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Answering the Genocide Charges: The World Is Not Listening

Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid make their way to the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, May 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The mainstreaming of the propaganda that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza is seemingly everywhere on the political, media, and academic spectra. The loud chorus of pro-Hamas demonstrators, who began this circus of hatred, have friends in high places.
Hardly a day passes without the charge of genocide against Israel being leveled by this foreign minister or that UN official, by media pundits and “strategic affairs experts,” or by a range of professors on hundreds of campuses. Now, even the Pope is suggesting that genocide charges should be “carefully investigated.” South Africa is doing the bidding of Hamas and its friends and supporters by bringing the charge to the International Court of Justice.
Beyond the mindless chatter of fellow travelers of the Palestinian narrative, the intention of Hamas and its Iranian handlers is clear: be loud and consistent enough to flip the switch on Israel by making it the victimizer, and not the Oct. 7 victim. Say it enough times and the general public, students at universities, leftist organizations of all stripes, and others will join the ranks — all the better to conceal the actual genocidal intentions of Hamas, the terrorist organization backed by Tehran.
Earlier this month, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported on a powerful response to the blood libelers: in one week, 231 Gazans were evacuated to Israel’s Ramon International Airport, near Eilat, to board flights to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment.
Among the evacuees were children and adults with chronic diseases. Several countries are now involved in this program.
The easiest, and most logical response to the genocide charge is to state what should be obvious: if Israel were seeking to commit genocide, it would have deployed its Air Force to do so. My guess is that in two or three days, that goal would have been accomplished. But Israel has not committed genocide, nor does it intend to. Israel does not commit genocide.
And “intent” is the key word, which is included in the UN’s own definition of genocide. There is no wish to destroy, or to use another frequently used charge, “ethnically cleanse,” Gaza or the West Bank. The objective is to eliminate Hamas as the actual genocidal enemy it is. Hamas’ venal war objective is to cause as many Palestinian civilian casualties as possible by using its own people as human shields. Many are surely there under the penalty of death by Hamas itself.
Raphael Lemkin, an international lawyer specializing in human rights, coined the term “genocide.” He was born in Poland and lucky enough to make it to the United States before the Holocaust. Lemkin lost 49 family members in the Holocaust. He labored for years to bring about an international convention on genocide, knocking on doors and lobbying incessantly to have the UN adopt such a document.
Journalist Ira Stoll, writing in The Algemeiner, broke a vitally important story last week on how an anti-Israel group, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, has appropriated the name and is now, among other things, calling for the indictment of Israel’s prime minister “for the crime of genocide” and “expressions of genocidal intent.”
Stoll interviewed members of Lemkin’s family, who are outraged over the institute’s charges against the Jewish State, and the cynical misuse of Lemkin’s name to achieve its objectives.
Beyond that, the basic answers to the genocide charge remain the same: the Israel Defense Forces’ use of text messages, e-mails, personal phone calls, leafleting, and the “knock on the roof” explosives to warn civilians to leave a building or neighborhood, in advance of military action is, according to a report issued after Oct. 7 by the Lieber Institute at West Point, “the gold standard” of warnings practice.
The report states: “…as a matter of policy, the IDF typically exceeds what the law requires.”
The Lieber Institute report echoes what West Point’s Chair of Urban Warfare Studies, John Spencer, has been saying from day one. It was Spencer who early on, called out those who promote inflated and unsubstantiated Gaza (Hamas) Health Ministry figures on civilian casualties in the war in Gaza.
Spencer, acknowledged as perhaps the world’s leading authority on urban warfare, has said from the outset: “Under no definition is Israel committing genocide.” He’s further stated, “…there is no targeting of civilians.” Indeed, the West Point expert, now lecturing on the topic in the public sphere, titles his talks: “The Myth of Genocide in Gaza.”
No doubt, the IDF’s exemplary efforts to warn civilians have led to its loss of the element of surprise on many occasions. Last month, I met a former IDF military judge and prosecutor, and we discussed the issue. He has been “in the room” when split-second decisions needed to be made whether or not to carry out a military strike on terrorists, if harm to civilians might be a consequence of military action. He confirmed the “abort” option that is often used when non-combatants might be unintended victims.
Yet, the genocide blood libel persists — and grows. As do its companion charges, that famine, starvation, and thirst among Gazans is widespread. Each time the issue is raised, it seems, Israel needs to bring out the charts and tables to show that hundreds of relief trucks carrying aid are entering Gaza, but that Hamas corruption — and especially, its heavy skimming of goods intended for civilians, often at the point of a gun — invariably winds up diverting the assistance away from the civilian population.
Indeed, many thought this issue had been dealt with months ago on two tracks. The Famine Review Committee (an international organization comprised of nutrition and food experts), after having first suggested that a famine was “imminent” in Gaza, later said that the charge was “not plausible.” And the chief economist of the UN’s World Food Program, Arif Husain, also reversed himself, saying simply that there was no data to support the famine allegation.
So we are left with the facts. Israel and the IDF have borne the brunt of a modern-day blood libel punctuated and trumpeted by diplomats, news analysts, ideologically myopic academics, and social media users, 24/7.
Ferrying your enemy’s sick — in the midst of an existential war — to receive medical attention in friendly countries ought to be commended by peace-loving people everywhere.
It is not, and that is an unforgivable shame.
Daniel S. Mariaschin is the CEO of B’nai B’rith International. As the organization’s top executive officer, Mariaschin directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities and staff around the world.
The post Answering the Genocide Charges: The World Is Not Listening first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.