What Is Happening
in Gaza Is Genocide
This is not a political opinion. It is a legal and factual argument grounded in the 1948 Genocide Convention, verified casualty data, documented Israeli policy, and proceedings before the International Court of Justice.
What genocide actually means — legally
The word "genocide" is often used rhetorically. Here it is used precisely, according to the definition ratified by the United Nations in 1948 — the definition that governs international law today.
Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group: (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.
Genocide does not require the complete destruction of a people. It requires intent to destroy, in whole or in part. It does not require bullets alone — sub-article (c) explicitly covers deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction. This is where a 17-year blockade lives.
With this definition in hand, we can now examine what has actually happened in Gaza — and apply each element to the documented record.
(a) Killing members of the group
Over 45,000 confirmed killed, the majority women and children. Experts estimate true deaths at 186,000+ when accounting for indirect causes. UN agencies have verified systematic targeting of hospitals, shelters, and civilian infrastructure.
(b) Causing serious bodily and mental harm
Over 100,000 injured. An entire population under continuous bombardment with documented mass trauma. UN agencies report the highest rate of child limb amputations ever recorded in any conflict.
(c) Conditions calculated to destroy
A 17-year blockade on food, medicine, and construction materials. Active destruction of water infrastructure, hospitals, and food supply systems. Famine declared by the UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
Intent — the key legal threshold
Intent can be inferred from systematic action and stated policy. Senior Israeli officials have made statements that, according to legal scholars and the ICJ, constitute evidence of genocidal intent. These are documented below.
The Blockade: Conditions of life calculated to destroy
The bombardment of Gaza began in October 2023. But the conditions that make it genocide were already being constructed for seventeen years before a single bomb was dropped.
The siege of Gaza — a full land, sea, and air blockade — began in 2007 when Hamas took political control of the territory. Israel controlled what entered and exited: every truck of flour, every medical supply shipment, every kilowatt of electricity.
In 2008, Israeli officials explicitly calculated how many calories Gazan civilians needed to avoid malnutrition — and calibrated imports to that number. This wasn't an accident or side effect of security policy. It was a deliberate management of a population's physical survival.
Sub-article (c) of the Genocide Convention covers exactly this: "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." The blockade was that condition — sustained for nearly two decades, then weaponized in the military campaign that followed.
When the post-October 2023 bombardment began, it did not hit an open society. It hit a population already made maximally vulnerable — dependent on external supply chains that Israel controlled, living in infrastructure that had been deliberately kept from rebuilding after each prior conflict, with virtually no capacity to absorb the shock of what came next.
Hamas wins Palestinian legislative election
International community, led by US and Israel, refuses to recognize result and begins economic sanctions on Palestinian Authority.
Full blockade imposed
After Hamas takes control of Gaza, Israel and Egypt impose a comprehensive land, sea, and air blockade. Construction materials, food, fuel, and medicines are restricted.
Israel calculates Gaza's caloric minimum
Internal Israeli documents show officials calculated the minimum calories needed to prevent malnutrition. The blockade was calibrated accordingly. (COGAT documents, leaked 2012)
"Putting Gaza on a diet"
Senior Israeli official Dov Weisglass describes blockade policy as "putting the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." The statement was widely reported.
Operation Protective Edge
51-day bombardment kills 2,200 Gazans. UN calls reconstruction "impossible" under blockade. Israel prevents cement and construction materials from entering to rebuild.
UN: Gaza "uninhabitable" by 2020
A 2012 UN report predicted Gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020 without intervention. By 2021, no meaningful intervention had occurred. Blockade continued.
October 7th and the total siege
Following Hamas attacks, Israel announces "complete siege" of Gaza: "No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel." — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, October 9, 2023. Times of Israel ↗
The physical toll of the post-blockade bombardment
Sources: UN OCHA ↗ · UNRWA ↗ · The Lancet (estimated deaths) ↗ · IPC Food Security ↗
Hamas: The adversary Israel helped create
To understand Gaza, you have to understand one of the most consequential and under-reported strategic decisions in modern Middle Eastern politics: Israel's deliberate cultivation of Hamas as a counterweight to the secular Palestinian leadership.
