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Genocide Accusations Against Israel: What Do the Facts Say?

Genocide Accusations Against Israel: What Do the Facts Say?

“No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza”: A Messianic Jewish Response

On July 22, 2025, journalist Bret Stephens published an article for The New York Times titled “No, Israel is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza.”[1] In the article, Stephens addresses the charge of genocide leveled against Israel regarding their actions during the current war in Gaza and argues that these allegations are unsubstantiated. Stephens has worked for The New York Times, NBC, MSNBC, SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations, the Wall Street Journal, and The Jerusalem Post. He has received the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and three honorary doctorate degrees.[2] Stephens’ secular Jewish background gives him insight into issues involving Israel and the Jewish people as well.[3]

As a Messianic Jewish organization whose mission is to bring the light of Yeshua to the Jewish people, Chosen People Ministries cares deeply for the peace of Israel and loves His people. As a ministry that seeks to obey Scripture by embodying His love for all people, we do not take allegations of genocide lightly. We know that the Lord values the truth (Ephesians 4:25) and all human life, for we are made in His image (Genesis 9:6). We are going to reflect upon the arguments in Stephens’ article, as well as cross-examine these allegations of genocide in search of the truth. Proverbs 18:17 reminds us: “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him.”

Read Video Transcript

00:00:00

[Overlay: Genocide Accusations Against Israel. What Do the Facts Say? Dr Mitch Glaser, Chosen People Ministries]

00:00:10
The word genocide carries tremendous moral weight. It was coined in the 1940s to describe the Holocaust and other systematic attempts to destroy entire people groups and even religious communities. Today, some are replying this term to Israel’s war in Gaza. And as a Jewish believer who spent 50 years in Jewish ministry, I feel a deep obligation to address this issue.

00:00:31 The question is, do the facts actually support such a grave and grievous charge? So let’s evaluate the input of two experts and reflect upon some of what they have to say. One is a war scholar and the other a veteran journalist.

00:00:51 First, let’s be clear about what genocide actually means. According to the UN Genocide Convention, as mentioned, genocide requires the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such.

[Overlay: “Intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such”]

01:08 Note these keywords, intent, and as such, meaning targeting people simply because of who they are and not what they’ve done, maybe just because of what they believe. This is a high legal bar. And for good reason. War is tragic. Civilian deaths are heartbreaking. But war itself is not genocide.

01:30 John Spencer, a 25-year infantry veteran, an urban warfare expert, puts it like this. He has seen no evidence of genocidal intent. Instead, he’s witnessed soldiers taking dangerous risks to avoid harming civilians and missions delayed because children were nearby and troops ordered not to return fire when civilians might be harmed.

[Overlay: John Spencer, 25 year war veteren, Urban Warfare Expert, Embedded with IDF 4x since Oct 7. “Nothing I have seen or studied resembles genocide or genocidal intent.” “I have seen Israeli troops come under fire and still be ordered not to shoot back because civilians might be harmed.”]

01:55 Journalist Brett Stephens asks a very provocative but important question. He says, if Israel truly intended genocide, why isn’t the death toll significantly higher? Israel has the capacity to inflict much greater destruction upon Gazettes, but they don’t. They care.

[Overlay: “If the Israeli government’s intentions and actions are truly genocidal… why hasn’t it been more methodical and vastly more deadly?” Bret Stephens, The New York Times]

02:13 Spencer notes that Israel has delivered more humanitarian aid to an enemy population during wartime than any military in history, over 1.8 million tons of aid. This is not the behavior of a military committing genocide.

[Overlay: 1.8 million tons of humanitarian aid delivered to Gaza. More than any military in history. -John Spencer, Urban Warfare Expert]

02:28 Let’s put this in perspective. The Korean War killed 2 million civilians, 54,000 a month. The fight against ISIS leveled entire cities and killing an estimated 11,000 civilians over nine months, and nobody feels good about it, but it happens during war. None of these were called genocide because the intent was not to destroy a people, simply for who they were.

