• The Case for Palestinian Genocide
  • What is genocide?
  • Israel is committing systematic genocide
  • Genocidal Intent
  • Specific actions:
    • Killing
    • Bodily harm
    • Mental harm
    • Destruction in whole or part
    • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
  • What do the experts say?
  • Authoritative determinations of rights violations in Gaza
    • United Nations bodies
    • Major human rights organisations
    • Press freedom and journalist protection
    • Humanitarian and medical organisations
  • Genocide Case at ICJ
  • ICC take action against Israeli leaders

The Case for Palestinian Genocide

This page outlines the case for classifying the activities carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people as a clear case of genocide according to international definitions.

What is genocide?

A common misconception is that the term ‘genocide’ means the complete extermination of an entire group.

In fact, the definition of genocide, according to both the United Nations (UN) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), goes beyond the idea of simply wiping out an entire population. These definitions encompass a range of actions aimed at destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. This is crucial in assessing whether the war on the Palestinian people is genocide or not: genocide does not require the complete annihilation of a group but can occur even if only a part of the group is targeted.

The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted in 1948, was the first international treaty to define genocide. This definition is mirrored in the Rome Statute of the ICC. The key elements include:

1. Intent: A critical component of genocide is the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group. This distinguishes genocide from other crimes based on the perpetrator’s intent rather than solely on their actions.

2. Protected Groups: These are specifically defined as national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups. The targeting of these groups is what characterises an act as genocide.

3. Specific Actions: These actions include:

   • Killing members of the group.

   • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.

   • Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part.

   • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

   • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

This definition shows that genocide is not limited to the physical extermination of every member of a group. It includes actions intended to cause significant harm to the group’s integrity and ability to continue as a distinct entity.

The emphasis on the partial destruction of a group is significant, as it recognizes that genocide can occur even if only a part of the group is targeted for destruction. This broader interpretation helps to encompass a range of genocidal acts that might not involve mass killings but are still aimed at the systematic eradication of the identity and existence of specific groups.

Israel is committing systematic genocide

Under the UN and ICC conventions on genocide, only one type of genocidal action is enough to classify it as genocide. Out of the five different types of genocide outlined, there is clear evidence of Israeli actions meeting the criteria for at least three of the most common and serious types of genocide:

• Killing members of the group.

• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.

• Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part.

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Genocidal Intent

Successive Zionist governments since the inception of Israel in 1948 have had genocidal intent against the Palestinian population. Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister, stated:

we will abolish partition and expand to the whole of Palestine”

Levi Eshkol, the third Israeli Prime Minster stated:

“I want them all to go, even if they go to the moon”.

More recently, there have been clear and unambiguous expressions of the intent to commit genocide by those with ‘command responsibility’ to commit genocide, i.e., Israeli leaders and senior army officers. When considering past historical precedents on classifying genocide, intent is often articulated through explicitly dehumanizing and demonizing language. We see the same kind of language used against Palestinians, more recently describing Palestinians in Gaza as “human animals.”

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant referred to Palestinians as “human animals” and vowed to “act accordingly” as fighter jets unleashed a massive bombing campaign on Gaza. “Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.”

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in October 2023. Image Source: Al Jazeera

Israeli President Isaac Herzog repeated Israel’s intention to commit genocide against the civilian population of 2.2 million, half of whom are children and youth under the age of 18, when he asserted, on October 13, 2023, that:

it’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true.

Other Israeli state leaders and senior army officers have used inflammatory language, defining Palestinians as Nazis who act strictly out of antisemitic motives. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed this in an interview on October 12:

We’re fighting Nazis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to turn Gaza “into rubble,” and on October 29, 2023, declared a holy war when he invoked the biblical story of the complete destruction of the ‘Amalek’ by the Israelites.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated:

“Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.”

The deputy of speaker of the Israeli Parliament stated:

We are too humane. Burn Gaza now no less!

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir claimed that his rights in the occupied West Bank are more important than those of Palestinians, sparking widespread condemnation.

Israeli leaders and soldiers described Gaza as a “slaughterhouse” and called for “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.”

Other Israeli officials made statements emphasising “damage and not accuracy” in their military actions.

Each of the statements quoted above by people with authority, on its own, would be cause for great alarm, but taken together, they demonstrate clear “intent to destroy” Palestinians in Gaza.

Further genocidal quotes by Israeli leadership current and past can be found here.

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Specific actions:

Killing

Palestinians, particularly those in Gaza, have been subject to some of the most intense violence in modern history.

