians." He further describes Israeli actions as "unmistakably counter-genocidal in terms of the quantity, quality, and dynamic of mass violence."

Statements by political organizations and governments

World leaders and governments

In late 2023, various global leaders and officials voiced their perspectives on the Israel-Gaza conflict, with many labeling Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide." Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, the Taliban, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and the Kurdistan Communities Union were among those who condemned Israel's actions. A day after Colombia withdrew its ambassador from Israel, President Gustavo Petro posted on X in Spanish: "It's called genocide, they do it to remove the Palestinian people from Gaza and take it over. The head of the state who carries out this genocide is a criminal against humanity. Their allies cannot talk about democracy." Leaders from Turkey, Brazil, and Syria also condemned Israel's actions.

In January 2024, President Hage Geingob of Namibia called Israel's actions in Gaza "genocidal and gruesome" and sharply criticized Germany's decision to back Israel in ''South Africa v. Israel'', saying that Germany had an "inability to draw lessons from its horrific history," including the Herero and Nama Genocide in German Southwest Africa.

On 9 February 2024, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that the international community's silence on Israel's actions in Gaza were "complicity in genocide". The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the UN Security Council "to take urgent action to prevent the Israeli occupation forces from storming Rafah and committing genocide in" Rafah. On 17 February, Moussa Faki, the president of the African Union, stated, "Gaza is being completely annihilated and its people are deprived of all their rights. We denounce the Israeli operation, which has no parallel in the history of humanity." On 18 February, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated, "What's happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn't happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews." In the same comments to reporters, Lula also explicitly referred to the events in Gaza as a "genocide" as opposed to a war.

On 29 February 2024, Colombian president Gustavo Petro announced the country would cease importing Israeli arms in the wake of the Flour massacre; in the same comments, he characterized Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as "genocide". In March 2024, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell told the U.S. Secretary of State, "The very survival of the population in Gaza is at stake today".

On 18 March 2024, Kyrgyzstan's government called on Israel and the United States to stop the "madness and the genocide" in Gaza. On 26 March, Pakistan's OIC representative stated that Israel pushing for a "final solution to the Palestinian question is plain for all to see, as its forces encircle Rafah like vultures and its ravenous land grab continues unabated". Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, stated, "The fact that Palestinian deaths are not solely caused by bombardment and ground attacks, but also by disease and starvation, indicates a need to protect the group’s right to exist". Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel stated on 31 March 2024: "Cuba demands that the genocide stop now".

Statement by civil servants

On 2 February 2024 it was reported that more than 800 civil servants from the US, UK and the European Union, including many senior officials, have signed an open letter criticising their governments' "public, diplomatic and military support" to Israel as "given without real conditions or accountability", and warning that the policies of their governments on Gaza "are contributing to grave violations of international law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide".

On 5 April 2024, Elizabeth Warren became the first senator from the United States, Israel's closest military ally, to publicly state her belief that the assault on Gaza would be legally ruled a genocide. According to her office, Warren was expressing a legal analysis rather than her personal view.

Statements by NGOs and intergovernmental organizations

After Israel started its military operations against Hamas in October, both Genocide Watch and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued statements warning of the imminent risk of genocide. Subsequently, in December the Lemkin Institute stated that they viewed the continuing actions by Israel as a genocide.

On 1 November, the Defence for Children International (DCI) accused the United States of complicity with Israel's "crime of genocide." On 11 March 2024, DCI addressed the famine affecting Gaza, stating, "The starvation of children is a hallmark of genocide and a deliberate political choice by Israel, backed by the Biden administration".

On 2 November 2023, a group of UN special rapporteurs stated, "We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide." On 4 November, Pedro Arrojo, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, said that based on article 7 of the Rome Statute, which counts "deprivation of access to food or medicine, among others" as a form of extermination, "even if there is no clear intention, the data show that the war is heading towards genocide". Three Palestinian rights groups Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights have filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC), urging the body to investigate Israel for "apartheid" as well as "genocide" and issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

On 16 November, A group of United Nations experts said there was "evidence of increasing genocidal incitement" against Palestinians. Jewish Voice for Peace stated: "The Israeli government has declared a genocidal war on the people of Gaza. As an organization that works for a future where Palestinians and Israelis and all people live in equality and freedom, we call on all people of conscience to stop imminent genocide of Palestinians." On 13 December, FIDH stated Israel's actions in Gaza constituted an unfolding genocide.

