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

This is one of the most contested legal and political questions of the current era, and there is no single definitive answer — different bodies and experts have reached different conclusions, and the matter is still being litigated.

What international bodies have found

UN Commission of Inquiry (September 2025): The most authoritative UN-mandated finding to date came from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It concluded that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention—killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about destruction, and imposing measures to prevent births—and that these acts were committed with intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza as a group. The Commission's chair stated plainly: "The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza." A subsequent report in June 2026 reiterated that Israel continues to commit genocide in Gaza, with Israeli authorities and forces continuing to commit genocidal acts even after the October 2025 ceasefire, with intent to destroy the Palestinian people in whole or in part.

International Court of Justice (ICJ): This is the only body with authority to issue a binding legal ruling, but that ruling hasn't happened yet. South Africa filed a case in December 2023 alleging Israel is violating the Genocide Convention. The Court found it is plausible that Israel's acts could infringe rights of the Palestinian people protected by the Genocide Convention and issued provisional measures ordering Israel to take preventive action, but it has not made any finding that Israel is in violation of its international legal obligations, as the case is still preliminary and has not ruled on the merits of the genocide claim. A final judgment is unlikely to be handed down before 2028 given the slow pace of ICJ proceedings.

International Association of Genocide Scholars: In August 2025, the IAGS passed a resolution stating that Israel's "policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide."

Other human rights voices: UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, described the situation as "a situation of genocide", and Amnesty International has stated that Israeli authorities have failed to implement ICJ-ordered measures by continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, even after the October 2025 ceasefire.

Israel's position and dissenting views

Israel categorically rejects the genocide characterization. It has maintained it is conducting the war in Gaza in self-defense and in accordance with international law, firmly denying accusations of genocide, and has consistently argued it is acting in accordance with international law. Regarding the UN Commission's report specifically, Israel's foreign ministry said it "categorically rejects the distorted and false report" and described it as one that "relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods," accusing the authors of being proxies for the militant group.

Some Western governments have also declined to use the term. Germany's leadership stated that Israel was not committing genocide in Gaza, with its Foreign Minister saying the Gaza war should be characterized as "self-defence," not genocide. The American Jewish Committee has argued that the accusation disregards evidence that Israel's motivation was self-defense rather than destroying the civilian population, and that Israel endeavors to minimize civilian harm against a group that uses civilians and protected sites as cover. The UK government has taken a middle position, stating 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 bottom line

Given the gravity and contested nature of this issue, I'd encourage you to review primary sources directly — including the UN Commission's full report and the ICJ case documents — rather than relying solely on secondary characterizations.