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When “Genocide” Loses Its Meaning, Law, War, and the Case of Gaza

Author(s):
David E. Bernstein
Posted:
05-2026
Legal Studies #:
26-11

ABSTRACT:

This article argues that the term genocide has been conceptually and legally diluted in contemporary discourse surrounding the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza.

Drawing on the history of the Genocide Convention, the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, and comparative cases including the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Cambodia, the article contends that genocide is distinguished not by the scale of civilian suffering alone, but by the specific intent (dolus specialis) to destroy a protected group as such.

The article maintains that allegations of Israeli genocide frequently conflate devastating urban warfare with the legal crime of genocide, while disregarding established international legal standards requiring genocidal intent to be the “only reasonable inference” from state conduct. Indeed, Israel’s documented efforts to mitigate civilian harm—including evacuation warnings, humanitarian corridors, pauses in fighting, legal review of military strikes, and cooperation with an extensive vaccination campaign—however imperfectly implemented, make genocidal intent not merely something other than the “only reasonable inference,” but difficult to regard as a reasonable inference at all.

The article further traces the historical origins of genocide accusations against Israel to Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda after the 1967 Six-Day War and examines how these narratives evolved in international political discourse. It argues that the Gaza conflict, while marked by immense civilian suffering, does not fit the doctrinal or historical framework of recognized genocides, and that the allegation of genocide is instead a dishonest rhetorical tool used by those who oppose Israel's military actions for various reasons.

The article concludes by warning that redefining genocide to encompass a military campaign solely because it produces severe civilian casualties risks transforming the concept from a precise legal category into a generalized instrument of political condemnation, thereby undermining its moral and juridical significance.