The Double Genocide in Gaza

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, 22 Sep 2025

Dr. Gregory H. Stanton | Genocide Watch - TRANSCEND Media Service

Gaza destroyed. Source: The Cairo Review, Sep 2025

In Israel’s disproportionate response to Hamas’ 7 Oct 2023 massacre of Israelis, Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians.

17 Sep 2025 – On 7 Oct 2023, Hamas massacred over 1200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 hostages. Twenty remaining hostages are still alive in Gaza, 148 have been rescued or released, and 75 died or were murdered by Hamas. Hostages who have been released have reported torture, beatings, and murder during their time in captivity.

In its original charter, Hamas openly declared its intent to destroy the nation of Israel. While Hamas removed this outright declaration of its genocidal intent from its revised 2017 charter, Hamas still declares that it is at war against all Zionists.

The revision in Hamas’ charter is belied by Hamas’ continuing attacks on Israel. Statements from Hamas’ leadership, its unrelenting missile attacks, and the October 7 massacre prove that Hamas is still a genocidal terrorist organization that must be defeated.

Claiming its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Israel justifies its invasions in Gaza and Lebanon as intended to destroy the bases of Hamas and Hezbollah before they could be used for more attacks on Israel.

Israel also justifies its invasion of Gaza as necessary to free Israeli citizens who are being held hostage. This right to protect national citizens has long been a doctrine of international law.

Israel’s military retaliation against Hamas would be justified as self-defense if it were proportionate and distinguished Hamas combatants from Palestinian civilians.

But Israel’s continuous bombing and destruction of all of Gaza and its starvation of Palestinians make no distinctions between combatants and civilians.

Bombing hospitals and shooting civilians are war crimes. Forced deportation and starvation are crimes against humanity.

But defeating Hamas’ genocidal terrorists does not justify committing genocide against Palestinian civilians.

Is Israel also committing the crime of genocide?

To prove that Israel is committing genocide, three elements must be conclusively proven: destruction of a protected group; acts of genocide; and intent.

1. Are Palestinians a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group?

The existence of a group is proven from the point of view of the perpetrator. Israel’s leaders themselves recognize that Palestinians are a national and ethnic group. In October 2023, Israeli President Herzog stated, “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible.”

In Israel and worldwide, Palestinians are considered a national and ethnic group with their own language and culture. Palestine is increasingly recognized as a state in international law and institutions.

2. Has Israel committed acts of genocide?

The crime of genocide is defined in the Genocide Convention, the international convention adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948:

“Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means 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.”

Determining whether Israel has committed genocide requires evaluating whether Israel has systematically committed acts of genocide enumerated in Article II.

(a) Has Israel intentionally killed a substantial part of the Palestinian national and ethnic group?

The UN estimates that 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza have died since October 7, 2023. At least 17,000 of the Palestinian dead were children.

Israel claims that casualty figures from the UN and the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry are unreliable exaggerations. A study in the Lancet  estimates that the death toll is actually far higher than the UN’s.

(b) Has Israel intentionally caused serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group?

As an occupying power, Israel has a legal obligation to provide basic needs to Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Not only has Israel failed to provide for basic needs, but Israel actively blocks aid into Gaza. 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of starvation.

Palestinians in Gaza face starvation, lack adequate medical supplies, and are showing severe levels of mental trauma.

Israel claims it has permitted enough food aid, but the aid is stolen by Hamas. This claim is intended to convince Israelis that Israel is obeying the laws of war. It is not. Israel has pursued a policy of starvation.

The truth is that Israel has allowed under twenty percent of necessary food to be delivered to Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, Israel has blocked over eighty percent of food aid from entering Gaza.

Israel blockaded all food, water, medicine, and fuel to Gaza for three months in 2025 and blocked all food and aid distribution from the United Nations, while simultaneously refusing to open more aid crossings.

On August 27, 2025, all the members of the UN Security Council except the United States issued a statement condemning the starvation caused by Israel in Gaza as a “man-made famine.”

Starvation is the crime against humanity of Extermination under Article 7 (1)(b) of the ICC statute: “the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.” Starvation is also an act of genocide under Genocide Convention Article 2(c).

(c)   Has Israel deliberately inflicted on the Palestinian group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part?

