More about the Genocide in Gaza

I am back from my break from posting and will resume where I left off, discussing Israel's genocide in Gaza. Whenever I write about this genocide, I receive a considerable number of responses arguing that I am wrong to describe Israel's actions as "genocide". To some extent, I agree that the label is less important than a proper understanding of exactly what is happening in Gaza. However, those who oppose using the term almost universally also deny the reality of Israel's actions. Therefore, it is worth discussing why it is accurate to describe what Israel is doing as "genocide."

Genocide is officially defined in Article II of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. There are two elements to the definition. The first is the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such." The second component is a list of five actions, any of which is sufficient to satisfy the definition. Intent is difficult to determine, but in the case of Israel and Gaza, we have plenty of statements from Israeli cabinet members and other government leaders that expose their intent. I listed several such statements in my previous post, but one example from just last week was made by Amichay Eliyahu, Israel's Heritage Minister. During a radio interview, Eliyahu said that "The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out ... Thank God, we are wiping out this evil". He went on to add that "All Gaza will be Jewish".

Of the list of five actions listed in the definition, Israel is indisputably committing three of them and, potentially, all five. The first action listed is "Killing members of the group," something Israel is obviously doing. Therefore, with the requirements of both intent and a physical action being met, Israel's behavior in Gaza meets the definition of genocide.

Obviously, critics will respond by pointing out that I am neither a lawyer nor an expert on genocide and, therefore, not qualified to arrive at such a conclusion. Fair enough. But someone who is an expert in genocide is Dr. Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. In the pages of the New York Times, Bartov wrote the following:

My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one.

Another expert on this topic is Raz Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University. Writing in JewishCurrents, Segal called what is happening in Gaza "a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes." Practically all major human rights groups have also concluded that Israel is committing genocide. For instance, in December of last year, Amnesty International said that its research had found "sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip". In the same month, Human Rights Watch issued a report saying that "Israeli authorities are responsible for the crime against humanity of extermination and for acts of genocide." Just today, two Israeli human rights groups, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, issued reports saying that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. B’Tselem wrote that:

An examination of Israel’s policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack, leads us to the unequivocal conclusion that Israel is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip.

B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak is quoted as saying, "But as Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness the reality every day, we have a duty to speak the truth as clearly as possible: Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians."

Meanwhile, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) presents a "health-focused legal analysis of Israel's military campaign in Gaza since October 2023, concluding that it constitutes genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention."

One of the most frequent arguments I hear against the contention that Israel is committing genocide is that if Israel wanted to commit genocide, it would kill a lot more Palestinians than it has. I would ask these posters what Israel would be doing that it is not already doing? Israel routinely drops 2,000-pound bombs on civilian homes and even tents housing displaced Palestinians. Entire towns and cities have been wiped out. Some estimates are that at least 100,000 Palestinians have died as a result of the war. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while simply lining up for food. But, more importantly, these individuals don't understand Israel's tactics. Israel routinely issues evacuation orders for areas in which it plans to conduct military operations. Israel’s apologists argue that this is a humanitarian gesture. In fact, it is part of Israel's genocidal policies. When hundreds of thousands of people are told to immediately relocate, many of them will die in the process. As a result, Israel kills these individuals without firing a shot. Others won't be able to comply, and Israel then feels justified in indiscriminately killing them. Moreover, Israel frequently bombs the "safe" areas to which Palestinians are told to relocate. Many Palestinians have been forced to relocate to and from various parts of Gaza multiple times, with many being killed at every stage of the process.

In March, Israel initiated an embargo on all food and medicine into Gaza, beginning a campaign to starve Palestinians into submission. It was clear by then that Israel was determined to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Even cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump was talking about turning Gaza into a Trump resort and was trying to identify countries that would accept Palestinians from Gaza. The Israeli plan was outlined in a March 19 tweet by Israeli journalist Yinon Magal, who wrote:

The IDF intends this time to evacuate all residents of the Gaza Strip to a new humanitarian zone designated for long-term stay, which will be secured and restricted, and those entering will be checked to ensure they are not terrorists. The IDF will not allow defiant populations to remain unevacuated this time. Anyone remaining outside the humanitarian zone will be criminalized. The plan has American backing.

The Israeli publication +972 Magazine gathered quotes from Israeli officials supporting what Magal outlined and concluded:

Israel is preparing to forcibly displace the entire population of Gaza — through a combination of evacuation orders and intense bombardment — into an enclosed and possibly fenced-off area. Anyone caught outside its boundaries would be killed, and buildings throughout the rest of the enclave would likely be razed to the ground.

The magazine says that "Unable to immediately expel Gazans en masse, Israel seems intent on forcing them into a confined zone — and letting starvation and desperation do the rest."

