Experts and academics: Israel's crimes met the conditions for genocide

Afrasianet - Genocide  is often referred  to as a "crime of crime," a designation introduced after the Holocaust inflicted on Jews in Nazi Germany during World War II, and limited to a very specific form of mass slaughter that deserves the highest condemnation.

With this definition, Nicole Naria, political and community affairs correspondent for the American website Vox, began her report, asking whether this definition necessarily applies to Israel.

Israel, where "the descendants of many Holocaust survivors live", should not have committed such a crime, and now human rights groups, academics and even South Africa accuse it of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Not new accusations

She added that these accusations are not new, as they spread widely shortly after Israel's response to the Al-Aqsa flood, which was launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, 2023.

A year later, the question is whether the evidence to support these claims has increased.

In her answer, Naria stated that in October last year she and her colleague Sigal Samuel interviewed researchers to examine and study the "allegations" of genocide, noting that some of them at the time were willing to describe what was happening in Gaza "categorically" as genocide.

But most were reluctant to argue that proof of genocide required high standards under international law. Many said that terms such as "crimes against humanity" or "war crimes," which are equally important under international law, were likely committed, but refrained from judging the Gaza genocide.

It's genocide.

The debate has evolved since that interview, with the situation in Gaza in ruins worsening and the number of Palestinian martyrs now rising to more than 40,000.

A report by the International Refugee Organization published in September revealed evidence of "a severe hunger crisis in Gaza and indications of famine-like conditions in the northern areas during the first half of 2024," partly because Israel obstructed the delivery of aid to the besieged enclave.

In the face of recent developments resulting from the spillover of the war into Lebanon after  Israel "tightened its grip" on the occupied West Bank, the reporter said she had returned to those researchers to see if their previous views of the Gaza genocide had changed.

She replied that of the five researchers, most were now convinced that crimes committed in the Gaza Strip met the legal requirements to qualify them as genocide.

According to the Fox report, if a formal decision of genocide is issued by the International Court of Justice, it could have serious legal and political consequences.

Definition of genocide

There are different ways of defining the concept of genocide, but the ICJ is only concerned with its legal definition under the Genocide Convention, the international treaty that criminalizes the practice that entered into force in 1951 and has been ratified by 153 countries, including Israel and its closest ally, the United States.

Under the Genocide Convention, the definition of extermination is: "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, racial or religious group."

Based on that definition, Raz Segal, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University in New Jersey, said, "I fully support the characterization of the Israeli attack on Gaza as a typical example of genocide."

I no longer have hesitation

Adam Jones, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, said: "Any early hesitation I had about the genocidal label applied to Israel's assault on Gaza has been dissipated over the past year from human carnage and the obliteration of homes, infrastructure and communities."

Ernesto Verdiga, a professor of political science and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, followed suit, describing the IDF's operations as genocide.

The main turning point in the views of Verdiga and many other human rights experts was the Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah last May.

Action must be taken immediately

It concluded that it was unclear how the International Court of Justice would deliver its ruling. Even if the Court does not rule on genocide, that does not prevent the international community from taking action to stop what is happening in Gaza.

Stockton University professor Segal said: "I don't think we should sit idly by and wait for these institutions to say yes or no to genocide when we all see genocide before our eyes."

He stressed that "the process of radical regime change has already begun, and that Israel is very isolated today in the world, as well as the United States."

Source: American Press + Fox