The Hague / PNN /

The leadership of the world’s largest association of scholars specializing in genocide studies said Monday that it had adopted a resolution affirming that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide.

Reuters reported that 86% of voters among the 500 members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars supported the resolution, which states that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfill the legal definition of genocide under Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).”

Since its founding in 1994, the association has adopted nine resolutions recognizing historical or ongoing events as genocide.

In related legal developments, South Africa filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice on December 29, 2023, accusing Israel of violating the 1948 UN Genocide Convention in its attacks on Gaza. The 84-page submission included evidence of thousands of civilian deaths and conditions deliberately created to cause physical destruction, constituting acts of genocide.

In early 2024, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and not incite genocide in Gaza, while rejecting Israel’s request to dismiss South Africa’s case.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have conducted a military assault on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 63,459 Palestinians—mostly children and women—and injuring 160,256 others, according to incomplete tallies. Many victims remain trapped under rubble or in the streets, inaccessible to rescue and medical teams.