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor documented evidence of execution committed by Israeli Defense Forces. It submitted the evidence and documentation to the International Criminal Court and the United Nations special rapporteur.

In response to a '' Times of Israel'' report on 3 January 2024 that the Israeli government was in talks with the Congolese government to take Palestinian refugees from Gaza, UN special rapporteur Balakrishnan Rajagopal stated, "Forcible transfer of Gazan population is an act of genocide".

On 9 February, ahead of Israel's announced military assault on Rafah, the head of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard wrote, "Amnesty is reiterating that Palestinians in Gaza are at grave risk of genocide. The international community has an obligation to act to prevent genocide." On 26 March, Callamard stated the international community "must uphold their obligations under the Genocide Convention and take concrete measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza today". In a statement commemorating Land Day, the Arab Parliament stated Israel "aims to destroy the identity of an entire people".

Legal proceedings

International Criminal Court

In 2021, the Pretrial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court confirmed that the court had jurisdiction in its investigation in Palestine. On 12 October 2023, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmad Khan, confirmed that war crimes committed by Israeli nationals in Gaza were within the investigation's jurisdiction.

U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights lawsuit

On 13 November 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The complaint alleged that Israel's "mass killings", targeting of civilian infrastructure and forced expulsions amounted to genocide. The CCR stated: "As Israel's closest ally and strongest supporter, being its biggest provider of military assistance by a large margin and with Israel being the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War II, the United States has the means available to have a deterrent effect on Israeli officials now pursuing genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza," the complaint argued. Genocide expert William Schabas supported the lawsuit with a declaration saying he believed there was a "serious risk of genocide" and the U.S. was "in breach of its obligation, under both the 1948 Genocide Convention to which it is a party as well as customary international law, to use its position of influence with the government of Israel and to take the best measures within its power to prevent the crime taking place." On 16 November the scholars Victoria Sanford, Barry Trachtenberg, and John Cox filed a declaration in support of the Center for Constitutional Rights' lawsuit. During the court case Trachtenberg took to the stand and stressed the necessity for the US to act, and not repeat its failure in taking a stand against the violence against Jews in Nazi Germany leading up to the Holocaust.

A federal judge dismissed the case Defense for Children International-Palestine et al v. Biden et al on 31 January 2024, saying the Constitution prevents his court from determining foreign policy, which is reserved to the political branches of U.S. government, though he wrote that "as the ICJ has found, it is plausible that Israel's conduct amounts to genocide."; the judge also commented he would have preferred to have issued the injunction and urged President Biden to rethink U.S. policy, writing that the court "implore defendants to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza".

International Court of Justice application

South Africa has instituted proceedings at the International Court of Justice pursuant to the Genocide Convention, to which both Israel and South Africa are signatories, accusing Israel of committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa compared Israel's actions to apartheid. South Africa's application was brought pursuant to Article IX of the convention. Several human rights organizations, international organisations, and other nations have supported South Africa in their suit.

In an 84-page application filed on 29 December 2023, South Africa alleged that Israel's actions "are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group." South Africa requested that the ICJ issue a binding legal order on an interim basis (i.e., prior to a hearing on the merits of the application), requiring Israel to "immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza." While adjudication of the merits of the case may take years, such an order could be issued within weeks. The South African ambassador to the Netherlands, in a statement to the ICJ during the proceedings, argued how the 2023 assault on Gaza is not an individual event but the escalation of "Israel’s twenty-five-year apartheid, fifty-six-year occupation, and sixteen-year siege imposed on the Gaza strip."

Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, notes that the ICJ case is not a prosecution of individuals, and does not involve the International Criminal Court, which is a separate body. Jarrah stated that the case presents an opportunity to "provide clear, definitive answers on the question of whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people."

On 6 March 2024 South Africa asked the ICJ to order additional measures against Israel, due to Gazans facing mass starvation.

