Thousands more dead bodies are thought to be under the rubble of destroyed buildings.[28][34] By June 2024, over 500 healthcare workers in Gaza had been killed.[35] As of May 2024, only 12 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are functional; 84% of health centers in the region have been destroyed or suffered damage.[36] An enforced Israeli blockade has heavily contributed to starvation and the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, while Israeli forces prevented humanitarian supplies from reaching the Palestinian population, blocking or attacking humanitarian convoys. Early in the conflict, Israel also cut off water and electricity supply from the Gaza Strip. Israel has also destroyed numerous culturally significant buildings, including 13 libraries housing thousands of books,[37][38] all of Gaza's 12 universities and 80% of its schools,[39][40] dozens of mosques, three churches, and two museums.[41][42][43]
Various observers, including United Nations Special RapporteurFrancesca Albanese,[44] have cited statements by senior Israeli officials that may indicate an "intent to destroy" (in whole or in part) Gaza's population, a necessary condition for the legal threshold of genocide to be met.[25][45][46] A majority of mostly US-based Middle East scholars believe Israel's actions in Gaza are intended to make it uninhabitable for Palestinians, and 75% of them say Israel's actions in Gaza constitute either "major war crimes akin to genocide" or "genocide".[47]
The government of South Africa has instituted proceedings, South Africa v. Israel, against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging a violation of the Genocide Convention.[48] In an initial ruling, the ICJ held that South Africa was entitled to bring its case against Israel, while Palestinians were recognised to have "a plausible right to be protected from genocide"[49] that faced a real risk of irreparable damage. The court ordered Israel to observe its obligations under the Genocide Convention by taking all measures within its power to prevent the commission of acts of genocide, to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and to allow basic humanitarian services into Gaza.[50][51][52] The court also later ordered Israel to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza and to prevent genocide during the Rafah offensive.[53][54] The Israeli government rejected the court's orders[52] and accused the court of being antisemitic, which it has often done when challenged.[55][56]
^Huynh, Benjamin Q.; Chin, Elizabeth T.; Spiegel, Paul B. (6 December 2023). "No evidence of inflated mortality reporting from the Gaza Ministry of Health". The Lancet. 403 (10421): 23–24. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02713-7. PMID38070526.
^Mackenzie & Lubell 2023: "Israel has tightened its blockade on and bombarded Gaza for three weeks after the Islamist group Hamas' Oct. 7 assault killed 1,400 Israelis [...] Abbas ... said, "Our people in the Gaza Strip are facing a war of genocide and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in full view of the entire world.""; Antonio 2023: "Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss rejected the notion that his country is committing genocide in Gaza City, where a two-week war has erupted [...] their measures were targeting Hamas members, and they were "taking all measures to avoid having civilians affected" by attacks. "We are informing civilians even before attacks: keep away from Hamas' infrastructure and Hamas' facilities," [...] Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians."; Chacar 2023; Smith et al. 2023; Nichols 2023; Bishara 2023
^Abraham, Yuval (3 April 2024). "'Lavender': The AI machine directing Israel's bombing spree in Gaza". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 3 July 2024. "There was a completely permissive policy regarding the casualties of [bombing] operations — so permissive that in my opinion it had an element of revenge," D., an intelligence source, claimed. … A. also used the word "revenge" to describe the atmosphere inside the army after October 7.
^"On the Dehumanization of the Palestinians". palestine-studies.com. Institute for Palestine Studies. Retrieved 3 July 2024. The current genocidal assaults on Palestinians in the Gaza strip have undoubtedly been enabled by decades of anti-Palestinian racism propagated by both government and military officials and by media outlets. ... This has never been clearer than over the course of the last two weeks as U.S. and Israeli political and military leaders sow fear and paranoia, and trot out the worst anti-Arab rhetoric we have seen since the period following 9/11. This racist rhetoric is intended to dehumanize the Palestinians in order to neutralize public outrage at what may amount to the worst ethnic cleansing since the 1948 Nakba and what constitutes a genocide at the hands of one of the most advanced militaries in the world, all while world powers watch and do nothing.
^ ab"Gaza: UN experts call on international community to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people". OHCHR. 16 November 2023. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023. Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making, UN experts said today. They illustrated evidence of increasing genocidal incitement, overt intent to "destroy the Palestinian people under occupation", loud calls for a 'second Nakba' in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the use of powerful weaponry with inherently indiscriminate impacts, resulting in a colossal death toll and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.
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^Donoghue 2024, 5:10 ("The court decided that the Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide, and that South Africa had the right to present that claim in the court."); Order, S. Afr., No. 192 (ICJ 26 January 2024), ¶ 54 ("In the Court's view, the facts and circumstances mentioned above are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts identified in Article III, and the right of South Africa to seek Israel's compliance with the latter's obligations under the Convention.").
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