Israel was never ambiguous about the war’s purpose.
On October 7, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities.[1] When Israel formally declared war on October 8, it named four aims:
- Recover the hostages
- Dismantle Hamas’s military capacity
- Remove Hamas as Gaza’s governing authority
- Ensure Gaza could never again carry out such an attack[2]
None of the aims reference Palestinians. They refer to an armed terror organization – its fighters, weapons, and rule. A campaign designed to decimate a population does not define victory as the return of its hostages and the fall of a regime which persecutes its own people in addition to Israel’s.
Moreover, Israel’s conduct throughout the war included a series of measures that would be inexplicable for a state aiming to target a whole population. Israel issued evacuation warnings days and weeks in advance; dropped millions of leaflets; and placed tens of millions of phone calls, texts, and recorded messages in Arabic urging civilians to leave combat zones.[3] The Israeli Air Force employed “roof-knocking” – non-lethal munitions fired to warn occupants before a strike – and instituted daily humanitarian pauses.[4]
Israel took more measures to prevent civilian harm than virtually any military in the history of urban warfare.[5]
Modern urban combat usually results in a civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio of 9:1 according to the UN and other global NGOs, but due to its strict rules of engagement and measures to protect civilian life, Israel achieved an estimated 1:1 ratio, which is one of the lowest in the history of warfare.[6] A country engaging in such careful measures to protect Palestinian civilians cannot logically wish to eradicate them.
Civilian to Combatant Casualty Ratio
Urban Warfare Globally
combatant
civilians
Hamas-Israel War
combatant
civilians
Similarly, in the summer of 2024, after polio resurfaced in Gaza for the first time in 25 years, Israel agreed to coordinated pauses in its military operations so that the World Health Organization and UN agencies could facilitate a mass vaccination drive.[7] In the first round, about 590,000 children under 10 were vaccinated, while hundreds of thousands more were vaccinated in early 2025. A state seeking to destroy a people does not suspend its own defensive combat operations to vaccinate that people's children.
To determine genocide, a court must conclude that the destruction of a group is the only reasonable explanation for a state’s conduct. Warnings, evacuations, humanitarian pauses, and the facilitation of aid prove Israel’s original war goals - to fight the terror group which massacred and kidnapped Israelis and ensure it does not continue to pose as a threat to Israel and its own people, all while operating under the guidance of international humanitarian law.
GenoLIE advocates often use statements by Israeli leaders as proof of genocidal intent. But not surprisingly, they manipulate the statements or their context.
On October 9—just two days after the massacre—then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated, “we are fighting human animals and acting accordingly.” But on October 7, Gallant said Hamas would be held responsible for its heinous actions, and on October 8, he reiterated that the enemy was the Hamas terror organization, comparing it to ISIS on several occasions in the days following the attacks. Gallant’s “human animals” comment was directed at Hamas, not the Palestinians as a whole. Indeed, he later repeatedly referred to the enemy as Hamas and its regime, and on October 29 he stated clearly, “We are not fighting the Palestinian multitude and the Palestinian people.”
On October 28, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Remember what Amalek did to you,” invoking Deuteronomy 25:17–19. This passage is frequently cited in Jewish communities, especially when discussing the Holocaust, to emphasize vigilance. However, South Africa’s filing at the ICJ and GenoLIE proponents quoted a completely different biblical passage about Amalek—1 Samuel 15:3, which reads, “Now go, attack Amalek... spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings...”
The details matter, and GenoLIE proponents are manipulating the specific details that alter the narrative. Irony abounds: the more complete quote of what PM Netanyahu actually said is inscribed on The Jewish Monument in The Hague, where the ICJ proceedings occurred. The monument, commemorating The Hague’s Jews who were murdered during the Shoah, cites Deuteronomy 25:17–19 and reads: “Remember what Amalek did to you... do not forget.” The purpose of the quote there—just like in Netanyahu’s October 28 speech—is to remember antisemitic persecutors of Jews and warn against forgetting what has been done to the Jewish people for millennia.
Again, the GenoLIE loses legitimacy. It was never a campaign to destroy the Palestinians, just the Hamas terror organization.
The "Gaza Genocide" is one of the biggest lies of the 21st century. It was generated and promoted by anti-Zionist and antisemitic networks following the October 7 Massacre to prevent Israel from saving its hostages, delegitimize the Jewish state, and fuel global antisemitism.
Read the next piece to learn more on the Gaza GenoLIE puzzle.
[1]“Promising merciless war on Hamas, Netanyahu says Israel will ‘avenge this black day,’” The Times of Israel, October 7, 2023. https://www.timesofisrael.com/promising-merciless-war-on-hamas-netanyahu-says-israel-will-avenge-this-black-day/
[2]Israel’s stated war aims as summarized in John Spencer’s account of the October 8 declaration of war; Middle East Forum. https://www.meforum.org/podcasts/john-spencer-on-israels-urban-war-in-gaza-a-technical-analysis
[3] Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. “Manufacturing a Modern Blood Libel: Genocide, Starvation and the Language of Dehumanization,” May 2026, Accessed through Jewish Virtual Library at https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/storage/Manufacturing-a-Modern-Blood-Libel%20-%20Copy-compressed.pdf
[4]Ibid.
[5]Ibid.
[6] Newsweek, Spencer, John, “Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It?” March 26, 2024, accessed July 2026, https://www.newsweek.com/israel-has-created-new-standard-urban-warfare-why-will-no-one-admit-it-opinion-1883286
[7] "Israel agrees to pauses in fighting in Gaza for polio vaccination," CNN, August 29, 2024; "As polio vaccinations begin in Gaza, U.N. says success hinges on a pause in fighting," NPR, August 31, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/29/middleeast/gaza-who-humanitarian-pause-intl-latam ; https://www.npr.org/2024/08/31/nx-s1-5096742/gaza-polio-vaccination-israel-pause ↩