The 2014 Gaza War and, most recently, the current Israeli war on Gaza saw some of the highest civilian casualties (as a proportion of people killed in general) since World War II. The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reports that the civilian proportion of Palestinian deaths is higher than that of all world conflicts in the 20th century.

As of September 2024, the current Israeli war in Gaza has resulted in at least 41,431 Palestinians killed, including at least 7,112 children and 4,885 women.

In the Occupied West Bank, at least 569 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 158 children. Additionally, at least 1,400 children have been injured.

The infographic below illustrates the human cost of the conflict in just the last 15 years:

Mass graves being dug in Gaza. Image Source: Al Jazeera

The infographic below illustrates the human cost of the conflict in just the last 15 years:

The Human Cost of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982, where between 460 to 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians, were killed, was declared an act of genocide by the United Nations General Assembly.

Before these events, thousands of Palestinians have been killed, from the Nakba of 1948 to subsequent attacks by Zionists. [Top]

Bodily harm

The blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed by Israel since 2005, has been described as “incremental genocide” and “slow-motion genocide” due to the severe living conditions it has created.

During the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis, actions by Israeli citizens and the response of Israeli forces were criticised as displaying a “genocidal animus towards Palestinians.”

Over 30,000 Palestinian civilians have been injured in the current campaign of violence by Israel.

Thousands of children have had amputations. Image Source: UNICEF-SoP 2023

Human Rights Watch has confirmed the use of white phosphorus bombs in Israel’s attack on Gaza. White phosphorus sets fire to bodies and buildings, creating flames that are not extinguishable on contact with water. The use of such an incendiary chemical weapon is prohibited by Article 1 of Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Article 2 of the same protocol prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against civilian targets.

Mental harm

The mental health situation in Palestine is one of the worst in the world. Due to the ongoing genocide, there is significant psychological distress among the Palestinian population.

A key study conducted in 2022 found that 58% of Palestinian adults met the diagnostic threshold for depression, with 71% in Gaza and 50% in the West Bank showing symptoms. Additionally, 7% met the criteria for PTSD. Another report by Save the Children in 2022 revealed that 80% of children in Gaza experienced emotional distress, 59% engaged in self-harm, and 55% had suicidal ideation.

During the current Israeli war, children in Gaza have shown severe trauma symptoms, with 90% in paediatric hospitals exhibiting anxiety and PTSD symptoms, and 82% expressing fears of imminent death. These mental health challenges are attributed to conflict exposure, poor living conditions, and movement restrictions.

See the World Bank Mental Health Report for more information.

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Destruction in whole or part

Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. Since the current violence by Israeli forces, the Israeli regime has dropped more than 75,000 tonnes of explosives on Gaza. This is at least 5 times more explosive power than the nuclear bomb attack on Hiroshima at the end of World War II.

Image of destruction in Gaza. Image Source: UNICEF/UNI485696/El Baba

Israel has destroyed or damaged more than half of all the housing and buildings in Gaza, seriously damaging key civilian infrastructure, including 280 schools, 12 hospitals, and at least 19 universities. This is not to mention the complete destruction of mosques and churches, some of which have existed for over eight centuries. The genocidal intent behind this is confirmed by an official Israeli spokesperson: “Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents. There will be no buildings.” Israeli Rear Admiral Hegari has stated:

between accuracy and the scale of damage, right now we are busy with what generates maximum damage.

There is compelling evidence that departments of the Israeli government wish to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Palestine to another location. For further evidence, see:

• A paper published by the Israeli Intelligence Ministry published on October 13, 2023 — as reported by the right-wing Times of Israel newspaper.

• Numerous members of the Israeli parliament and government issuing clear communication that they wish to ethically cleanse Palestinians from Palestine.

• And a further list of genocide quotes from Israeli leaders can be found here: Zionists Today

The nature of the Israeli attack, specifically the levels of destruction and killings through indiscriminate bombing, combined with the siege of the civilian population (by depriving them of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies), and explicit intent meets the criteria of “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The South African application to the International Court of Justice clearly states:

Israel has also laid waste to vast areas of Gaza, including entire neighborhoods, and has damaged or destroyed in excess of 355,000 Palestinian homes, alongside extensive tracts of agricultural land, bakeries, schools, universities, businesses, places of worship, cemeteries, cultural and archaeological sites, municipal and court buildings, and critical infrastructure, including water and sanitation facilities and electricity networks, while pursuing a relentless assault on the Palestinian medical and healthcare system.

