Again and again the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) refers to what is being perpetrated by Israel on the people of Gaza as a ‘war’1-3. Everybody who has any understanding of what is going on knows this is a genocide.
In November of 2024, a report by the UN Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices has found that these practices are consistent with the characteristics of genocide. The committee said “Since the beginning of the war, Israeli officials have publicly supported policies that strip Palestinians of the very necessities required to sustain life — food, water, and fuel … These statements along with the systematic and unlawful interference of humanitarian aid make clear” that preventing these supplies is solely for political and military gains. The report covered the period from October 2023 to July 2024, and focused on the catastrophic impact in Gaza on the rights of Palestinians4.
The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations stated in a letter “The already apocalyptic humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues to worsen as Israel, the occupying Power, persists with its hermetic, punitive siege and wanton bombardment of all civilian areas. Mass casualties, mass destruction, mass displacement and mass starvation continue to be inflicted in Gaza every single day by Israeli occupying forces, who likewise continue, in collusion with terrorist settlers, their murder and ethnic cleansing spree in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The lives of all human beings subjugated to this illegal, depraved occupation are in danger. Men, women and children, elderly persons, disabled persons, youths, medics, journalists, humanitarians and healthcare workers continue to be killed and wounded in Israeli assaults on homes, hospitals, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) shelters and tent encampments”5.
Leading Israeli human rights organisations B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, based on meticulous documentation and research, have concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip6.
Experts in the study of genocide were asked if Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. They have come to the conclusion that Israel is indeed committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza7,8.
380 UK writers and groups had signed an open letter calling Israel’s military campaign in Gaza “genocide”. The letter states, in part: “The use of the words ‘genocide’ or ‘acts of genocide’ to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organisations”9.
A letter to the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, signed by more than 800 lawyers, including former high court justices, calling on Starmer to impose sanctions on the Israeli government. They stated: “There is mounting evidence of genocide, which is either being perpetrated or at a minimum at serious risk of occurring.” They added that a recent statement from Israel’s finance minister Belazel Smotrich that the Israel Defense Forces would “wipe out” what remains of Palestinian Gaza was an indication of ‘genocidal intent’9.
Over the last year, the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights has been conducting independent research and analysis on Israel’s actions in Gaza and the topic of genocide. They have reached the conclusion that, under international law, Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza10.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders state that an unprecedented humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Gaza, and that Israel is committing genocide. They
are seeing, at first hand, the campaign of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians being perpetrated by the Israeli military in Gaza11.
Amnesty International has gathered evidence that demonstrates how, over a month since the introduction of its militarised aid distribution system, Israel has continued to use starvation of civilians as a weapon against Palestinians in Gaza to deliberately bring about their physical destruction as part of its “ongoing genocide”12.
Human Rights Watch have released a report entitled ‘Extermination and acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water’ in which they found that Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water for drinking and sanitation, needed for basic human survival. Israeli forces cut off and later restricted piped water to Gaza; thereby rendering most of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting electricity and restricting fuel; they also deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials, and blocked the entry of critical water supplies13.
Finally, Middlesex University’s Professor William Schabas, one of the world’s foremost authorities on genocide and international criminal law, and the son of holocaust survivors, argues that the case filed by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ is “arguably the strongest case of genocide ever brought before the Court”, citing Israeli military actions and statements by senior officials as evidence of genocidal intent. He has also highlighted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s populist rhetoric, framing Gaza’s population as an existential threat to Israel, which he links to patterns of incitement fuelling atrocities. In addition, he stresses that third-party states, including the US, Germany, and others risk legal liability as “accomplices to genocide”14. I wonder if this could include Australia, as we supply parts for the aircraft attacking Gaza15.
So, for the ABC or any other media organisation to portray what Israel is doing in Gaza as a ‘war’, is at best disingenuous, or at worst, complicit in the genocide that Israel is perpetrating.
Sources
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-24/nationwide-march-for-palestine-live-updates-august-24/105689410
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6mHBwYUSSE
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTdQ69bsnL4
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/un-special-committee-finds-israels-warfare-methods-gaza-consistent-genocide
- https://www.un.org/unispal/document/letter-from-the-state-of-palestine-23apr25/
- https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/07/israel-opt-israeli-organizations-conclude-israel-committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza-in-another-milestone-for-accountability-efforts/
- https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2025/august/is-israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-we-asked-5-legal-and-genocide-experts-how-to-interpret-the-violence
- https://theconversation.com/is-israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-we-asked-5-legal-and-genocide-experts-how-to-interpret-the-violence-262688
- https://theconversation.com/the-debate-over-genocide-claims-in-relation-to-gaza-intensifies-257847
- https://www.ecchr.eu/fileadmin/Q_As/ECCHR_Q_A__Gaza_and_Genocide_20241210.pdf
- https://msf.org.uk/issues/gaza-genocide
- https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/07/gaza-evidence-points-to-israels-continued-use-of-starvation-to-inflict-genocide-against-palestinians/
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/19/israels-crime-extermination-acts-genocide-gaza
- https://www.populismstudies.org/professor-schabas-us-germany-and-others-could-be-held-liable-as-accomplices-to-genocide-in-gaza/
- https://blotreport.com/2025/08/05/do-they-think-we-are-stupid/
