Skip to content

Summary

Last updated: June 18, 2024

 

I, Lee Mordechai, a historian by profession and an Israeli citizen, bear witness in this document to the horrible current situation in Gaza as events are unfolding. The enormous amount of evidence I have seen, much of it referenced later in this document, has been enough for me to believe that Israel is currently committing genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza. I explain why I chose to use the term below. The current war is ostensibly the Israeli reaction to the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, a war crime and crime against humanity that was committed within the context of the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians that can be dated back to 1917 or 1948 (or other dates). In all cases, I do not believe that historical grievances and atrocities justify additional atrocities in the present. Therefore, I consider Israel’s response to Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7 utterly disproportionate and criminal.

The paragraphs of this executive summary contain the summary of much longer sections below, a paragraph for each section. Each section below includes several dozens of references that lead to the supporting evidence upon which I base my assessment. This version of the document greatly expands upon the previous version from April 15 by adding much content and evidence to existing sections, adding new sections (on the American involvement in the war, and on the campus protests in solidarity with Gaza) as well as responding to the discussion it initiated.

Over the past eight months, Israel has repeatedly massacred Palestinians in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 37,000 Palestinians – some 60% of whom are women and children – as of writing. Tens of thousands more have been injured and at least thousands are missing. There is ample evidence for Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks throughout the war, as well as many examples for massacres and other killings. A long list of international institutions have harshly criticized Israel’s conduct of the war.

Israel has actively attempted to cause the death of the civilian population of Gaza. Israel has created famine in Gaza as a de facto policy and used it as a weapon of war, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians (mainly children) from starvation. Israel created shortages of water, medicine and electricity. Israel has also dismantled Gaza’s health system and Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. As a result, more people die from treatable conditions and difficult medical procedures such as amputations and caesareans are conducted without anesthesia.

Israeli discourse has de-humanized Palestinians to such an extent that the vast majority of Israeli Jews supports the aforementioned measures. The de-humanization was led by Israel’s highest state officials, and it continues to be supported through the state infrastructure and military. De-humanization is also widely prevalent in broader civil society. Speaking about Palestinians in genocidal language is openly legitimate in Israeli discourse. The de-humanization results in widespread abuse of, and violence towards, detained Palestinians and Gazan civilians and their property, all with few consequences. The vast majority of the de-humanizing content is shared by Israelis, and is confirmed by Palestinian testimonials of their experiences.

The evidence I have seen and discuss indicates that one of Israel’s very likely objectives is to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, whether in part or in total, by removing as many Palestinians as feasibly possible. Key members in Israel’s government have made statements confirming this intent and several of Israel’s government ministries have planned or worked to facilitate such an end. Israel has already cleared significant parts of the Gaza strip by demolition and bulldozing, also attempting to destroy the fabric of Palestinian society by deliberately targeting civilian institutions such as universities, libraries, archives, religious buildings, historical sites, farms, schools, cemeteries, museums and markets. So far more than half the buildings in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or damaged.

One of the purposes of the war, according to the Israeli government, is to release the hostages – some 120 of whom remain in Hamas’ captivity. The evidence indicates that compared to the ethnic cleansing this is a low priority for the government. To date Israel has released seven hostages through military operations, while killing many other hostages directly or indirectly through its actions. Moreover, there is much evidence that Israel has stalled the negotiations for releasing hostages or attempted to obstruct them on many occasions.

 The global attention to Gaza has drawn attention away from the West Bank. There, Israel’s operations through its military or settlers since the beginning of the war has resulted in the killing of over 500 Palestinians, the ethnic cleansing of at least 15 local communities, as well as a sharp increase in levels of violence, abuse and humiliation of Palestinians by both the Israeli state and Jewish settlers.

All of the above has been made possible through the strong support of most mainstream media in Israel as well as the West, primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. From the beginning of the war, Israel has waged an information campaign that emphasized the horrors of the Oct. 7 attacks with both reliable and unreliable information, discredited critical voices outside Israel, limited information flows from Gaza, and rallied the Israeli public around the war by curtailing domestic discourse. As a result, Israeli media and discourse are predominantly and uncritically pro-war. Mainstream media outlets in the US share much of this approach. In depth investigations of the Israeli smear campaign against UNRWA and the persistent doubts towards the Palestinian death counts reveal that both are cases of unfounded propaganda. All of the above legitimizes Israeli violence and actions, deflects attention away from many events in Gaza, and contributes to the de-humanization of Palestinians.

America’s almost complete support has been fundamental for Israel’s conduct of the war. This support took the form of military aid, the deployment of US military and other assets, ironclad diplomatic support, especially at the United Nations, and the release of Israel from mechanisms of US oversight and serious accountability. Despite rhetoric that was sometimes critical, de facto there were also no changes in the support the US gave to Israel. Dissenters in the US – both government employees and sizable groups in American society – had little to no influence on US policy.

In two focused sections I zoom in on the second raid on the al-Shifa hospital in late March, and on the student protests across the US in April and May as case studies of many of the themes described above.

The evidence I have seen and describe below has been sufficient for me to believe that what Israel is currently doing to the Palestinian population in Gaza is consistent with the definition of genocide as I understand it. In an appendix, I explain my reasoning for using this term.