Israeli response

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy rejected the allegations "with disgust" and accused South Africa of cooperating with Hamas, describing the actions of South Africa as "blood libel", and of abetting "the modern heirs of the Nazis". On 2 January 2024, Israel decided to appear before the ICJ in response to South Africa's case, despite a prior history of ignoring international tribunals. On 13 January, Benjamin Netanyahu stated, "No one will stop us. Not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil, no one."

South Africa's actions found support from some Israeli politicians, including Ofer Cassif.

ICJ ruling

On 26 January 2024, the ICJ issued a preliminary ruling finding that the claims in South Africa's filing were "plausible" and issued an order to Israel requiring them to take all measures within their power to prevent acts of genocide, to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and to allow basic humanitarian services into Gaza.

Occupation proceedings

In the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem, Qatar stated "Israel's genocidal war on the people of Gaza has shown that the situation in Palestine is the most pressing threat to international peace and security".

Lawsuit in Germany

In February 2024 lawyers representing Palestinians in Germany filed a criminal complaint against various senior politicians including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, economic minister Robert Habeck, and finance minister Christian Lindner for "aiding and abetting" the genocide in Gaza.

''Nicaragua v. Germany''

On 1 March 2024, Nicaragua initiated proceedings against Germany at the ICJ under the Genocide Convention, concerning Germany's support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war. It sought the indication of provisional measures of protection including the resumption of suspended German funding of the UNRWA and the cessation of military supplies to Israel.

Australian legal proceedings

In March 2024, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, and others were referred to the ICC by Sydney-based firm Birchgrove Legal as accessories to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, citing the defunding of UNRWA, the provision of military aid, and "unequivocal political support" for Israel's actions during the Israel-Hamas War.

International complicity

Some commentators have accused Western media and governments of supporting genocide against Palestinians, especially those of the United States of America. Among other journalists and scholars, the Canada-based sociologist M. Muhannad Ayyash has accused the United States of complicity in the alleged genocide, in this case amidst the Israel–Hamas war in which the United States has provided significant aid to Israel.

In January 2024, Chris Gunness, the former spokesperson of UNRWA, stated that the US and UK were complicit in genocide against Gaza. In March, OXFAM released a statement detailing their intention, alongside several other NGOs, to sue Denmark to prevent arms sales to Israel, where they warn that by selling arms Denmark is "complicit in violations of international humanitarian law ��and a plausible genocide."

American complicity

On 13 October 2023, journalist Eric Levitz of '' The Intelligencer'' argued that governmental administrations of the United States, such as the Biden administration, have given approval to Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in the Israel–Hamas war On 4 January 2024, the United States government acknowledged it was not conducting formal assessments of whether Israel was violating international humanitarian law.

In November 2023, president Joe Biden was nicknamed "Genocide Joe" by critics of his support for Israel. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, described by Israeli media outlet '' Ynet'' as "an exceptionally accomplished Israeli advocate", said "Israel's trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So if we're going to start using that word, fine, let's use it appropriately". On 13 November 2023, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) sued Biden for allegedly failing in his duties, defined under national and international laws, to prevent Israel committing genocide in Gaza in the Israel–Hamas war.

In February 2024, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention stated the Biden Administration was complicit in alleged genocide in Gaza, stating, "None of the Biden Administration's tactics to deny genocide and avoid accountability will withstand the test of time. President Biden and key administration officials are on a path to be remembered as the principal enablers of one of the worst genocides in the 21st century". Ali Harb wrote, "US weapons have continued to flow to Israel to arm a military carrying out a suspected genocide in Gaza. At the same time, Biden is pushing to secure $14bn in additional aid for the US ally." In February 2024, following a U.S. veto of a UN ceasefire resolution, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez stated, "They are accomplices of this genocide of Israel against Palestine". Karen Wells ''et al.'' also point to the $14.3 billion in their article in the journal ''Children's Geographies'' as evidence of US complicity in Israel's "genocidal war".

