For Those Still in Doubt: Yes, This Is Genocide!

Aftermath of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion | Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

In the wake of Hamas's atrocious attack on October 7, 2023, nearly everyone (though not all) came together in shock at the barbarity of the act. Thousands of people, mostly civilians, were brutally murdered, with Hamas proudly showcasing the horrific cruelty of its indefensible crimes.

On that day, two things became clear: first, that Hamas had committed atrocities, and second, that Israel would respond with atrocities of its own.

No one could have anticipated the scale of Israel's response or the hypocrisy of the international community. I never thought I would write a piece accusing Israel of genocide. Yet, as 2024 unfolds, with months of unspeakable suffering weighing heavily on anyone with a sense of humanity, it has become unavoidable to define Israel’s actions as such.

Statements like "The focus is on damage, not precision," by Daniel Hagari of the Israeli armed forces; Benjamin Netanyahu’s comparison of Palestinians to the people of Amalek; or Bezalel Smotrich’s claim that "There are 2 million Nazis," along with his calls for the "voluntary migration" of Gaza's residents—these are not isolated incidents.

The indiscriminate bombing of residential buildings, hospitals, and schools; the staggering death toll (now surpassing 25,000); the complete disregard for rescuing the hostages still held by Hamas; the near-total destruction of northern Gaza; and the ongoing bombardment of areas previously declared safe all point to one clear objective: to make life so unbearable for Palestinians that they flee to Egypt, allowing Israel to reoccupy Gaza and turn the Palestinians into Egypt’s problem.

Adding to this, we have Netanyahu himself—not Smotrich or Hagari, but the prime minister—openly opposing a two-state solution.

All of this makes it impossible to accept Israel’s actions as mere self-defense. Instead, they appear to be collective punishment against an entire people for the crimes of an oppressive organization.

On October 7, 2023, 1,140 innocent people were barbarically murdered by Hamas. Since October 27, 2023, over 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza.

The Israeli military is no group of amateurs. It is a well-trained and well-equipped force. There can be no doubt that the suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza has been deliberate.

For those still in doubt: yes, this is genocide. And it is being perpetrated by the descendants of Holocaust victims while the world turns a blind eye to the suffering of a people facing extermination, all the while vowing "never again." Europe and the United States must urgently stop supporting this genocide. If they do not, they will share complicity with Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Hagari.