This is not a conspiracy theory. It is documented in Israeli government archives, reported extensively in Israeli media — primarily Haaretz — and acknowledged by former Israeli officials.
The PLO was the real threat — to a two-state solution Israel didn't want
Through the 1970s and 80s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Yasser Arafat was recognized internationally as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. It was secular, nationalist, and — critically — capable of negotiating a state. For Israeli hardliners opposed to Palestinian statehood, this was the actual threat.
Background: Israeli government archives and academic literature on Oslo periodIsrael permitted and facilitated Hamas's early growth
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Israeli military authorities permitted Islamist organizations — including what would become Hamas — to operate and grow in Gaza. The thinking: a religious nationalist movement would divide Palestinian political energy and weaken the secular PLO. Israel granted licenses to Islamist institutions and allowed Saudi money to flow to them.
— Andrew Higgins, Wall Street Journal, 2009 ↗; Ronen Bergman, Israeli military historianHamas won the 2006 election — and Netanyahu transferred them money
After Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the world refused to recognize them — but years later, under Netanyahu, Israel was transferring Qatari funds directly to Hamas in Gaza. The explicit logic, reported by Israeli outlets: keeping Hamas viable in Gaza kept the Palestinian political entity divided, preventing a unified Palestinian partner for statehood talks that Netanyahu opposed.
— Haaretz reporting ↗; confirmed by Israeli officials including Smotrich in 2019"Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support Hamas"
This was stated openly by Bezalel Smotrich in 2019 — now Israel's Finance Minister, a key figure in Netanyahu's coalition. The statement articulates the strategic logic that had governed the policy for years: Hamas, as an internationally-condemned militant group, made a Palestinian state impossible to recognize. That was useful.
— Bezalel Smotrich, 2019; reported in Israeli and international pressOctober 7th happened — and the tool became the justification
Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023 killed approximately 1,200 Israelis — the deadliest single day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. It also became the stated justification for a military campaign that has killed 45,000+ Palestinians. The adversary Israel helped cultivate became the pretext for the response Israel had long wanted to deliver to Gaza.
— This argument does not excuse Hamas. It documents the causal structure.The destruction of everything that sustains life
The military campaign that began October 2023 did not target Hamas in any conventional sense of precision warfare. It targeted the infrastructure of Palestinian civilian existence.
Hospitals
Over 80% of Gaza's hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, was raided twice by Israeli forces. WHO documented that attacks on health facilities in Gaza represent the highest rate globally in any conflict in their records. WHO Gaza situation ↗
Water and sanitation
Gaza's water infrastructure, already strained by the blockade, was systematically destroyed. Over 95% of water from the main aquifer became unfit for human consumption. Sewage plants stopped functioning. Waterborne disease spread rapidly in displacement camps.
Food systems
Agricultural land was bulldozed or rendered inaccessible. Aid convoys were blocked, delayed, or attacked. By early 2024, the IPC declared all of Gaza in food crisis. Famine conditions were declared in northern Gaza — the first famine declared in a modern conflict with this degree of international documentation. IPC classification ↗
Universities and schools
Every one of Gaza's universities was destroyed. Over 80% of school buildings were damaged. UNICEF described the destruction of the educational system as "generational." The erasure of educational infrastructure is a recognized element of cultural genocide under international law.
Housing
Over 60% of all housing units in Gaza were destroyed or severely damaged. The UN estimates reconstruction would take 80+ years under the current blockade restrictions on building materials. Displacement became permanent by design.
Journalists and documentation
Over 140 journalists were killed in Gaza as of early 2025 — the highest number in any conflict in recorded history. The Committee to Protect Journalists confirmed the majority were targeted while performing journalism. Killing the witnesses is part of the pattern. CPJ data ↗
Sub-article (c) of the Genocide Convention covers "deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction." The systematic targeting of water, food, medical, and shelter infrastructure is not collateral damage. It is the deliberate destruction of what keeps people alive.
What the international legal record shows
This is not fringe advocacy. The most credible international legal and humanitarian institutions in the world have found that the evidence of genocide is serious enough to trigger the highest-level legal proceedings.