Israel intentionally bombs schools, homes, hospitals, and designated humanitarian zones. Israel has used 2000-pound bombs that level entire apartment buildings and throw shrapnel that kills and maims people 360 meters away. Over 174,000 buildings in Gaza have been destroyed and over 19,000 have been severely damaged. Over ninety percent (436,000 homes) of the dwellings in Gaza are uninhabitable.

Every hospital in Gaza has been bombed by Israel on the pretext that Hamas hides under them. Of the damaged hospitals still standing, the UN reports that all Gaza hospitals lack water, fuel, staff, and medical supplies. Directing attacks against hospitals is a war crime that violates ICC statute Article 8(2)(b)(ix).

Israel is blowing up the remaining buildings in Rafah, where it says it will build a cynically named “humanitarian city” to confine Gazans. They will be guarded by IDF troops and won’t be allowed to leave. Israel is planning to build a concentration camp.

Israel is apparently applying the Dahiya (Dahya) doctrine developed in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. It is an Israeli military strategy involving the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure that supports an enemy organization. It is intended to force the civilian population to turn against militants.

The Dahiya doctrine is directly contrary to the laws of war that prohibit attacks on civilians. It is Israel’s excuse for committing war crimes.

3. Do Israel’s actions have the intent to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part.

Intent of a state can be proven in two ways:

1. by statements or orders from leaders or military commanders, or
2. by a systematic pattern of the acts of genocideenumerated in the Genocide Convention.

A popular belief regarding genocide is that it requires the intent to eliminate a group “in whole.” Many supporters of Israel reject any claim that Israel’s destruction in Gaza approaches the horror of the Holocaust, which attempted to kill all Jewish people.

But the Genocide Convention only requires the intent to destroy a group “in part”. Intentionally killing, starving, or destroying conditions of life of members of a group because of their group identity qualifies as the intent to destroy a group “in part.”

Have Israeli leaders made statements indicating intent to destroy the Palestinian group, in part?

Israeli leaders have repeatedly made statements that express the intent to destroy conditions of life for a substantial part of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli leaders have led a dehumanizing campaign of anti-Palestinian propaganda that claims there is no distinction between Hamas combatants and Palestinian civilians. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant claim that there are “no innocents” among Palestinians. Israeli President Herzog stated,” “It is not true, this rhetoric about civilians being not aware, not involved.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked the Biblical command in Deuteronomy 24 and 1 Samuel 15: 2-3 to kill every Amalekite, a nation that had launched a surprise attack against the Jewish people as they migrated into Israel. Netanyahu invoked a divine order to commit genocide.

In October 9, 2023, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said,” I have ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip…We are fighting human animals.”

Israel’s Denial

Israel employs four classic denial tactics against accusations of genocide:

1. Minimize the statistics.
2. Attack the truth tellers.
3. Claim civilian deaths were mistakes or “collateral damage”.
4. Deny intent.
5. Minimize the statistics.

Israel claims that casualty figures from the UN and the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry are exaggerated lies.

A scientific study published in The Lancet, a respected peer-reviewed medical journal, in January 2025 estimated that approximately 64,260 Palestinians died from traumatic injuries in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and June 30, 2024. This figure is 40 percent higher than the 37,877 deaths reported by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry during the same period.

2. Attack the truth-tellers.

Netanyahu portrays opposition to Israeli bombing in Gaza as a pro-Hamas campaign aimed at destroying Israel itself. Netanyahu claims that the United Nations, International Criminal Court, and protests against Israel’s war crimes are “antisemitic”, conflating opposition to Israel’s war with antisemitism. For Israelis, he is invoking memories of the antisemitism that led to the Holocaust.

Israel allows only Palestinian journalists to report from Gaza. No foreign journalists have access except on IDF escorted tours.Israel regularly accuses Gazan journalists of being Hamas operatives, using these claims to justify the targeted killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. This policy allows Israel to claim that reports of its war crimes and crimes against humanity come from biased sources, a tactic of denial.

Israeli Defense Forces have intentionally targeted media and aid groups. As of July 18, 2025, at least 1,513 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, including 237 UN staff members.

3. Claim civilian deaths were mistakes or “collateral damage” in a just war against Hamas.

Israeli leaders say they have no intention to destroy the Palestinian national and ethnic group, as such.  Israel only wants to defeat Hamas. Civilian deaths are “collateral damage” in this war.

Israel says its Defense Forces (IDF) take all necessary precautions to diminish the toll on civilian life. Hamas fighters hide among Palestinian civilians, making civilian deaths unavoidable.

