More experts see genocide in Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza
[September 23, 2025]
By MIKE CORDER and MOLLY QUELL
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A growing number of experts, including
those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said Israel’s offensive in the
Gaza Strip amounts to genocide, deepening Israel’s isolation and risking
untold damage to the country’s standing even among allies.
The accusation is vehemently denied by Israel, which was established in
part as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust. Others have rejected it
or said only a court can make that determination.
Even so, global outrage over Israel’s wartime conduct has mounted in
recent months, as images of starving children emerged, adding to the
humanitarian catastrophe of a 23-month war that has killed tens of
thousands of Palestinians and laid waste to much of Gaza.
A current offensive in the territory's largest city further raised
concern, with some of Israel's European allies condemning it.
But the genocide accusation goes further, raising the question of
whether a state forged in the aftermath of the crime is now committing
it.
Israeli leaders brand the argument as veiled antisemitism, saying the
country abides by international law and urges Gaza's civilians to
evacuate ahead of major military operations. They say Hamas’ Oct. 7,
2023, attack that sparked the war was itself a genocidal act.
In that attack, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly
civilians, and abducted 251. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, around
20 of whom Israel believes are alive.
Israel's ensuing operation has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and led to
famine in parts. Israeli leaders have also expressed support for the
mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, a move Palestinians and
others say would amount to forcible expulsion.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The ministry — part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical
professionals — doesn't say how many were civilians or combatants, but
says women and children make up around half.
The definition of genocide
Genocide was codified in a 1948 convention drawn up after the horrors of
the Holocaust that defines it as acts “committed with intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
According to the convention, genocidal acts include: killing; causing
serious bodily or mental harm; and deliberately inflicting conditions of
life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole
or in part.
Experts and rights groups increasingly use the genocide label
In a report last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the
U.N. Human Rights Council concluded the war has become an attempt by
Israel to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza and constitutes
genocide.
The group, which doesn’t speak for the U.N., said its determination was
based on a pattern of behavior, including Israel’s “total siege” of
Gaza, killing or wounding vast numbers of Palestinians, and the
destruction of health and educational facilities. Israel says Hamas uses
such facilities for military purposes. It lifted a complete 2 1/2 month
blockade in May.
Many of the world’s leading experts on genocide have reached the same
conclusion, with at least two dozen using the term publicly in the past
year. Among them is Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide
studies at Brown University.
Early in the war, Bartov, who grew up in Israel and served in its
military, argued Israel's actions didn't amount to genocide.
He changed his mind when Israel took over the city of Rafah, driving out
most of its population. He now considers Israel's actions “a genocidal
operation.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel’s conduct genocide
this month. “This is not self-defense, it’s not even an attack — it’s
the extermination of a defenseless people,” he said.
Two Israeli rights groups have also said it’s genocide. While the groups
are respected internationally, their views are not representative of the
vast majority of Israelis.
In December, Amnesty International used the term, citing similar
findings as the U.N.-commissioned experts. “Looking at the broader
picture of Israel’s military campaign and the cumulative impact of its
policies and acts, genocidal intent is the only reasonable conclusion,”
it said.
Two weeks later, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of intentionally
depriving Gaza of water, saying that amounted to “an act of genocide.”
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Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jan. 20, 2025, a
day after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into
effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
Others do not see genocide — or say it's for a court to decide
Israel — where the Holocaust plays a critical role in national
identity — casts such allegations as an assault on its very
legitimacy. It says Hamas — which doesn't accept Israel's right to
exist — is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the
hostages.
The Foreign Ministry dismissed the report by the U.N.-commissioned
experts as “distorted and false."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel could have
committed genocide “in one afternoon” if it wanted, implying it has
acted with restraint. Experts say there's no numerical threshold for
the crime.
Responding to a question in August, U.S. President Donald Trump,
whose country is Israel’s staunchest backer, said he didn’t think
he'd seen evidence to support the accusation.
The Elie Wiesel Foundation, established by the Nobel laureate and
Holocaust survivor, also rejected the characterization.
“Israel’s actions in Gaza do not constitute genocide — they are
legitimate acts of self-defense against an organization that seeks
Israel’s destruction,” it said in a statement.
Norman Goda, a professor of Holocaust studies at the University of
Florida, sees the use of the word as part of “a long-standing effort
to delegitimize Israel,” saying the accusations are “laced with
antisemitic tropes.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and others say it’s not for
politicians or scholars to make the determination.
“We have always been clear that that is a decision for international
courts,” then-British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Sky News in
May.
The European Union has made a similar argument, as has the Auschwitz
memorial, dedicated to the victims at the largest Nazi concentration
camp, most of them Jews.
The top U.N. court has been asked to rule
In late 2023, South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the U.N.’s
top court, the International Court of Justice. About a dozen
countries have joined the case. A final ruling could take years.
To prove its case, South Africa must establish intent.
Lawyers for the country have already pointed to comments by Israeli
leaders, including then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying Israel
was “fighting human animals,” and Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim
Vaturi saying that Israelis shared the goal of “erasing the Gaza
Strip from the face of the Earth.”
Israeli leaders have downplayed the comments and argued they were
taken out of context or directed at Hamas.
Even if it rules for South Africa, the court has no way to stop any
genocide or punish perpetrators. Only the U.N. Security Council can
do that — including through sanctions or authorizing military
action. The U.S. has a long history of using its veto power there to
block resolutions against Israel.
The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, has issued arrest
warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, but neither faces genocide
charges. They are accused of using starvation as a method of
warfare, allegations they deny.
Israel faces increasing pressure
Israel faces increasing pressure, even from countries not calling
its actions genocide. There have been calls for exclusion in the
cultural and sports sectors, and protests in several European
cities.
The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, one of
Israel’s staunchest backers, has called for partially suspending
trade ties with the country. Germany and the U.K., both strong
supporters of Israel, have suspended or restricted some military
exports.
Goda, the academic who doesn't think Israel is committing genocide,
acknowledged the term has ramifications beyond the legal realm.
“'Genocide' is a legal term, but it also carries a very heavy
political and cultural weight,” he said. “A country committing
genocide can never outrun the legacy of that crime.”
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