[Overlay: Korean War, 2 million civilians killed, 54,000 per month]
[Overlay: Mosul vs Isis, 11,000 civilians killed, 9 months of operations]

02:49 Context matters, intent matters, and truth matters.

[Overlay: Neither called genocide, Korean War, 2 million civilians killed, 54,000 per month. Mosul vs Isis, 11,000 civilians killed, 9 months of operations.]

02:54 Calling Israel’s actions genocide isn’t just wrong, it’s actually dangerous. It equates modern Israel with Nazi Germany. Let me say that again. It equates modern Israel with Nazi Germany, fueling a new wave of anti-Semitism that targets not just Israeli policy, but any Jewish person who supports Israel’s right to exist. More broadly, if we label every military situation we dislike, a genocide, we risk diluting the meaning of the word, and we cannot afford to cheapen the term genocide. When real genocides occur, and they do, we need this term to carry its full moral weight. The war in Gaza is horrific and tragic, but tragedy is not genocide. People suffering is not genocide. We could debate how this war should end without falsely accusing Israel of history’s most heinous crime.

[Overlay: Context matters. Intent matters. Truth matters.]

03:54 The truth matters too much for anything else. Has Israel committed genocide? The answer that I see, that Spencer sees, that Stefan sees, and that thousands upon thousands who understand what’s happening in Gaza right now, the way they see it, the way I see it, is no. Israel is not committing genocide.

[Overlay: The truth matters too much for anything less.]

04:23 God bless you, Shalom, thank you, and let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Defining Genocide

This is the legal definition of genocide according to the United Nations: “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”[4] The term “genocide” was first coined during World War II to describe the Nazi crimes of the Holocaust.[5]

In his article, Stephens emphasizes that “Genocide does not mean simply ‘too many civilian deaths’—a heartbreaking fact of nearly every war . . . It means seeking to exterminate a category of people for no other reason than that they belong to that category . . . ”[6] He uses an example from World War II: “. . . the fact that over a million German civilians died in World War II . . . made them victims of war but not of genocide. The aim of the Allies was to defeat the Nazis for leading Germany into war, not to wipe out Germans simply for being Germans.”[7] Civilian deaths caused by war are horrific, but do not automatically equal genocide.

Hamas’ War Tactics: Human Shields and Use of Gazan Civilians

There is clear evidence that Hamas intentionally sacrifices and endangers the lives of Palestinian civilians by violating the international law against using human shields in the Gaza war against Israel. In his article, Stephens has this to say on the matter: “In Ukraine, when Russia attacks with missiles, drones or artillery, civilians go underground while the Ukrainian military stays aboveground to fight. In Gaza, it’s the reverse: Hamas hides and feeds and preserves itself in its vast warren of tunnels rather than open them to civilians for protection.”[8]

The use of “human shields” is forbidden by the Geneva Conventions and defined as “Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations.”[9] Evidence strongly suggests that Hamas is guilty of using human shields in conflicts against Israel since 2007.

According to a 2019 NATO report, “Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure hubs and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and commercial areas. . . . there is every reason to believe Hamas will continue resorting to the use of civilians as human shields.”[10] In April 2025, a case study from the Henry Jackson Society confirmed that Hamas’ tactic of shielding themselves with the lives of Palestinian civilians has continued to this day,[11] and included a list of evidence verifying numerous incidents of Hamas’ human shield tactic harming Palestinian civilians.

Israel’s Actions toward Gazan Civilians: Evacuation Warnings and Aid

The IDF works to protect non-combatants in Gaza; they have made phone calls, sent text messages, dropped leaflets, and done more to warn civilians to evacuate areas they are about to strike, while Hamas tells them to ignore the warnings and stay put.[12] Given Israel’s documented efforts to preserve the lives of Palestinian civilians, genocidal intent seems unlikely.