Rhetoric from politicians in the United States

In the Florida legislature, Democratic Representative Angie Nixon was talking in support of a resolution she sponsored calling for "de-escalation" and a ceasefire to end the killing of Palestinians. At some point she said "We are at 10,000 dead Palestinians. How many will be enough?", Republican Representative Michelle Salzman replied instantly "All of them," Nixon interrupted her speech saying "One of my colleagues just said 'All of them.' Wow." This remark has been characterised as an open call for genocide by some commentators. Nixon and the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for her to be censured or to resign. CAIR-Florida Executive Director Imam Abdullah Jaber said in a statement: "This chilling call for genocide by an American lawmaker is the direct result of decades of dehumanization of the Palestinian people by advocates of Israeli apartheid and their eager enablers in government and the media." Ahmad Abuznaid, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USPCR) said that "There is a bipartisan effort to dehumanise the Palestinian people," referring especially to President Joe Biden voicing doubt over the accuracy of the Palestinian death count and attacks on Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for her criticism of Israel's military offensive.

US Republican Congressman and former aide to Donald Trump, Max Miller, speaking at Fox News stated that Palestine is "about to get eviscerated... to turn that into a parking lot." He has previously called on the Biden administration "to get out of Israel's way and to let Israel do what it needs to do best". He said there should be "no rules of engagement" during Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Miller also questioned the accuracy of the Gaza Health Ministry's claim that 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza, saying that he believes many of those killed have been "Hamas terrorists", not innocent civilians, and said the United States does not "trust an entity that puts munitions in mosques, and churches and in hospitals."

Former Republican Representative Michele Bachmann appearing in December in The Charlie Kirk Show stated "So, it's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there – they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park. And since they're the voluntary mercenaries for Iran, they need to be dropped on the doorstep of Iran. Let Iran deal with those people." She received a round of applause from the audience, while Kirk replied "I look at Israel and Israel says we never want another person into our country that doesn't share our values," Kirk said. "They said they don't want refugees. They don't want any of these people. I want American immigration policy to be like that."

Republican Representative Brian Mast compared all Palestinians to Nazis in November on the House floor. On January 31, 2024, Mast also said that Palestinian babies are not innocent civilians but "terrorists" who should be killed, that more infrastructure in Gaza needs to be destroyed, and that "It would be better if you kill all the terrorists and kill everyone who are supporters."

In an interview with Fox News on 5 March 2024, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stated that Joe Biden "dumped Israel" due to being overly influenced by pro-Palestinian protests, that "The Democrats are very bad for Israel," that he supports Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in which Israel has to "finish the problem", and that the Biden administration "got soft", which commentators has viewed as a call to continue and "double down" on genocidal acts. Trump's campaign also said that, if elected again, he would bar Gaza residents from entering the U.S. as part of an expanded travel ban.

In a town hall meeting on March 25, 2024, the Republican US House representative Tim Walberg of Michigan stated that Palestinian civilians should have nuclear weapons used against them, "like Nagasaki and Hiroshima" (the Japanese cities where the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War Two, killing hundreds of thousands of people) in order to "Get it over quick."

Palestinian-American U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib accused President Biden of supporting "the genocide of the Palestinian people". Marjorie Taylor Greene sponsored a resolution for censure against her by the Republican caucus. Craig Mokhiber from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights resigned, criticising the organization for its response to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Mokhiber later stated that Israel's actions against Gaza are a "classic case of textbook genocide".

A group of eight Democrat Senators led by Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen issued an official letter to President Joe Biden, calling on him to "enforce federal law" by requiring Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel" as "The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history" and "The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance." They cited the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which states that "no assistance" shall be provided under that law or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. "Stopping American humanitarian aid is in violation of the law. That should be clear. No more money to Netanyahu's war machine to kill Palestinian children," Sanders said.

British complicity

In 12 December 2023, Human Rights Watch, stated that selling weapons to Israel could make the UK complicit in war crimes. UK law says that licenses cannot be granted where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law, for example the complete siege of Gaza or the indiscriminate shelling of civilians. Human right groups, Al-Haq and Global Legal Action Network, have applied for a judicial review of the government’s export licences for the sale of British weapons capable of being used in Israel’s action in Gaza. Additionally, James Denselow, Head of Conflict and Humanitarian at Save the Children UK, stated that ''"''By failing to push for a permanent end to the fighting or speak out against the weaponization of aid, Rishi Sunak and his government are complicit in the horror that is unfolding. "In December, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf condemned the UK's abstention on a draft UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying this would lead to the deaths of more children.