Plausible genocide — emergency measures ordered
The ICJ ruled that South Africa's genocide case against Israel was plausible enough to warrant emergency provisional measures. Israel was ordered to take all measures within its power to prevent acts that could constitute genocide. The Court did not dismiss the case — it advanced it.
ICJ-CIJ.org → Full ruling ↗Reasonable grounds to conclude genocide is occurring
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights, published a formal report concluding there are "reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel's commission of genocide is being met." The report cited mass killing, starvation as a weapon, and stated intent by officials.
OHCHR.org → "Anatomy of a Genocide" report ↗Arrest warrants sought for Israeli leadership
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity including "starvation as a method of warfare." The warrants were issued in November 2024.
ICC-CPI.int → Warrant statement ↗Systematic documentation of civilian harm
UNRWA has documented systematic destruction of its own facilities — schools used as shelters, which were struck repeatedly despite their GPS coordinates having been shared with Israeli forces. The UN Secretary-General described the scale as "unprecedented."
UNRWA.org → Situation Reports ↗Intent: What Israeli officials have said, on the record
Genocide requires intent to destroy a group. Courts typically infer this from systematic patterns of action. In Gaza, they don't have to — senior Israeli officials stated their intent clearly, publicly, and repeatedly.
"We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly."
"Complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed."
"We are dropping bombs on Gaza with no restrictions... Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents. There will be no buildings."
"There are no uninvolved civilians... We will fight until we break their backbone."
"Nakba 2023" — a reference to the 1948 forced displacement of Palestinians, framed as a goal
"The Gaza catastrophe is over. The war goal of destroying Hamas's governing and military capability has been achieved."
Note: These statements were cited in South Africa's submission to the International Court of Justice and in the ICC Prosecutor's warrant application. They are primary sources, widely verified, available in original Hebrew recordings and official translations. See: ICJ Case 192 ↗ · ICC warrants ↗
The argument is complete
A legally precise definition. A 17-year documented blockade meeting sub-article (c). Systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure. Official statements of genocidal intent. ICJ proceedings and ICC arrest warrants. The evidence does not require interpretation. It requires acknowledgment.
Primary sources referenced on this page
UN Genocide Convention, Article II (1948)
The foundational legal text. Full convention text available via the UN Office on Genocide Prevention.
UN.org → Genocide Convention ↗South Africa v. Israel — Provisional Measures Order
The ICJ's January 26, 2024 order finding South Africa's genocide case plausible and issuing emergency measures.
ICJ-CIJ.org → Case 192 ↗Albanese Report: "Anatomy of a Genocide"
Francesca Albanese's formal report to the UN Human Rights Council concluding reasonable grounds for genocide exist.
OHCHR.org → Full Report ↗ICC Arrest Warrants — Netanyahu & Gallant
The International Criminal Court's issuance of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
ICC-CPI.int → ICC Statement ↗OCHA Gaza Humanitarian Situation Reports
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — primary source for displacement, casualty, and infrastructure data.
OCHAOPT.org → Reports ↗Estimated death toll — 186,000+
Peer-reviewed estimate of total deaths in Gaza including indirect causes such as disease, malnutrition, and lack of medical care.
TheLancet.com → Study ↗How Israel Helped Spawn Hamas — Andrew Higgins
Documented reporting on Israel's early facilitation of Islamist organizations in Gaza as a counterweight to the secular PLO.
WSJ.com → Article ↗Smotrich: Support Hamas to prevent Palestinian state
Bezalel Smotrich's 2019 statement articulating the strategic logic behind keeping Hamas viable in Gaza.
Times of Israel → Coverage ↗Netanyahu's Hamas Funding Policy
Israeli investigative reporting on Qatari fund transfers to Hamas under Netanyahu's government and the strategic rationale.
Haaretz.com → Article ↗Health Facility Attacks in Gaza
World Health Organization documentation of attacks on healthcare facilities — the highest rate recorded in any conflict.
WHO.int → Gaza Situation ↗Gaza Integrated Food Security Phase Classification
Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declaring famine conditions in northern Gaza — the formal international standard for famine designation.
IPCInfo.org → Classification ↗Journalist Casualties in Gaza
CPJ documentation of journalist killings in Gaza — the highest number in any conflict in recorded history.
CPJ.org → Data ↗