The president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), Melanie O'Brien, announced on Monday that the legal criteria have been met, concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The IAGS passed a resolution stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, citing deliberate attacks on civilians, starvation, deprivation of humanitarian aid, sexual violence, and forced displacement.
The resolution declared that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide,” and include “crimes against humanity,” and “war crimes.”
Further, the group blamed Israel for carrying out “deliberate attacks against and killing of civilians including children; starvation; deprivation of humanitarian aid, water, fuel, and other items essential to the survival of the population; sexual and reproductive violence; and forced displacement of the population.”
It specifically calls for Israel to immediately cease all acts that constitute these crimes, including the deliberate killing of civilians, starvation, deprivation of essential supplies like water and fuel, sexual and reproductive violence, and forced displacement. The resolution also acknowledges that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, constituted international crimes.
The United Nations has reported that parts of Gaza are experiencing a man-made famine.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the IAGS declaration “disgraceful” and based solely on Hamas’s “lies.”
“It is entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others,” the ministry said in a statement. “For the first time, ‘Genocide Scholars’ accuse the very victim of genocide — despite Hamas’s attempted genocide against the Jewish people, murdering 1,200 people, raping women, burning families alive, and declaring its goal of killing every Jew.”
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office welcomed the IAGS declaration, stating, “This prestigious scholarly stance reinforces the documented evidence and facts presented before international courts” and “places a legal and moral obligation on the international community to take urgent action to stop the crime, protect civilians, and hold the leaders of the occupation accountable.”
The IAGS resolution comes in the context of the ongoing conflict that began after Hamas attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. To date, 140 hostages have been returned to Israel alive, while the foreign ministry says that dozens — some deceased — still remain in Gaza.
In response, Israel launched a military assault on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 people, the destruction of most buildings, and the displacement of nearly all of Gaza's residents.
The IAGS, founded in 1994, has previously passed nine resolutions recognizing genocides. The Gaza resolution was backed by 86% of the 500-member association.
