Genocide

Acts committed with the specific intent (dolus specialis) to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Prohibited acts include: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction; imposing measures to prevent births; forcibly transferring children. Intent to destroy the group is a required element — without demonstrated genocidal intent, acts that cause mass casualties may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity but not genocide.

South Africa filed a case before the International Court of Justice in December 2023 alleging Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Proponents cite the scale of civilian casualties (over 30,000 killed by early 2024 per Gaza Health Ministry figures), destruction of civilian infrastructure, restrictions on food and medicine, and statements by Israeli officials as evidence of genocidal intent. Some scholars and UN special rapporteurs have used the term.

Israel and its allies reject the genocide characterization. They argue the military campaign targets Hamas infrastructure — not Palestinians as a group — that civilian casualties result from Hamas embedding military assets in civilian areas (a war crime under IHL), that Israel has taken steps to warn civilians, and that genocidal intent is absent. The ICJ's January 2024 provisional measures order did not find genocide established; it ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide and ensure humanitarian access, while the case proceeds. Israel argues the case is itself a form of lawfare designed to delegitimize self-defense.