Explanations of civilian deaths by Israel are blamed on acts of individual soldiers rather than on the orders of military leaders. This tactic denies that mass murder and destruction are Israeli state policies. War crimes against Gazans are described as acts of individuals, not acts by the state of Israel.

Israel’s rules of engagement permit killing twenty civilians for each Hamas fighter killed, the highest “collateral damage” percentage in any modern war. These rules of engagement give Israeli Air Force and IDF troops a license to carpet bomb Gaza and commit war crimes with impunity.

When confronted with evidence of atrocities by IDF troops, Israeli bombing or missile strikes, Israel frequently claims they were “mistakes” or that Israel “is investigating.” After Israel struck Nasser Hospital on August 25, killing five journalists, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was responsible and that it “deeply regrets the tragic mishap”. In fact, BBC verify, showed that Israel struck the Hospital balcony where the journalists stood in a “double tap,” waiting until rescuers came and then striking again, hitting with four shells. This was an intentional assassination, not a “mishap.”

If defeating Hamas is really Israel’s only intent, why has Israel bombed all of Gaza? Why did Israel blockade food, water, medicines, and fuel to all Palestinians for three months? Why does Israel continue to restrict shipments of food into Gaza to a tiny percentage of what is needed to sustain civilian lives?

If Israel’s claim of its intent to spare the lives of civilians were true, why have Israeli marksmen shot over 1400 Palestinians seeking food from distribution sites established by Israel?

4. Deny that Israel’s destruction of Gaza and killing of Palestinians have the intent required to prove genocide.

Many supporters of Israel say that this is a war, not a genocide. If it is a genocide, they argue, why hasn’t Israel killed many more Palestinians? Such deniers make the mistake of limiting genocide to destruction “in whole” of a group, ignoring the explicit language in the Genocide Convention that includes destruction “in part.” They also make the mistake of thinking that war and genocide are mutually exclusive.

But war and genocide are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, most genocides occur during wars.

The Final Proof of Israel’s Genocidal Intent: The Murders of Palestinians Seeking Food

Since May, Israel Defense Force soldiers have shot and killed over 1400 Palestinian civilians seeking food from distribution sites in Gaza established by Israel. Many of those killed were children who were shot in the head or the back.

These murders and the destruction of hospitals and medical clinics by Israeli Defense Forces are war crimes and also are the crime against humanity of “extermination.” They are also acts of genocide.

In the New York Times on July 15, 2025, Dr. Omar Bartov, a renowned Holocaust and genocide expert, noted that many Holocaust scholars have been reluctant to call Israel’s war crimes in Gaza by the powerful G-word, Genocide. Dr. Bartov, himself, had been unwilling to call Israel’s crimes against humanity “Genocide.”

Dr. Bartov changed his judgment of Israel’s intent based on Israel’s continuing destruction of Gaza and its intentional bombing of hospitals and the tents of displaced people, its blockade of food, and Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians from one part of Gaza to another without food for themselves or their starving children.

The Israel Defense Force’s shootings of over 1400 starving Palestinian civilians, including women, the elderly, and children seeking food finally proved Israel’s genocidal intent for Dr. Bartov and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the most respected organization of genocide scholars in the world.

The events of the past two years, especially since March 2025, have finally proven Israel’s intentional destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national and ethnic group.

Both Hamas and Israel have committed genocide.

Israel’s genocide continues today.

This war and genocide can be stopped only when Hamas releases all hostages and Israel withdraws from Gaza. Scores of Palestinian civilians are being killed daily by bombing, shelling, and Israeli marksmen. Hundreds are dying of starvation. Any hope for peace between Israel and Palestinians depends on ending this war.

The only way to stop war crimes and genocide in Gaza is to stop this war.

____________________________________________

Dr. Gregory H. Stanton is Founding President of Genocide Watch and the Alliance Against Genocide. He founded the Cambodian Genocide Project. He was Professor in Genocide Studies at George Mason University and was James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington. He was a law professor at Washington and Lee University. In the State Department, he wrote UN Security Council Resolution 955 that established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He wrote the rules of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. He was President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

Published under Creative Commons copyright. May be freely republished in its entirety with credit to the author.

https://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/the-double-genocide-in-gaza/

Go to Original – genocidewatch.com

Share this article: email mastodon facebook 🔗 copy link

DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

There are no comments so far.