The most renowned genocide scholars in the world have concluded that Israel’s occupation of Gaza qualifies as genocide.
A resolution added to the chorus of nations, human rights organizations, and other organizations that support Israel’s claim to be a genocider in Gaza, which was approved by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS).
In its war against Gaza, Israel has killed more than 63,500 people and injured more than 160,000. On October 7, 2023, a Hamas-led attack on Israel claimed the lives of 1,139 people and about 200 were taken as prisoners.
What is the only thing you need to know about the declaration and how it was made.
Who made the announcement and what was it?
The world’s leading association of genocide scholars is the IAGS, a 500-member body of academics established in 1994.
According to 86 percent of IAGS members, a resolution states that Israel’s actions and policies in Gaza fall under the 1948 UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.
What is happening in Gaza on the ground is genocide, according to Melanie O’Brien, IAGS president and professor of international law at the University of Western Australia, in a statement that is unwavering.
What is the definition of genocide in international law?
Genocide is defined as “any of the following acts committed with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” according to the 1948 Genocide Convention:
Killing group members, inflicting severe bodily or mental harm on other members, purposefully causing the group’s entire or partially to be physically destroyed, imposing laws to stop group births, forcing the group to transfer their children to another group, etc.
What served as the foundation for IAGS’ decision?
In essence, IAGS cited the UN Genocide Convention as the basis for its decision.
Additionally, it added that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined by international humanitarian law and the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute.”
“indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure (hospitals, homes, commercial buildings, etc.)” was one of the Israeli crimes that the resolution cited. of Gaza”.
IAGS recognized several Palestinian-related crimes committed by Israel, including:
- torture,
- arbitrary detention
- sexual and reproductive violence
- attacks on journalists, medical professionals, and members of the humanitarian organization, with intent,
- deliberately denying people access to food, water, and medicine
- 2.3 million Palestinians are being driven out of the Gaza Strip.
- destroying more than 90% of the housing infrastructure
- killing entire multi-generational families,
- more than 50 000 children have been harmed or injured.
The IAGS cited comments made by Israeli officials as additional proof that the criteria for genocide have been met, as well as a plan that was first proposed by US President Donald Trump and supported by the Israeli government to expel Palestinians from Gaza.
The entire resolution can be found here (PDF).
What significance does this resolution have?
The decision may not directly lead to action, but it adds to the chorus of organizations that call Israel’s occupation of Gaza a genocide, including human rights organizations and experts.
The IAGS resolution has already attracted a lot of media attention as the world’s foremost organization for genocide researchers.
However, the UN and many Western nations claim that they will only declare genocide upon its completion if a court rules otherwise.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top court, is currently hearing a case involving South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide, but it is not anticipated until 2027.
What is Israel’s response to the announcement?
The Israeli government described the action as “disgraceful.”
Despite Hamas’s attempted genocide against the Jewish people, the IAGS set a historic precedent, according to a statement from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Genocide Scholars” accuse the victim of genocide for the first time.
What position on this subject has the UN adopted?
Israel’s actions in Gaza have been repeatedly denounced by the UN, but they have not yet officially declared it a genocide.
UN staffers wrote to High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk last week to demand that he declare it a genocide.
Turk has not yet done so.
According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, “a competent legal authority is responsible for labeling an event as a genocide.”
Despite the Turk, the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Regarding the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs in Occupied Territories discovered “Israel’s war methods consistent with genocide” as far back as November 2024.
UN experts warned the world community to “examine their relationships and avoid being complicit in this crime being committed by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza” a month earlier.
What’s happening in Gaza right now?
Dire.
Since October 2023, Israel has accounted for more than 63 000 fatalities and displaced about 2 million Palestinians.
Israel has now dispatched thousands of reserve soldiers for a new offensive on Gaza City, and a large portion of the Gaza Strip is in disrepair as a result of numerous bombings by the Israeli military.
The UN reported on August 29 that Gaza’s “massive famine” had begun.
Source: Aljazeera
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