In just over two months, Israel’s military attacks had “wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol, or proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. ¹

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Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has reported that pregnant women in Gaza City are unable to receive obstetric care as hospitals and health clinics are being attacked, with four hospitals and 23 outpatient clinics serving 23,000 pregnant women at risk of imminent shutdown. These attacks and closures heighten the risk of maternal and newborn deaths. UNFPA press release

The UN News service, citing OHCHR, reported that 94% of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, leaving pregnant women and newborns without essential care, and that the blockade has prevented entry of medical supplies and nutrients required to sustain pregnancies and ensure safe childbirth. OHCHR further reported sharp increases in maternal deaths, miscarriages, and newborn fatalities. UN News report

These findings describe conditions that obstruct access to pregnancy care and safe childbirth, which are relevant to the Genocide Convention element of imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.

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What do the experts say?

On 15 October 2023, over 800 scholars and practitioners of international law, conflict studies, and genocide studies signed a public statement warning of the possibility of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. They stated::

As scholars and practitioners of international law, conflict studies and genocide studies, we are compelled to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. We do not do so lightly, recognizing the weight of this crime, but the gravity of the current situation demands it.

Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University in New Jersey, wrote in Jewish Currents:

Israel’s assault on Gaza is a textbook case of genocide.

Other academic and legal statements include:

• The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) warned early of the risk of genocide and noted that the pattern of conduct reflects an intent to destroy the group.

• The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued active genocide alerts stating: “There is no doubt that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

• A May 2024 legal analysis by the University Network for Human Rights concluded: “Israel has committed genocidal acts… targeting Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group.”

Authoritative determinations of rights violations in Gaza

Multiple international bodies and rights organisations have issued determinations and findings about Gaza. Key statements include:

United Nations bodies

• UN Special Rapporteur on the OPT (Francesca Albanese): The report “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime” states that “the threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide… has been met.” Read report

• UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (Michael Fakhri): “We are witnessing a situation of genocide… Israel has destroyed the food system in Gaza and used food as a weapon of war.” Read press release

• UNICEF: “Gaza has become a graveyard for children” and the denial of humanitarian access constitutes grave violations of children’s rights. Read UNICEF statements

• UNRWA: “No place is safe, not even UN facilities,” with over 400 attacks on UN premises and over 200 UN staff members killed. Read UNRWA situation reports

• UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): A Nov 2024 thematic report warned violations “could amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly even genocide.” Access OHCHR reports on OPT

Major human rights organisations

• Amnesty International: “Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza,” including unlawful airstrikes on civilian areas. Read investigation

• Amnesty International (Apartheid report): “Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.” Read report and updates

• Human Rights Watch: Documented the use of white phosphorus in Gaza and Lebanon. Read investigation

• Human Rights Watch: Reported “starvation as a weapon of war,” accusing the Israeli government of the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide. Read report

• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH): Declared Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute an unfolding genocide. Read FIDH resolution

Press freedom and journalist protection

• Reporters Without Borders (RSF): Filed complaints to the ICC regarding “war crimes against journalists,” stating “Targeting journalists is a war crime.” Read RSF ICC complaints

• Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): Called this the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992. Read CPJ casualty data

Humanitarian and medical organisations

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): “The hostilities have caused a total collapse of the humanitarian protection system” and “Hospitals risk turning into morgues.” Read ICRC statements

• Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders): “We are witnessing a war waged on civilians… The healthcare system has been systematically dismantled.” Read MSF Gaza updates

• Oxfam International: Reported that “Israel is using water as a weapon of war,” with water supplies cut by 94% compared to pre-October levels. Read Oxfam press releases

• Save the Children: The number of children killed in three weeks surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019. Read Save the Children statements

Genocide Case at ICJ

South Africa presenting their case to the ICJ on 11th January 2024

Recently and importantly, proceedings were instituted by South Africa against the State of Israel on 29 December 2023 at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to claim that Israel is committing genocide. The application states:

Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Those acts include killing them, causing them serious mental and bodily harm and deliberately inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction as a group

The highly researched (84+ pages) Genocide case against Israel can be found here.

In its Order of 26 January 2024, the ICJ held that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the Convention” and that there is a “real and imminent risk” of irreparable prejudice to rights the Court found plausible. The Court issued provisional measures to prevent further harm.

In July 2024, the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territory held that Israel’s continued presence in the OPT is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible.

ICC take action against Israeli leaders

In May 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor announced applications for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (as well as three Hamas leaders). The applications cite alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering, and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, with specific charges including extermination, murder, and persecution. Read the Prosecutor’s statement

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Footnotes

1. https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-bombs-destruction-death-toll-scope-419488c511f83c85baea22458472a796. ↩