More experts accuse Israel of genocide

Government denies the allegation and others say that a court will have to decide.

- By MIKE CORDER AND MOLLY QUELL

DISPLACED Palestinians flee the northern Gaza Strip, carrying their belongings along the coastal road near Wadi Gaza on Tuesday.

(ABDEL KAREEM HANA/Associated Press)

A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. 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 accusation is vehemently denied by Israel, which was established in part as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust. Others have rejected it or said only a court can make that determination.

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.

A current offensive in the territory's largest city further raised concern, with some of Israel's European allies condemning it.

But the genocide accusation goes further, raising the question of whether a state forged in the aftermath of the crime is now committing it.

Israeli leaders brand the argument as veiled antisemitism, saying the country abides by international law and urges Gaza’s civilians to evacuate ahead of major military operations. They say Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war was itself a genocidal act.

In that attack, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, around 20 of whom Israel believes are alive.

Israel's ensuing operation has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and led to famine in parts.

Israeli leaders have also expressed support for the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, a move Palestinians and others say would amount to forcible expulsion.