After implementing its embargo on food, Israel and the United States joined efforts to create the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a perverted use of food as a weapon. The goal of the GHF was not to prevent famine in Gaza, but rather to use the promise of food to attract Gazans to the South where the planned concentration camp would be established. Not surprisingly, the result has been widespread starvation. Multiple American contractors who have worked with GHF have come forward to describe the Israeli atrocities that routinely occur in the vicinity of the food distribution centers. One example is Anthony Aguilar, a retired U.S. Green Beret who worked with GHF but resigned after he witnessed other Americans and Israeli soldiers opening fire on unarmed civilians. Aguilar said:

I witnessed the Israeli forces firing a main gun tank round from the Merkava tank into a crowd of people, destroying a car of civilians that was simply driving away from the site... I witnessed mortar rounds being fired at the crowd… to keep them controlled... Without question, I witnessed war crimes. I witnessed Israeli forces using mortar rounds, artillery rounds, firing tank rounds into unarmed civilians.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported on Israeli soldiers recounting similar events and saying that they were ordered to shoot unarmed civilians.

One justification Israel used for its embargo of food is that the food aid was being stolen by Hamas. The humanitarian groups distributing food have always denied that this was true. Yesterday, José Andrés, the founder of the World Central Kitchen which distributes food in Gaza, wrote that "Here is the reality we have seen on the ground. Before Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid, which started in March, our convoys experienced very little violence or looting."

Similarly, a New York Times report found:

But the Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter.

In fact, the Israeli military officials said, the U.N. aid delivery system, which Israel derided and undermined, was largely effective in providing food to Gaza’s desperate and hungry population.

Recent looting was not conducted by Hamas, but rather by an Israeli-supported and supplied gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab. As the AP reports, "The head of the association in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups said their members’ vehicles have been attacked many times by Abu Shabab’s fighters." In addition:

Nahed Sheheiber said the group has been active in Israeli-controlled eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, targeting trucks as they enter Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Troops nearby ‘did nothing’ to stop attacks, he said.

Between the Israeli embargo, the GHF focused on attracting Palestinians to a concentration camp rather than preventing starvation, and an Israeli-supported gang looting what food does get through, starvation has become widespread in Gaza. For once, the world could not ignore the situation. In lieu of what might be more effective actions, European countries are turning to largely symbolic acts. For instance, France has said that it will recognize a Palestinian state, and the government of the United Kingdom is under pressure to follow suit. Even Trump was forced to recognize the starvation in Gaza, saying, "There is real starvation in Gaza — you can't fake that."

As a result of international pressure, Israel has been forced to make policy changes. Air drops of food are now being allowed, and Israel plans to establish "humanitarian corridors" for food deliveries by the United Nations. However, these measures should not be seen as anything but symbolic and meant to ease pressure on the country. Air drops are notoriously ineffective and cannot deliver more than a small fraction of the necessary food. Similarly, the truck convoys allowed into Gaza do not contain nearly enough aid. Based on past experience, Israel will allow in the bare minimum of food necessary to satisfy the US and Europe, while continuing to push Palestinians into the planned concentration camp.

Israel's genocide in Gaza does not involve death camps such as the Nazis used against Jews. Instead, it consists of the elimination of all aspects of Palestinian society. Universities and schools have been razed. Hospitals have been destroyed. Homes have been systematically leveled. Food, water, and medicine have either been cut off completely or severely restricted. The goal is to make Gaza uninhabitable. At the same time, Israel has targeted doctors, professors, scientists, and, especially, journalists for elimination. Israeli bombs frequently kill these individuals along with their entire families. Palestinians are being presented with the choice of emigration, relocation to a concentration camp, or death due to starvation, illness, or Israeli weapons. Some still argue that this is not genocide, but anyone who is being honest with themselves will know that it is.

On a somewhat related topic, I am going to take this opportunity to pat myself on the back. On October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, I wrote about how Netanyahu's prioritization of his own personal political interests had created the opportunity for Hamas to attack. A year later, on October 8, 2024, I returned to that theme and discussed how Netanyahu was continuing the war because of the same personal political considerations. In short, Netanyahu needs to stay in power in order to remain out of jail. To stay in power, he must ensure that extreme right-wing members of his coalition don't abandon him. That, in turn, requires Netanyahu to accede to right wing demands regarding Gaza, which has meant continuing the war. This month, the New York Times deployed three reporters to write an article coming to the same conclusion. The article says:

Yet for all these caveats, our reporting has led us to three unavoidable conclusions. In the years preceding the war, Netanyahu’s approach to Hamas helped to strengthen the group, giving it space to secretly prepare for war. In the months before that war, Netanyahu’s push to undermine Israel’s judiciary widened already-deep rifts within Israeli society and weakened its military, making Israel appear vulnerable and encouraging Hamas to ready its attack. And once the war began, Netanyahu’s decisions were at times colored predominantly by political and personal need instead of only military or national necessity.

These are things that I've been writing since October 8, 2023. It's good that the New York Times has finally caught up.