Leading genocide scholars say Israel's conduct in Gaza meets UN definition
International Association of Genocide Scholars passes resolution citing attacks on healthcare, aid and education and noting 50,000 children killed or injured
The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), the world's largest professional association of experts on genocide, has declared that Israel's conduct in Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide under the United Nations Genocide Convention.
In a three-page resolution published by the IAGS, the organization states that actions taken by Israel during the 22-month-long conflict in Gaza constitute genocide, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The association, which includes Holocaust specialists among its membership, said the conduct it documents meets the convention’s standard that requires intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
The resolution drew support from a majority of voting members but from a minority of the association's full membership. Of about 500 IAGS members, 28% participated in the vote, and 86% of those who voted supported the resolution, the association reported. The document summarizes a range of Israeli policies and actions, identifying what it describes as widespread attacks on personnel and facilities essential for civilian survival, including in the healthcare, humanitarian aid and education sectors.
Among the facts the resolution cites is a tally highlighted by the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, of some 50,000 children killed or injured in Gaza. The IAGS said such losses affect the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to survive as a group and to regenerate, a factor the association said is relevant to the legal threshold for genocide.
The Genocide Convention, adopted in 1948, defines genocide in terms of specific acts — such as killing members of a group or causing serious bodily or mental harm — committed with the intent to destroy that group. The IAGS resolution frames its conclusions within that legal definition and sets out evidence it says supports findings of genocidal intent and conduct.
The IAGS described its resolution as a scholarly assessment based on the association's review of reported events and documented policies over the duration of the conflict. The resolution spans incidents and policy measures that the association says together meet the elements of genocide as well as other serious violations of international law.
The association's statement follows more than a year and a half of fighting that has produced extensive destruction and high civilian casualty figures in Gaza, drawing repeated concern from humanitarian organizations and U.N. agencies about civilian protection and the functioning of basic services. The resolution adds a formal, scholarly contention to ongoing international debate about the legal characterisation of conduct in the conflict.
The IAGS resolution is a declaration by a professional association and is not itself a court judgment. Assessments of criminal liability for genocide or other international crimes ordinarily fall to courts and international tribunals with legal jurisdiction to adjudicate such matters. The association did not, in its published text, set out a mechanism for legal enforcement.
The publication of the resolution is likely to intensify calls from some governments, advocacy groups and scholars for further investigation and possible legal inquiry, while others may dispute the IAGS conclusions. The association’s action adds to a set of parallel assessments and investigations by U.N. bodies and NGOs that have documented civilian harm, destruction of infrastructure and impediments to humanitarian assistance during the Gaza conflict.