Israel has also sent an unprecedented amount of aid to Gazans. Since the beginning of the war, over 1.3 million tons of aid have been delivered.[13] Unfortunately, “Images have been captured of Hamas violently overtaking trucks carrying aid, taking goods to the group’s own storage facilities and selling them overpriced . . .”[14] Since countries are not required to supply aid to their enemies’ civilians in wartime, the fact that Israel makes efforts to supply so much aid despite the risk of fueling Hamas is more evidence against genocidal intent or behavior.

The Tragedy of War, God’s Love for All People, and Why the Truth Matters

None of this is to say that Israel and the IDF are perfect and unflawed, that individual IDF soldiers and Israeli politicians have not done wrong, or that we cannot critique or disagree with what they do. In his article, Stephens says this: “There are important questions to be asked about the tactics Israel has used,” but even if we are seeing some “bungled humanitarian schemes or trigger-happy soldiers or strikes that hit the wrong target or politicians reaching for vengeful sound bites [these] do not come close to adding up to genocide.”[15]

Just as Americans who love their country can still disagree with and critique the US government about their actions, so can those who love and support Israel and its people still disagree with and critique the Israeli government and military. However, neither the mistakes of individual soldiers nor the angry rhetoric from a few individual politicians constitute genocide.

There is immense suffering of innocent people in Gaza, and that is why we care so much about refuting false allegations of genocide against Israel and accurate placement of responsibility for the Gaza crisis. Seth Mandel, a Jewish journalist and editor, sums it up this way in his article “Why the Truth Matters”: “the truth is that there are real concerns about possible near-term hunger and malnutrition in Gaza because Hamas steals aid, hoards food and medicine away from civilians, and punishes dissent. . . . Why, I have been asked, should we quibble over the cause . . . That is like asking why we take pains to ensure we convict the real perpetrator of any crime.”[16] Telling the truth about who is responsible for the suffering in Gaza is necessary to achieve justice for the people there. Not telling the truth of Hamas’ responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and accusing Israel of genocide has fueled the alarming increase in antisemitism since October 7, 2023.[17]

As believers in Yeshua, what should be our response to the horrors in Gaza? It certainly should not be to support Hamas, accuse the Jewish people of genocide, and believe everything we hear on the news, but it should also not be to turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians—whom God loves and made in His image—under Hamas’ oppressive regime. In the new heavens and new earth, Israel and the countries around it will be at peace with one another (Isaiah 19:23–25). As we await the day when war will be no more (Isaiah 2:4), we as a Messianic organization pray for hurting Israelis and Palestinians, Hamas’ defeat, an end to wars in the Middle East, that truth and justice on the media and in Gaza would reign, and that both Israelis and Palestinians would encounter and come to know Yeshua, the Messiah and Prince of Peace.

[1] Stephens, Bret. 2025. “No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza.” The New York Times. The New York Times. July 22, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/opinion/no-israel-is-notcommitting-%20genocide-in-gaza.html.

[2] “Bret Stephens – Open to Debate.” 2023. Open to Debate. June 26, 2023. https://opentodebate.org/debaters/bret-stephens/.

[3] “Getting to Know You – Jerusalem Diaries.” 2025. Jerusalemdiaries.com. 2025. https://www.jerusalemdiaries.com/article/76.

[4] United Nations. 1948. “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” United Nations. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf.

[5] “What Is Genocide?” 2022. Ushmm.org. 2022. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/what-is-genocide#origin-of-the-term-genocide-0.

[6] Stephens, Bret. 2025. “No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza.” The New York Times. The New York Times. July 22, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/opinion/no-israel-is-notcommitting-%20genocide-in-gaza.html.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” 2025. International Criminal Court. 2025. https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2025-05/Rome-Statute-EN-2025.pdf.

[10] “StratCom | NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence Riga, Latvia.” n.d. Stratcomcoe.org. https://stratcomcoe.org/publications/hybrid-threats-hamas-use-of-human-shields-in-gaza/87.

