The term
genocide fits events on the ground:
Israel’s actions,
"are distinct from other violations of international law sanctioned or perpetrated by the Israeli government and military in Gaza — including intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, civilian objects and buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected; torture; the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare; and other war crimes and crimes against humanity” – all of which have occurred “in the broader context of Israel’s [] 75-year-long apartheid, its 56-year-long belligerent occupation of Palestinian territory and its 16-year-long blockade of Gaza[.] ...
"Israel has descended to a whole new level of criminality that clearly meets the definition of genocide under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide: “acts intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
"... the statements of senior Israeli officials demonstrating genocidal intent ... (proves) that Israel is deliberately fighting a war against the entire Palestinian population of Gaza...
"Prime Minister Netanyahu: invoking the Biblical story of the total destruction of the Amalek by the Israelites, which Biblical passage reads in relevant part: “Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.”
President Herzog: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware not involved. It’s absolutely not true. … and we will fight until we break their backbone.”
Minister of Defense Gallant: Israel is “imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
“Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything. If it doesn’t take one day, it will take a week. It will take weeks or even months, we will reach all places.”
Minister for National Security Ben-Gvir: “[t]o be clear, when we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy — they’re all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed.”
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Katz: “All the civilian population in Gaza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.”
Minister of Finance Smotrich: “We need to deal a blow that hasn’t been seen in 50 years and take down Gaza.”
Minister of Agriculture Dichter: “We are now actually rolling out the Gaza Nakba.”
Knesset Deputy Speaker and Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Member Vaturi: “Now we all have one common goal — erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth.”
"Israeli military officials have echoed their political leaders’ calls to genocide: Israeli Reservist Major General and adviser to the Defense Minister Eiland: “This is what Israel has begun to do — we cut the supply of energy, water and diesel to the Strip . . . But it’s not enough. In order to make the siege effective, we have to prevent others from giving assistance to Gaza . . . The people should be told that they have two choices; to stay and to starve, or to leave. If Egypt and other countries prefer that these people will perish in Gaza, this is their choice.”
"...Ninety-five-year-old Ezra Yachin, a veteran of the Deir Yassin massacre during the 1948 Nakba, called up for reserve duty as a motivational speaker to “boost morale” among Israeli troops ahead of the ground invasion, said to social media while being driven around in an Israeli army vehicle, in IDF fatigues: “Be triumphant and finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them. Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live . . . Every Jew with a weapon should go out and kill them. If you have an Arab neighbour, don’t wait, go to his home and shoot him . . . We want to invade, not like before, we want to enter and destroy what’s in front of us, and destroy houses, then destroy the one after it. With all of our forces, complete destruction, enter and destroy. As you can see, we will witness things we’ve never dreamed of. Let them drop bombs on them and erase them.”
..."the only possible conclusion:
"The above statements by Israeli decision-makers and military officials indicate in and of themselves a clear intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group “as such.” They also constitute clear direct and public incitement to genocide, which has gone unchecked and unpunished. The clear inference from the acts of the Israeli army on the ground — including from the vast number of civilians killed and injured, and the scale of displacement, destruction and devastation wrought in Gaza — is that those genocidal statements and directives are being implemented against the Palestinian people. "
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/south-africa-appeals-to-the-international-court-o...