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

This is a highly contested question that international bodies, legal scholars, and governments remain divided on. Let me search for the most current information on this topic.This is one of the most contested legal and political questions of the current era, with significant disagreement between international bodies, legal scholars, and governments. Here's an overview of where things stand:

Bodies/Groups That Have Concluded Genocide Is Occurring

UN Commission of Inquiry: In September 2025, a UN Commission of Inquiry report concluded that Israel is failing to prevent and is actively committing genocide against Palestinians, finding Israel guilty of four out of five acts specified in Article 2 of the 1948 Genocide Convention—murder, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy the group, and imposing measures to prevent births—and found statements by senior Israeli officials sufficient to establish genocidal intent. The Commission reaffirmed this finding in June 2026, stating Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip.

International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS): The world's largest professional body of genocide scholars passed a resolution in 2025 concluding "Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide," as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes, with 86% of those who voted supporting the resolution, though the resolution also said Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 constituted international crimes but emphasised that these acts do not justify genocide.

Israeli human rights groups: Notably, two prominent Israeli rights groups, Btselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, came out with statements alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, though the organizations do not reflect mainstream thinking in Israel, marking the first time Jewish-led Israeli organizations made such allegations.

UN Special Rapporteur: Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, assessed that Israeli crimes in Gaza amount to genocide, stating the "threshold indicating the commission of the crime of genocide... has been met."

The Legal Process That Will Formally Decide This

ICJ case (South Africa v. Israel): This is the authoritative legal venue, but it's far from resolved. The International Court of Justice has not ruled on the merits—its written phase runs until 2029. The case has drawn unusual international attention, with one of the most closely watched disputes ever heard by the ICJ, drawing an unusually large number of third-state interventions—18 countries as of early 2026. Legal analysts note it is this final judgement that will decide whether Israel breached the Genocide Convention through its actions in Gaza, though given lengthy procedures, it is unlikely the final judgement will be handed down before 2028.

In 2024, as a preliminary matter, the court ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of acts of genocide, to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and to allow basic humanitarian aid and supplies into Gaza — but this was a provisional measures ruling, not a final determination that genocide occurred.

Israel's Position

Israel categorically rejects the genocide characterization. It has strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as self defense. Israel's government called the IAGS scholars' resolution "an embarrassment to the legal profession," and argued "the IAGS has set a historic precedent—for the first time, 'Genocide Scholars' accuse the very victim of genocide—despite Hamas's attempted genocide against the Jewish people."

State Recognition Is Split

Some governments have explicitly used the term "genocide" (e.g., Bolivia formally joined South Africa's ICJ case, Barbados's PM referenced "genocidal destruction taking place in Gaza"), while others like Canada remain officially "awaiting ICJ verdict" before making a determination. Many Western governments and the UN itself have historically taken the position that they will only consider it a genocide if a court rules it to be so.

Bottom Line

There is no binding legal determination yet. What exists is a growing body of expert and institutional opinion (UN commissions of inquiry, genocide scholars, some Israeli and international human rights organizations) concluding that genocide has occurred, set against Israel's firm denial and the fact that the only body with authority to issue a legally binding determination—the ICJ—won't reach a final merits judgment for likely another 2+ years. Whether you consider the question "settled" depends heavily on what standard of authority you apply: expert/scholarly consensus increasingly says yes, while formal international law has not yet rendered a final verdict.