In April 2024, Guy Goodwin-Gill stated, "There is a serious risk of genocide, as the International Court of Justice has found. If the UK, with that knowledge in mind, carries on exporting arms to Israel, there is a risk that those arms will be used in the conduct of aggressive activities and in the conduct of genocide."

German complicity

In October 2023, political analyst Lena Obermaier argued that Germany was complicit in Israel's war crimes against Gaza. She detailed how most of Germany's most prominent news outlets have "been silent on Israeli genocidal policies in the past" and are doing so currently. She also highlights police suppression of pro-Palestine protests throughout Germany as evidence of state complicity. Karen Wells ''et al.'' highlight how Germany has entrenched its complicity in Israel's actions through criminalising the use of the word genocide in reference to any actions taken by Israel. In February 2024, a criminal complaint was filed in German courts accusing various senior politicians of complicity in genocide, subsequently in March, Nicaragua initiated a suit against Germany for complicity at the ICJ.

Cultural discourse

Various public figures have described the situation in Gaza as a genocide, including Kid Cudi, Macklemore, and Summer Walker. Melissa Barrera was fired from the '' Scream'' franchise for reposting an article on social media which accused Israel of genocide. ''Time'' referred to Barrera's firing in the context of a "growing divide" within Hollywood regarding the war. Raz Segal's "textbook genocide" verdict has been quoted approvingly by climate activist Greta Thunberg and BBC football presenter Gary Lineker.

In December 2023, Olly Alexander, who will represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, signed a letter by the LGBT association Voices4London, which accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians. The Israeli government and the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) condemned his views and asked the BBC not to allow him to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. The BBC rejected Israel's request to cut ties with Alexander over his political views.

Russian-American author, Masha Gessen, when asked if what was happening in Gaza was a genocide said, "I think there are some fine distinctions between genocide and ethnic cleansing and I think that there are valid arguments for using both terms". When pressed further they stated, "it is at the very least ethnic cleansing". This was followed soon after controversy surrounding Gessen's reception of the Hannah Arendt Prize over remarks in a '' New Yorker'' article critical of Israeli actions in the strip in which Gessen compared them to an Eastern European ghetto "being liquidated" by the Nazis.

Various, mainly western, media and news outlets have been accused of complicity in genocide against Gaza through media imperialism. With others situating the biases of western media outlets within a long history of downplaying and excusing the oppression of Palestinians. In analysis of the language used in coverage of the Israeli assault on Gaza, it was found that the internationally legally recognised term of the "occupied territories" appeared more times in ''Al Jazeera English's'' coverage than all of US and UK news outlets combined, and that emotive language was 11 times more likely to be used when talking about Israeli victims than Palestinian victims. On 14 March 2024 protestors blocked access to the offices of '' The New York Times'', accusing the paper of complicity in genocide.

At the 96th Academy Awards, accepting the award for Best International Feature Film for '' The Zone of Interest,'' Jonathan Glazer in his acceptance speech drew parallels between the depiction of the Holocaust in his film and the current situation in Gaza. Journalist Naomi Klein further expanded on the parallels between the film's depiction of the Holocaust and Gaza, highlighting the normalisation of genocidal action.

See also

* Animal stereotypes of Palestinians in Israeli discourse
* Sexual and gender-based violence in 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza
* Allegations of genocide in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel
* Israeli war crimes
* Racism in Israel
* Palestinian genocide accusation
* War crimes in the Israel–Hamas war
* Human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel
* Weaponization of antisemitism

References

Footnotes

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Further reading

External links

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{{Portalbar, Israel, Palestine, Society, Genocide

2020s in Israel
Anti-Palestinian sentiment in Israel
Biden administration controversies
Genocides in Asia
Germany–Israel relations
History of Palestine (region)
Incitement to genocide
Reactions to the Israel–Hamas war
War crimes in the Israel–Hamas war