Anatomy of Genocide in Gaza

Announced by the University of Pittsburgh

By the time that the UN report “Anatomy of Genocide in Gaza” was published – after five months of military operations – Israel had destroyed Gaza. Over 30,000 Palestinians had been killed, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 more were presumed dead and 71,000 injured, many with life-changing mutilations. Seventy percent of residential areas were also destroyed. Eighty percent of the whole population was forcibly displaced. Now, one year since Israel’s onslaught began, with strong U.S. support, the devastation in Gaza has significantly expanded, confirming Masha Gessen’s haunting prediction that the “Gaza ghetto is being liquidated.”

In her report, through analyzing patterns of violence, officials’ statements, and Israeli government policies in Gaza, Francesca Albanese concludes there are reasonable grounds to believe the State of Israel is guilty of the crime of genocide. One of her key findings is that Israel’s executive and military leadership have intentionally distorted jus in bello principles, subverting their protective functions, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.