The International Association of Genocide Scholars said Israel's actions in Gaza met the definition of genocide under the 1948 United Nations convention, adopting a resolution that also identified alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel rejected the association's conclusions and maintained that its military campaign was an act of self-defence.
The IAGS, described in the supplied reporting as the largest professional body for genocide scholars, has about 500 members. Twenty-eight percent participated in the ballot, and 86% of those voters backed the three-page measure. The level of participation means the resolution reflected a strong majority among members who voted, rather than a vote by the full membership.
The association cited harm to the systems Gaza's population relies upon, including health care, education and humanitarian assistance. It also referred to UNICEF's count of 50,000 children killed or injured, destruction of housing, statements by Israeli leaders and support among some officials for removing Palestinians from the territory. The scholars argued that these elements affected Palestinians' capacity to survive and recover as a group.
Israel's foreign ministry disputed both the evidence and methodology, saying the document relied on false claims from Hamas and represented poor scholarship. Israeli authorities have consistently denied committing genocide and say operations in Gaza are justified by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. That assault killed about 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken, according to the BBC account. The IAGS resolution called the Hamas attack a crime but concluded that Israel's response extended beyond action against Hamas to Gaza's wider population.
The genocide convention concerns prohibited acts carried out with an intention to destroy, entirely or partly, a protected national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The IAGS decision was an expert association's assessment, not a judgment by an international court. The association itself said its resolution did not determine any court proceeding.
At the time, the International Court of Justice was considering South Africa's genocide case against Israel and had not reached a final finding. Israel had been given until January 2026 to submit its defence and described the case as antisemitic. The United Nations and several Western governments had said they would treat a judicial ruling as the authoritative determination.
The resolution joined earlier genocide findings from several rights groups, including two Israeli organizations. Separately, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry reported 63,557 deaths and 160,660 injuries, figures regarded as broadly reliable in the BBC report but not separated into civilians and combatants. A UN-backed monitor had also confirmed famine in parts of Gaza in August. Those wider conditions formed the context for the association's disputed legal and scholarly conclusion.
