Two of Israel's leading human rights organizations charged on July 27 that government practices and policies in the Gaza Strip amount to an ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI) each published a report and jointly announced their findings. It marks the first time that any Israel-based rights group has labeled state actions as genocide. Both organizations invoked the "legal and moral duty" of Israel's Western allies to bring a halt to Israel's conduct.

B’Tselem, which has long been vocal against Israel's abuses in Gaza and the West Bank, unequivocally concluded that the government's policy now constitutes a "coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip." B'Tselem described the development of a "genocidal regime in Israel, working to destroy Palestinian society in Gaza."

In its 88-page report, entitled "Our Genocide," B'Tselem outlined the legal criteria for genocide. According to the Genocide Convention, genocide occurs when a state: kills members of an ethnic, religious, racial, or national group; destroys group living conditions; or forcibly displaces group members. Drawing on Raphael Lemkin’s original concept of genocide, the report also included the infliction of "social, political, and cultural destruction" in its definition. The findings of the report were supported with extensive victim and eyewitness testimony, medical documentation, and legal consultation.

B'Tselem also warns that Israel is already replicating this pattern on a smaller scale in the West Bank, and that "there is a real risk the genocide will spread beyond the Gaza Strip."

PHRI published a report, entitled "A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide," providing a timeline of infrastructure destruction in Gaza, which has created "conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction in whole or in part." This is an element of "the act of genocide" found in the 1948 Genocide Convention. The report alleged a "deliberate, cumulative dismantling of Gaza's health system, and with it, its people's ability to survive." In addition, PHRI found that the legal elements of "killing" and "causing severe bodily harm" were satisfied by Israeli action.

Both reports claimed Israeli policy statements and actions in Gaza and the West Bank indicate the special intent, or dolus specialis, required for a formal finding of genocide under international law. This aligns with judgments by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN Special Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR), in particular the ICTR's Akayesu judgment, in which it held that:

[I]t is possible to deduce the genocidal intent inherent in a particular act charged from the general context of the perpetration of other culpable acts systematically directed against that same group, whether these acts were committed by the same offender or by others. Other factors, such as the scale of atrocities committed, their general nature, in a region or a country, or furthermore, the fact of deliberately and systematically targeting victims on account of their membership of a particular group, while excluding the members of other groups, can enable the Chamber to infer the genocidal intent of a particular act.

Similar reasoning has been previously employed in a UN special committee report as well as a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories. Likewise, South Africa, in an ongoing case before the ICJ, has argued that Israel exhibits a pattern of conduct suggesting genocidal intent toward Palestinians.

The Israeli government has rejected the contention that it intends to eradicate the Palestinian people. On Monday, a spokesperson called the human rights groups' claims "baseless," rejecting accusations of genocidal intent, which are "key for the charge of genocide." The spokesperson said Israel has sent "1.9 million tons of aid, most of that being food," citing this as demonstrating a lack of genocidal intent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed genocide allegations as antisemitic.

Since the October 7, 2023 attack led by militant group Hamas—during which a total of 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, and 250 hostages were taken—the Israeli response has pushed the death toll in Gaza past 60,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

From JURIST, July 29. Used with permission.

See our last report on genocide accusations against Israel.