Israel’s Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza
The prohibition of the crime of genocide is a peremptory norm of international law from which no derogation is permitted. In light of the extraordinary implications of a finding that Israel may be committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the University Network for Human Rights, the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law, the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell Law School, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, and the Lowenstein Human Rights Project at Yale Law School have conducted a thorough legal analysis of Israel’s acts since October 7, 2023, as situated in their historical context.
The Genocide in Gaza report concludes that Israel has violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention of 1948, setting forth the facts that establish the requisite mens rea associated with genocidal intent, and the acts that violate Articles II and III of the Convention. Our aim, as experts in human rights and humanitarian law, is to provide a rigorous academic analysis of Israel’s actions since October 7, 2023 in order to aid in ongoing assessments of the current situation through the lens of the law on genocide.
Since October 7, 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, including men, women, children, and elderly persons, have been killed or injured. Israel’s military operation has destroyed or damaged the great majority of homes in Gaza and has decimated civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, UN facilities, and cultural and religious heritage sites. An overwhelming majority of Gaza’s population has been forcibly displaced as a result of Israel’s military offensive, and civilians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger and deprivation due to Israel’s restriction on, and failure to ensure, adequate access to basic essentials of life, including food, water, medicine, and fuel. Israel’s actions in Gaza have been accompanied by multiple expressions of genocidal intent by Israeli government leaders, including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This genocidal intent is further manifested in the nature and conduct of Israel’s military operations.
The joint report draws from a diverse range of credible sources, including reports by United Nations and aid agencies, investigations by human rights organizations, media reports, and public statements and testimonies. In determining violations of the Genocide Convention, our analysis is guided by the established principles of international law, international jurisprudence, widespread state practice accepted as customary law, and the Convention’s drafting history. Additionally, our report draws on Gaza’s history leading to the present moment, in recognition that genocide rarely occurs as a single moment but is rather an unfolding result of processes and practices over time.
Our analysis concludes that actions taken by Israel’s government and military in and regarding Gaza following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, constitute breaches of the international law prohibitions on the commission of genocide. The report further argues that these violations give rise to concrete obligations to all other States, namely, to refrain from recognizing Israel’s breaches as legal or from taking any actions that may amount to complicity in these breaches, and to take positive steps to suppress, prevent, and punish the commission of further genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
▻https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/palestine
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