Genocide - “A crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part” [The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948, Article II]
What needs to happen for a genocide to take place:
The defense cabinet of Israel must deliberately express an intent to commit genocide. (e.g. Arab Leader Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Al Husseini encouraged and incited violence against Jews in 1920 , 1921, 1929 , 1936 1939)
Israel must take action with an intent to deny the right of the Palestinians to exist. (e.g 5 Arab states invaded Israel hours after it declared its independence in attempt to annihilate the Jews through war)
If Israel had been committing genocide before October 7th, it was the least successful genocide in history.
According to the United States Census Bureau, In the early years of Israel's establishment in 1950, there were approximately 250,000 Palestinians living in Gaza. In 2023, there were about 2.1 million Palestinians.
For the sake of comparison, on the eve of the German occupation of Poland in 1939, 3.3 million Jews lived there. At the end of the Jewish genocide and the second world war in 1945, approximately 380,000 Polish Jews remained alive.
These data do not support a genocide committed in Gaza. If Israel had intentions to commit genocide, it has been ineffective in doing so.
Israel’s actions following October 7th could not be further from genocidal.
Israel’s prime minister and security cabinet distinguish between Hamas terrorists, who must be eliminated, and Palestinians, who deserve their human rights.
They also lay out clear and straightforward conditions for stopping the war: Hamas must lay down its weapons and release Israeli hostages, and Israel will stop fighting and allow the Palestinians to rebuild Gaza.
Israel supplies food, clean water, medicine, and medical equipment to Gaza, even though Hamas steals it for its militants.
To allow civilians to evacuate, Israel delayed its military operation for three weeks, giving terrorists an operational advantage.
A dedicated unit of the IDF evicts innocent civilians from zones of conflict by sending out millions of flyers, broadcasting warnings on social media, and making tens of thousands of phone calls.
Instead of using statistical weapons (like the ones used by Hamas and Hezbollah), Israeli combat soldiers perform dangerous ground maneuvers inside neighborhoods and homes to kill terrorists.
Even The United Nations’ top court, which has shown on multiple occasions a bias against Israel, could not find a single piece of credible evidence of a genocide taking place in Gaza.
From the media
Population in Gaza 1950-2023. Taken from: https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/idb/#/trends
Image shared by IDF that shows efforts to transport incubators from Israel to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Markets in Gaza full of goods and buyers in 10/03/2024 amidst alleged genocide.
Leaflets dropped by Israeli military from planes into Gaza. Credit - WION
ICJ hears Israel's defense against South Africa's genocide claim in Gaza
While fighting the truly genocidal terrorist group Hamas, Israel's stated goals, actions, and underlying beliefs aim to save as many lives as possible on both sides. The attempt to draw parallels in this context undermines the gravity of the term "genocide".
