The Gaza genocide claim fails the test of law and fact (TOI)
"Israel’s military response to the Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023, has provoked a slew of accusations against the Jewish State. For most of 2024 and 2025, the UN alleged that Gaza’s 2.2 million people were on the “brink” of starvation. The UN and others have accused Israel of deliberately targeting hospitals and schools, even though Hamas uses those areas as military bases. But in recent weeks, the crescendo has peaked with the resurgence of accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
...The Genocide Convention of 1948 and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court both define genocide as requiring proof of specific intent to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such.” Israel’s actions in Gaza do not come close to this definition.
...Finally, the evidence shows Israel has not acted with the requisite intent to commit genocide. If Israel truly intended to commit genocide, then it would not have issued evacuation warnings to Gazan civilians to get out of harm’s way prior to launching air strikes, as it has done repeatedly since the beginning of the war. Nor would it have allowed thousands of tons of aid into the enclave, as it has done for nearly the entirety of the war. Nor would it have facilitated the administration of polio vaccines to 500,000 Gazans in August 2024. Indeed, no other nation in the history of human warfare has ever warned civilians before launching strikes, delivered tons of aid to the enemy’s population, or vaccinated hundreds of thousands of the enemy’s people during wartime.
Has the population of Gaza suffered? Yes, of course. But as between allegations of Israeli genocide and Hamas’s conduct, the fault lies squarely with Hamas. Hamas started the war when it invaded Israel without provocation on October 7, 2023. Hamas refuses to end the war by continuing to hold captive the remaining Israelis it kidnapped. Indeed, Hamas is holding the entire Gazan population hostage by refusing to surrender, by hijacking food aid, and by shooting at its own people who simply want a chance at a better life.
Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? The clear answer, both legally and factually, is a resounding no.
About the Author: Steven E. Zipperstein is a former US federal prosecutor and a professor at UCLA, where he is also the Director of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.
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