[11] Rogers, James, Andrew Fox, and Salo Aizenberg. 2025. “DEFENDING EUROPE: ‘GLOBAL BRITAIN’ and the FUTURE of EUROPEAN GEOPOLITICS DEFENDING EUROPE: ‘GLOBAL BRITAIN’ and the FUTURE of EUROPEAN GEOPOLITICS HAMAS’S HUMAN SHIELD STRATEGY in GAZA CENTRE for NEW MIDDLE EAST.” https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/HJS-Hamass-Human-Shield-Strategy-in-Gaza-Report-WEB.pdf.

[12] “How Is the IDF Minimizing Harm to Civilians in Gaza?” 2023. Www.idf.il. 2023. https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/the-hamas-terrorist-organization/how-is-the-idf-minimizing-harm-to-civilians-in-gaza/.

[13] “What You Need to Know about Israel’s Humanitarian Aid to Gaza | AJC.” 2024. Www.ajc.org. March 14, 2024. https://www.ajc.org/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-israels-humanitarian-aid-to-gaza.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Stephens, Bret. 2025. “No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza.” The New York Times. The New York Times. July 22, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/opinion/no-israel-is-notcommitting-%20genocide-in-gaza.html.

[16] Mandel, Seth. 2025. “Why the Truth Matters.” Commentary Magazine. commentary.org. July 28, 2025. https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/why-the-truth-matters/.

[17] Anti-Defamation League. 2024. “Over 10,000 Antisemitic Incidents Recorded in the U.S. Since Oct. 7, 2023, according to ADL Preliminary Data.” Adl.org. October 6, 2024. https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/over-10000-antisemitic-incidents-recorded-us-oct-7-2023-according-adl.

[18] “It’s Literally Genocide! Israel’s war on Gaza.” by Alisdare Hickson, CC BY-SA 2.0

Author: Chosen People Ministries Staff

Chosen People Ministries exists to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and serve Jewish people and help fellow believers to do the same. For over 130 years, Chosen People Ministries has proclaimed the gospel among Jewish people all around the world and trained fellow believers to reach their Jewish friends, family, and neighbors. Today, Chosen People Ministries serves in 20 countries and has over 130 missionaries on our team. As part of our mission, we work to advocate on behalf of the Jewish people, support Israel, and counter antisemitism.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is genocide?

The United Nations legally defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” The term “genocide” was first coined during World War II to describe the Nazi crimes of the Holocaust.

To learn more, see:

If Israel is not committing genocide, why do so many mainstream news sources say they are?

The reason that so many news outlets report that Israel is committing genocide is because Hamas—a terrorist group—works hard at falsifying information then publicizing it to benefit their side of the war. The Gaza Health Ministry is, thus far, the only authority from inside Gaza who is reporting on the death count during the war and is the source many media outlets use for this information. Unfortunately, the Gaza Health Ministry is run and controlled by Hamas; not only do they not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, but they also have a history of putting out false and conflicting information based on what Hamas wants the world to think. This information often conflicts even with other Hamas-run Gaza sources.

To learn more, see:

What about all the news stories about the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killing Gazans who are seeking aid?

Israel and the IDF are currently investigating the claims about IDF soldiers shooting at civilians trying to receive aid, since there are many conflicting sources on the topic. While there have been incidents of violence near Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) aid distribution sites, evidence suggests that these incidents are due to Hamas inciting violence. There is also credible evidence of Hamas workers agitating crowds of civilians seeking aid from within, as well as killing both Palestinian and American aid workers. Hamas has put bounties on the heads of GHF workers, offering a cash reward to those who kill them.

To learn more, see:

As Christians, is there anything we can do to help Palestinian civilians?

We can pray for the Palestinian civilians and all others affected by the war, that they would be freed from the oppressive rule of Hamas, that innocent lives would be spared from violence and hunger, that aid would continue to reach them, and that Israel will defeat Hamas and rescue all the remaining hostages. As Christians, we can also raise awareness of what is really happening in Gaza and counter misinformation with truth. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to donate aid or funds to organizations that try to help the people of Gaza due to the risk of said aid being stolen by Hamas and used for their own means. We pray that opportunities would open for believers to help the people of Gaza that do not run the risk of ending up in the hands of Hamas.

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