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

This is a deeply contested question involving international law, and I'll lay out the different positions based on major sources, since this is not a matter with a single settled answer.This is one of the most contested legal and moral questions of our time, and there is no single settled answer — it depends on which body's determination you consider authoritative and how you weigh the legal elements of genocide. Here's where things currently stand:

Bodies/experts who have concluded it is genocide

UN Commission of Inquiry (September 2025): This is the most authoritative UN-linked finding to date. An independent United Nations inquiry concluded for the first time that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and that the country's top leaders have incited genocide, describing it as the "most authoritative UN finding to date." The commission found that Israel has committed four of the five "genocidal acts" defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention: killing members of a group, causing serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group and preventing births, concluding "It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention."

International Court of Justice (ongoing case, not yet final): South Africa brought a formal genocide case in December 2023. Professor Malcolm Shaw, representing Israel, argued the case relates only to charges of genocide, which "stands alone among violations of international law due to its intent requirement. Importantly, in an interim ruling in January 2024, the ICJ found that it is "plausible" that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention — but this is a preliminary threshold, not a final genocide determination. The ICJ could take months, if not years, to make a final determination in the case, though it has issued three sets of provisional measures, including ordering Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.

Human rights organizations and scholars: Amnesty International, B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch, UN experts and the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) have all accused Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza, as has the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. Notably, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution with 86% support declaring that "Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention."

Israel's position and dissenting views

Israel categorically rejects this characterization. Israel rejects accusations of genocide, often dismissing them as anti-Semitic, claiming that it is carrying out a self-defence campaign against Hamas. At the ICJ, Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker argued "Israel is in a war of defence against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people," stating "the key component of genocide, the intent to destroy a people in whole or in part, is totally lacking."

Some legal scholars agree with Israel's position. A Jerusalem Post op-ed by a human rights lawyer and military expert argued that "Israel's actions in Gaza do not meet the legal definition of genocide and reflect self-defense, not intent to destroy a people."

Why this is legally difficult to resolve

The core dispute centers on intent. As one legal scholar explained, genocide is considered the hardest crime to prove in court, with the "intent" requirement making it distinct—proving intent tends to be the most difficult part of any criminal case. Additionally, the ICJ has stated that genocidal intent must be the only reasonable inference from the available evidence. Israel argues its intent is defeating Hamas, not destroying Palestinians as a group; the UN Commission and others argue the scale, pattern, and rhetoric of the campaign point to genocidal intent as the only reasonable inference.

The underlying facts are severe regardless of legal label

By recent counts, between 7 October 2023 and 12 July 2026, 73,231 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip and another 173,686 were injured, alongside more than 80 percent of hospitals and healthcare institutions in Gaza rendered non-operational by mid-2026, plus widespread displacement and a documented hunger crisis.

Bottom line

There is no single authoritative legal verdict yet. The UN Commission of Inquiry — the most credentialed body to examine the question so far — has concluded it is genocide. The ICJ, the only court with binding jurisdiction over Israel as a state, has found the accusation "plausible" but has not issued a final ruling and may not for years. Israel and some legal scholars strongly dispute the characterization, primarily on the grounds of intent. Given the ongoing litigation and sharply divided expert opinion, whether this constitutes genocide remains a genuinely open legal question — though a growing consensus among human rights bodies and genocide scholars has shifted toward affirmative findings.