Do Israel's military actions in Gaza since October 7th, 2023 constitute a genocide?

This is a deeply contested question with significant legal, political, and humanitarian dimensions. Let me search for the most current information on this topic to give you a well-grounded overview of the different positions.This is one of the most contested legal and political questions of the current era, and there is no single, final, universally accepted answer—but I can lay out where the major bodies and parties stand.

The legal process is still ongoing

The most authoritative body for determining state responsibility for genocide is the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where South Africa filed a case against Israel in December 2023. South Africa alleged that Israel had committed and was committing genocide in Gaza, contravening the Genocide Convention. In January 2024, the Court said "the facts and circumstances mentioned above are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts." However, this was only a preliminary "provisional measures" ruling. As the ICJ itself notes, at the provisional measures stage, the Court does not determine the merits of the case—it therefore has yet to make a determination whether Israel has committed, sanctioned, or incited genocide. A final merits judgment is the judgement that will decide whether Israel breached the Genocide Convention, and given lengthy procedures, it is unlikely to be handed down before 2028. Several states, including Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Ireland, Belize, and Brazil, have since joined or sought to join the case.

Bodies that have concluded genocide is occurring

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory—established by the Human Rights Council—issued the most significant finding to date in September 2025: Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report. Specifically, it found that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention—namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about destruction, and imposing measures intended to prevent births—and that explicit statements by Israeli officials and the pattern of conduct indicate these acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in Gaza as a group. The Commission also concluded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement.

In subsequent reports through mid-2026, the Commission has reaffirmed and extended this finding, stating that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and that in Gaza, Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts even after the ceasefire agreement, with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part. A later report specifically on children found that the deliberate targeting of children is one of the key elements establishing genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.

Other voices supporting this characterization include UN Special Rapporteurs—the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, described what was occurring in Gaza as "a situation of genocide"—and scholarly bodies: in August 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating that Israel's "policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide".

Israel's position and pushback

Israel has categorically rejected these findings. It characterized South Africa's charges as "baseless," accusing the country of "functioning as the legal arm" of Hamas, and said it was conducting a war of self-defense in accordance with international law following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023. Regarding the 2025 UN Commission report, Israel's foreign ministry stated: "Israel categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this Commission of Inquiry," claiming the authors were "Hamas proxies." Israel's UN representative argued the report "relies solely on Hamas falsehoods" and "cherry-picked data." Netanyahu's office called the genocide allegations "ridiculous" and a "blatant falsehood".

Other governments remain cautious

Many Western governments have avoided endorsing the genocide label while criticizing Israel's conduct. For example, a UK government spokesman said that the determination as to whether Israel's actions constitute genocide was up to a court, though it stated that "Israel's actions are appalling". The US has continued to back Israel diplomatically and withdrew from the Human Rights Council in 2018 and again during the first month of Trump's second term, reflecting skepticism toward the body that commissioned the genocide report.

Where this leaves the question

Given this, whether you consider genocide to have occurred depends significantly on which institution's findings you weight most heavily — a UN-mandated expert commission versus an eventual binding ICJ judgment versus Israel's own legal position. The term is highly charged, and the debate itself is deeply polarized along political and ideological lines.