The world's leading genocide scholars' association has passed a resolution saying that the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday (September 1).

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The International Association of Genocide Scholars has declared that Israel's actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. The resolution was supported by 86% of the association's 500 members, citing deliberate attacks on civilians, deprivation of humanitarian aid, and forced displacement among the listed acts.

Israel has not responded to the resolution but has previously denied accusations of genocide, maintaining its actions are in self-defence. The association's president, Melanie O'Brien, stated that international law requires proportionality and military necessity, which she said are no longer demonstrated by Israel's actions. The resolution also notes that the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel constituted international crimes.

Israel committing genocide in Gaza, scholars' association says

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, according to the world's leading Genocide Scholars Association. It passed a resolution saying the legal criteria defining genocide have been met, as set out in the UN Genocide Convention of 1948. It was backed by 86% of the International Association of Genocide Scholars' 500 members. There was no immediate response from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Israel has in the past strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, and says they are justified as self-defence. This was the association's president, Melanie O'Brien. We still have to apply aspects of international law. There isn't just a blanket right to self-defence. So that self-defence has to be carried out in a proportionate manner, and it also has to be shown to be something carried out for military necessity, neither of which are demonstrated anymore by Israel's actions on the ground in Gaza. Israel is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that accuses it of genocide. Defined in the 1948 convention, which was adopted in the wake of the Holocaust, as crimes committed, quote, with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such. The convention requires all countries to act to prevent and stop genocide. Several international and Israeli rights groups have made the same accusation. Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip after October 7th, 2023, when Hamas fighters attacked Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, its military action has killed 63,000 Palestinians, damaged or destroyed most buildings in the enclave, and forced nearly all its residents to flee their homes. Israel has severely restricted aid, and famine has been declared in parts of Gaza by a global hunger monitor, a charge Israel also denies. As an expert in international law, I can definitively say that there is no justification for the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, not even self-defense. And I think in this situation, if we were talking on the 8th of October, you could certainly talk about the concept of self-defense being valid. But now that we are almost two years beyond that, that justification has really gone out the window. Genocidal acts by Israel listed in the resolution include deliberate attacks against and killing of civilians, including children, starvation, deprivation of humanitarian aid, water, fuel and other essentials for survival, sexual and reproductive violence, and forced displacement of the population. The resolution also states that the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel constituted international crimes. Since its founding in 1994, the Genocide Scholars Association has passed nine resolutions recognizing historic or ongoing episodes as genocides.

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Israel committing genocide in Gaza, scholars' association says

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