International law and genocide scholars have accused Israeli officials of usingdehumanizinglanguage.[5]During the2023 Israel-Hamas war, Israeli historian of the HolocaustOmer Bartovwarned that statements made by top Israeli officials "could easily be construed as indicating a genocidal intent".[6]An ongoing genocide in fact- the international community has been using the word genocide to describe Israeli actions for decades now .
In September 1982, between 460 to 3,500 civilians—mostlyPalestiniansandLebanese Shia Muslims—were killed inBeirut's Sabra neighborhood and in the adjacentShatila refugee campduring theLebanese Civil War. The killings were carried out by theLebanese Forces, one of the mainChristian militias in Lebanonat the time. Between the evening of 16 September and the morning of 18 September, the Lebanese militia carried out the killings while theIsrael Defense Forces(IDF) had the Palestinian camp surrounded.[16]The IDF had ordered the militia to clear out the fighters of thePalestine Liberation Organization(PLO) from Sabra and Shatila as part of a larger Israeli maneuver into western Beirut. As the massacre unfolded, the IDF received reports of atrocities being committed, but did not take any action to stop it.[17]
On 16 December 1982, theUnited Nations General Assemblycondemned the Sabra and Shatila massacre and declared it to be an act of genocide.
n 2005 and again in 2007, Israel imposed a blockade with the support of theEgyptiangovernmenton the movement of goods and people in and out of theGaza Strip. IsraeliNew HistorianIlan Pappéhas argued that genocide "is the only appropriate way to describe what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip".[30][31]And in his 2017 book,Ten Myths About Israel, Pappé wrote "Israel’s claim that its actions since 2006 have been part of a self-defensive war against terror. I will venture to call … an incremental genocide of the people of Gaza."[32]In an article written in 2023 in theInternational Journal of Human Rights, Mohammed Nijim voiced his belief “that Israeli policies that were enacted after the introduction of theBlockade of the Gaza Stripamount[ed] to slow-motion genocide".[33]
2014 Gaza War
The 2014 Gaza War, also referred to as Operation Protective Edge, was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip.[3]Al-Haq, a Palestinian Human Rights organization, concluded in a report that serious violations of international law were committed in the course of the 2014 Israeli offensive against Gaza. The organization, along with other Palestinian human rights organizations thePalestinian Centre for Human Rights,Al Mezan Center for Human RightsandAddameer, submitted a legal file to theInternational Criminal Courtencouraging it to begin an investigation and prosecution into the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the course of Israel’s 2014 Gaza offensive. The crime of genocide was referenced as an Israeli crime by these groups.[3]Additionally, dozens ofHolocaustsurvivors, along with hundreds of descendants of Holocaust survivors and victims, accused Israel of "genocide" for the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza during the 2014 Gaza War.[3]
2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
During the2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, a video circulated on social media showing Israelis celebrating at theWestern Wall, whilst a tree near theAl-Aqsa Mosqueburns in the background. A large crowd of Israeli Jews gathered around a fire near the mosque on 10 May, chantingyimakh shemam, a Hebrewcursemeaning "may their names be erased".IfNotNowco-founder andB'Tselem USAdirector Simone Zimmerman criticized them as exhibiting "genocidal animus towards Palestinians — emboldened and unfiltered".[34][35]The Interceptdescribed the video as "unsettling" and an example of "ultranationalist frenzy".Ayman Odeh, amember of the Knessetfor theJoint List, said the video was "shocking".[35]
In an opinion survey ofAmerican Jews, commissioned by theJewish Electorate Institutefollowing the 2021 crisis, 22 percent agreed that "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians,"[36]and Arno Rosenfeld ofThe Forwardargued that the poll may have underestimated the percentage of American Jews who have a critical view of Israel.[37]Conversely, the accusation of genocide during this period was rejected as "ridiculous" and "baseless" by several Jewish and Israeli human rights lawyers, including some who had accused Israel of apartheid.[9]
2023 Israel–Hamas war
Pro-Palestine march in
Bristol, United Kingdom, 4 November 2023
After Israel began the bombing of Gaza, in response toHamas attacks, some Palestinians immediately expressed concern that this violence would be used to justify genocide against Palestinians by Israel.[38]According toTime, there is currently disagreement among scholars as to whether Israel's actions can be described as a genocide against the Palestinians.[39]On 15 October,TWAILRpublished a statement signed by over 800 legal 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 theUN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, as well as theOffice of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Courtto "immediately intervene, to carry out the necessary investigations, and invoke the necessary warning procedures to protect the Palestinian population from genocide."[40][41][42]On 19 October 2023, 100 civil society organizations and six genocide scholars sent a letter toKarim Khan, Prosecutor of theInternational 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 thePalestinian territories, includingincitement 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 wereRaz Segal,Barry Trachtenberg, Robert McNeil,Damien Short,Taner Akçamand Victoria Sanford.[43]The same day, lawyers at theCenter for Constitutional Rightsstated 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."[44]On 1 November, theDefence for Children Internationalaccused the United States of complicity with Israel's "crime of genocide."[45]
On 2 November, a group of UN special rapporteurs stated, "We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide."[46][41]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 theRome 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".[47]Three Palestinian rights groupsAl-Haq,Al Mezan, and thePalestinian Centre for Human Rightshave 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.[48]
Pro-Palestinian protester in
Columbus, Ohio, United States, 18 October 2023
Ernesto Verdeja, a professor at theUniversity of Notre Dame, toldTimeon 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."[39]Victoria Sanford, professor ofCity University of New York, compared events in Gaza to the 1960–1996 killing and disappearance of 200,000 Mayans inGuatemala, today known as theGuatemalan genocide.[49]David Simon, director for genocide studies atYale University, stated that it was possible that a court could find the IDF 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."[49]Yale'sBen Kiernanopined that events did "not meet the very high threshold that is required to meet the legal definition of genocide."[49]
Protester holding "End Palestinian Genocide" sign in
Londonin October 2023.
On 16 November, A group of United Nations experts said there was "evidence of increasing genocidal incitement" against Palestinians.[50][51]TheJewish Voice for Peacestated: "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."[52]On 13 December,FIDHstated Israel's actions in Gaza constituted an unfolding genocide.[53]
On 29 December,South Africafiled a case against Israel at theInternational Court of Justice, alleging that Israel's conduct amounted to genocide.[54][55]South Africa asked the ICJ to issue provisional measures, including ordering Israel to halt its military campaign in Gaza.[54]The Israeli government assented to participate in the ICJ proceedings, though denouncing South Africa's case as "racist" and calling Palestinians "the modern heirs of theNazis".[56]
South Africa's case has been supported byMalaysiaandTurke
