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

Israel's actions in Gaza since October 7th raise complex legal questions — I'll gather the latest court rulings, UN findings and competing perspectives to assess the genocide claim.

There is no single settled legal answer to whether Israel's military actions in Gaza since October 7, 2023 constitute genocide. The term has a precise legal definition, and different authoritative bodies have reached opposing conclusions. A final binding determination by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has not been made.

1. Legal definition

The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as acts committed "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group," including killing members of the group, inflicting serious bodily or mental harm, or deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction.

Genocide is therefore not a synonym for mass killing. Specified acts must be committed with the intent to destroy a protected group as such. The required mental element is often called dolus specialis or specific intent to destroy the group.

2. Allegations that the actions constitute genocide

Since October 2023, several UN bodies, human rights organizations and academic associations have concluded that Israeli actions meet that definition:

The Commission stated that explicit statements by Israeli political and military authorities as well as the pattern of conduct demonstrate that the acts were committed with intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group, quoting Chair Navi Pillay: "there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention". It also found that President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant incited genocide.

Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel's conduct "may amount to the crime of genocide", in a December 2024 report focusing on deprivation of water, and after Amnesty International issued a report concluding Israel was committing genocide.

South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel before the ICJ on 29 December 2023 over alleged breaches of the Genocide Convention in relation to Palestinians in Gaza.

3. What the International Court of Justice has and has not decided

The ICJ has not issued a final judgment on whether genocide has occurred.

Former ICJ President Joan Donoghue clarified that the court did not decide that Israel's war could plausibly be considered genocide, only that Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected.

4. Israel's position and opposing views

Israel rejects the genocide findings. Its Foreign Ministry has called the reports "distorted, false," while the government says its forces target Hamas and act in self-defense.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking at the UN, called genocide allegations "the Biggest Lie of the Century" and said Israel's campaign is a legitimate act of self-defense following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in 251 people being taken hostage.

Before the ICJ, Israel's counsel stated: "There is no genocidal intent here; this is no genocide", arguing it is fighting Hamas after the atrocities of October 7, not seeking to destroy Palestinians as a people, and citing Hamas' conduct in civilian areas, alleged use of human shields, and the realities of urban warfare.

This view is shared by other scholars and commentators. In September 2025, more than 5,000 political leaders, scholars and other figures joined an open letter rejecting accusations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, with a later report putting the figure at more than 6,000 signatories. Their argument is that even an appalling civilian death toll does not by itself establish genocidal intent.

5. Summary status