Who is committing “genocide”?

Many people, organizations and even governments claim that Israel is committing genocide. Today, Amnesty published a report in which it concludes “that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them.”

South Africa brought a case against Israel under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (commonly known as the “Genocide Convention”) in December 2023 – just weeks after the 7th October massacre in Israel. Since then, Nicaragua and 13 other states have announced their intention to join the case, alleging that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

Genocide is defined under the Genocide Convention (1948) as –

“any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

So far, the International Court of Justice has refrained from deciding whether or not genocide is being committed in the Gaza Strip. In January 2024, the Court ruled that “the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide is plausible”. Further, “In light of the considerations set out above, the Court considers that there is urgency, in the sense that there is a real and imminent risk that irreparable prejudice will be caused to the rights found by the Court to be plausible, before it gives its final decision.” Thus, the Court has decided that the Palestinians plausibly have the right to be protected against genocide; the Court has NOT decided that it is plausible that Israel is committing genocide.

“The International Court of Justice has not decided that it is plausible that Israel is committing genocide”

It is undeniable that many civilians are being killed in Gaza. This is of course a tragedy. It is also possible that, when investigated, it may be proven that in certain cases Israel has used excessive (disproportionate) force. However, less than 1% of the Gaza population has been killed in the war. And somewhere between one third and half of the victims are in all likelihood Hamas militants. The Israel Defense Forces (“IDF”) estimated that at least 17,000 Palestinian terrorists had been killed since the start of the current war by 5 September 2024. If so, even if one accepts the Gaza Ministry of Health total of at least 40,878 Palestinian fatalities in total by that date as well as the IDF estimate of Palestinian combatants killed, the ratio of civilian casualties to combatant casualties was 1.4:1. This ratio is much lower than the average ratio of civilian to combatant casualties in armed conflict in urban areas worldwide in 2021, which was more than 8:1 according to a report of the UN Secretary-General to the UN Security Council. In the battle for Mosul in 2016-2017 the ratio of civilians to ISIS terrorists killed was around 2.5:1. According to Prof. John Spencer of the Modern War Institute at West Point, the comparatively low ratio of civilians to combatants killed in the Gaza war is indicative of extraordinary care taken by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties, despite the exceptional difficulties faced by the IDF in fighting terrorists deeply embedded within, around and underneath residential and other civilian buildings in densely populated urban areas.

It is also highly unlikely that Israel has the intention to destroy the Palestinians, as a people, in whole or in part. Indeed, in one of the recent decisions of the International Criminal Court concerning the arrest warrants, the ICC stated that the Prosecution was not able to prove, at this stage of the proceedings, that reasonable grounds exist to find that the alleged policy of starvation caused death on a massive scale. As two legal experts commented on this finding:

“Given the linkage between the crime of humanity of extermination and the crime of genocide (which includes extermination acted upon with a special intent to destroy), this preliminary finding by the Chamber does not bode well for those who claim that it can be shown that Israel’s campaign in Gaza is genocidal in nature.”

One of the main arguments made by South Africa (and others) is that Israel is seeking to starve the Palestinians, by imposing a siege and restricting humanitarian care. For months, the UN has been warning of a possible “famine”. However, such a widespread famine has never occurred. UKLFI analyzed the relevant documentation in July 2024 and concluded:

“that there has been no Famine in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 and that none is imminent or even projected. Earlier reports had projected an imminent Famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, but these were based on incomplete information, and the feared Famine did not occur.”

“In contrast with Israel, the actions of Hamas almost certainly satisfy the definition of ‘genocide'”

UKLFI’s letter to the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan on the allegations that Israel is using starvation as a method of war (which is a crime under the Rome Statute) also contains strong evidence that Israel has neither intended nor succeeded in killing Palestinian civilians in significant numbers though starvation or withholding humanitarian aid.

We need to wait for the decision of the ICJ as to whether or not Israel has committed (or is committing) genocide. That will take another year.

In contrast with Israel, the actions of Hamas almost certainly satisfy the definition of “genocide”. The mission statement of Hamas is the use of violence (jihad) to destroy the Jewish State.

“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem). [Article Seven of the Hamas Covenant 1988].

By the way – the recent statements by former Minister of Defense Moshe (“Bogie”) Ya’alon that Israel is guilty of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza has nothing to do with genocide. Ya’alon believes that forcing Palestinian civilians in Gaza to be moved out of the way in order for the IDF to attack Hamas personnel and installations in northern Gaza amounts to “ethnic cleansing”. That is a rather strange allegation, given that international law requires Israel to ensure that civilians are taken out of harm’s way (by force if necessary) when undertaking a legitimate military campaign.

This week, Fatah announced it intends to work with Hamas to form a government in the Gaza Strip. Top Fatah official Abbas Zaki stressed that Fatah is “one unit” together with terror organizations Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and “every fighting faction” – in other words, anyone who carries out terror against Israel. In so doing, it showed that it, too, seeks the death of Jews and destruction of the Jewish State of Israel.

In the meantime, around 100 hostages remain in the tunnels in Gaza. It is not known how many are alive. If Hamas (and its allies) were to release the hostages today, the war would be over.

So, who is committing genocide? 

Palestinian Authority seeks to act as umbrella for designated terror organizations
PMW reports: The possibility of the Palestinian Authority becoming the umbrella for designated terrorist organizations is becoming more real. Yesterday, Palestinian Media Watch reported that senior Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub declared that there is nothing standing in the way of unity between Fatah and Hamas, since Hamas’ atrocities of October 7th elevated it to the level of a national liberation movement like Fatah.

This declaration came on the heels of many similar statements by PA/Fatah leaders both in support of unity with terror organizations and explicit calls for terror. Top Fatah official Abbas Zaki stressed this, stating that Fatah is “one unit” together with terror organizations Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and “every fighting faction” – in other words, anyone who carries out terror against Israel.
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Bogie’s subversion isn’t so surprising
Israelis shocked by the former defense chief’s lies about “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza haven’t been paying attention to how radical he’s become.
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Independent Review of Gaza Famine Reports
UKLFI: “There has been no Famine in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 and that none is imminent or even projected. Earlier reports had projected an imminent Famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, but these were based on incomplete information, and the feared Famine did not occur. No reliance should be placed on these earlier reports in considering whether there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person has committed a crime or that the arrest of any person is necessary.”
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ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s Applications for warrants for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant are based on false information
UKLFI” The Prosecutor’s Applications for arrest warrants “appear to comprise false information and to omit material information and evidence contradicting that false information and/or otherwise exonerating the accused.”
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We stand beside our Jews’: A powerful rally in Amsterdam
Rev Cornelis Kant: On November 28th, a major rally was held in Amsterdam, organized by Christians for Israel and other Jewish and Christian groups. Around 2,500 people from across the Netherlands gathered to take a stand. While it’s not typical for Christians in the Netherlands to organize large demonstrations, this one was necessary. Antisemitism is on the rise, and Jews who visibly identify as Jews in cities like Amsterdam are increasingly subjected to verbal abuse and even physical spitting.
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In the City Gate | The Book of RUTH with Johannes Gerloff #53
What the forum was in the culture of ancient Rome and the agora in ancient Greece, the city gate was in the ancient Near East. This is where binding decisions were made.