A resolution adopted on Monday has reignited global debate: Israel’s policies and actions in the Gaza Strip meet the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The document emphasizes that genocide is defined as acts committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”
While symbolic in nature, the resolution carries strong political weight, arguing that Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks, has resulted in widespread destruction of life and living conditions for the Palestinian population. According to local figures, more than 63,000 people have been killed since the beginning of Israeli operations, though these numbers cannot be independently verified.
For the resolution’s authors, the scale of devastation goes beyond legitimate self-defense and constitutes a pattern consistent with the definition of genocide recognized by the UN. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas welcomed the resolution. “This respected scientific stance corroborates the documented evidence and facts presented in international courts,” said Ismail al-Thawabta, head of Hamas’s media office in Gaza.
For the organization, the resolution validates its repeated claims that Israel is systematically seeking to eradicate the Palestinian population in the enclave. Israel, however, has categorically rejected the accusations of genocide. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government argues that its military campaign is a legitimate act of self-defense following Hamas’s large-scale assault on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,219 people and resulted in more than 250 hostages taken into Gaza.
According to Israel, the heavy toll in Gaza is the direct consequence of Hamas’s strategy of embedding its operations within civilian populations and urban infrastructure. The resolution also stresses that Hamas’s actions in Israel on October 7—including mass killings and abductions—equally amount to crimes under international law.
By doing so, it seeks to recognize both Israel’s responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the atrocities committed by Hamas. Israel currently faces a genocide case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, initiated by South Africa and supported by several countries.
Although the judicial process is expected to last years, it has already cast doubt on the international legitimacy of Israel’s military campaign. Meanwhile, the conflict continues to escalate, with mounting casualties and a humanitarian disaster that has left the global community divided between accusations of atrocities and arguments of national security.
