More and more experts confirm that Israel commits genocide in Gaza

The Hague: A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a UN body, have said Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide, deepening Israel's isolation and risking untold damage to the country's standing even among allies, the Associated Press reported.

The accusation is vehemently denied by Israel, which was established in part as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust.

Even so, global outrage over Israel's wartime conduct has mounted in recent months, as images of starving children emerged, adding to the humanitarian catastrophe of a 23-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and laid waste to much of Gaza.

In a report last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council concluded that the war has become an attempt by Israel to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza and constitutes genocide.

The group, which doesn't speak for the UN, said its determination was based on a pattern of behaviour, including Israel's “total siege” of Gaza, killing or wounding vast numbers of Palestinians, and the destruction of health and educational facilities. Israel says Hamas uses such facilities for military purposes. It lifted a complete 2 1/2 month blockade in May.

Many of the world's leading experts on genocide have reached the same conclusion, with at least two dozen using the term publicly in the past year. Among them is Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University.

Two Israeli rights groups have also said it's genocide. While the groups are respected internationally, their views are not representative of the vast majority of Israelis.

In December, Amnesty International used the term, citing findings similar to those of the UN-commissioned experts.

“Looking at the broader picture of Israel's military campaign and the cumulative impact of its policies and acts, genocidal intent is the only reasonable conclusion,” it said.

Two weeks later, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of intentionally depriving Gaza of water, saying that amounted to “an act of genocide.”