Gaza — The world’s foremost association of genocide scholars has issued a rare and damning resolution declaring that Israel’s ongoing Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza meets the legal definition of genocide, intensifying scrutiny on governments and international courts already under pressure to act.
The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a body comprising experts who have historically influenced how states and institutions define mass atrocity crimes, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the measure. Although only 28 percent of members cast ballots, nearly 86 percent of those who did supported the resolution, which invoked the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The resolution catalogued what it called “systematic acts” of extermination: deliberate killing of civilians, destruction of homes and hospitals, sexual and reproductive violence, the starvation of Gaza’s population, and the forced displacement of nearly all 2.3 million residents.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 62,800 Palestinians have been killed, with more than 158,900 wounded, since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Independent analyses estimate that trauma-related deaths may exceed 93,000, indicating undercounting in official tallies.
Estimates of building destruction vary, but reports suggest well over 90 percent of housing in Gaza Genocide has been damaged or destroyed, a consistent finding in satellite-based assessments
Legal intent, the association said, was revealed not only by the scale of devastation but by the words of senior Israeli leaders. References to Palestinians as “human animals,” repeated promises to “flatten Gaza,” and calls for “maximum damage” were presented as evidence of genocidal intent.
The resolution also noted provisional rulings by the International Court of Justice earlier this year that genocide was “plausible,” as well as International Criminal Court warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges including the starvation of civilians.
Melanie O’Brien, president of the IAGS, called the resolution “a definitive statement from experts in the field of genocide studies,” arguing that scholars had a duty to weigh in while the atrocities were ongoing.
Rights groups inside Israel, including B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, have already described the War in Gaza as genocidal. Several UN rapporteurs have echoed that conclusion, warning that Israel is deliberately using hunger and displacement as weapons of war.
The Israeli government, which has consistently rejected accusations of genocide, offered no immediate response. But the weight of the association’s determination is expected to sharpen debates in Western capitals about continued arms transfers to Israel and to fuel legal and diplomatic initiatives aimed at halting the bloodshed.
According to The Guardian, which first reported on the resolution, at least 31 Palestinians were killed on Monday alone as Israeli bombardments continued across Gaza, underscoring the deadly pace of a war that has already displaced nearly the entire population.
