Israel condemned as “disgraceful” a formal declaration by the world’s top genocide scholars accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza, rejecting the charge as an “embarrassment to the legal profession” and grounded in misinformation spread by Hamas.
The statement came in response to a resolution passed this week by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), which said Israel’s conduct in Gaza over the past 22 months meets the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 United Nations Convention.
Eighty-six percent of voting members supported the resolution.
Why It Matters
Since Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage, more than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed. Nearly all Gaza residents have been displaced at least once, most buildings are damaged or destroyed, and a U.N.-backed body has declared the enclave in famine—an assessment Israel rejects.
What To Know
In a statement posted to X, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the resolution passed by the IAGS was “entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others,” and accused the academic body of failing to verify basic facts.
“Above all, the IAGS has set a historic precedent—for the first time, ‘Genocide Scholars’ accuse the very victim of genocide,” the ministry said, citing the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead.
The statement of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) is an embarrassment to the legal profession and to any academic standard.
It is entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others. The IAGS did not do the most basic…
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 1, 2025
The ministry said the group didn’t check basic facts and misrepresented the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) position, which Israel rejects. It also claimed that IAGS flipped the moral roles in the conflict.
Despite acknowledging the Hamas-led assault as a criminal act, the IAGS stated that Israel’s military response has not only targeted Hamas fighters but Gaza’s entire civilian population. The resolution cited deliberate attacks on civilians, including children, the starvation and forced displacement of the population, and systematic destruction of hospitals, schools and housing.
What the Genocide Scholars Said
The International Association of Genocide Scholars, founded in 1994 and made up of 500 academics, passed the three-page resolution citing what it called “deliberate attacks” on Gaza’s civilian population and infrastructure essential to survival.
The resolution listed starvation, forced displacement, destruction of healthcare and education systems, and the killing of civilians—especially children—as acts that, taken together, amount to genocide.
Displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza Strip move with their belongings along the Sea Road, near Wadi Gaza, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025.
Displaced Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza Strip move with their belongings along the Sea Road, near Wadi Gaza, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025.
AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana
“People who are experts in the study of genocide can see this situation for what it is,” Melanie O’Brien, the organization’s president and a professor of international law at the University of Western Australia, told The Associated Press.
The scholars cited statements by Israeli leaders supporting mass displacement, vowing to “flatten Gaza,” and describing its population in dehumanizing terms. The resolution emphasized that Hamas’s October 7 attack, while constituting international crimes, does not justify genocide against the broader civilian population of Gaza.
“There is no justification for the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, not even self-defense,” O’Brien said.
What People Are Saying
Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, posted on X: “An overwhelming majority of members of the world’s leading genocide scholars’ association have backed a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of the crime.”
Andrew Mark Bennett, doctoral candidate in Law at the Freie Universität Berlin, posted on X: “The International Association of Genocide Scholars remained silent after the Oct 7 genocide and said nothing about the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust”.
Israeli historian Tom Segev told the Associated Press: “For Israelis, the major concern is the hostages, not necessarily the fate of Gaza’s population.”
What Happens Next
The genocide declaration comes as Israel intensifies preparations for Gaza City. Netanyahu said Israel will resume negotiations for the release of hostages, but only under terms it deems acceptable.