Is Israel committing genocide in Palestine?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is Israel committing genocide in Palestine?". Your opponent's style: Benjamin Netanyahu

Ok so lets go one by one. Firstly u claimed the right of Self defence. Rightly said so. Even i Condemn the October 7th brutal attacks. But that is very hypocritical from the Government who has oppressed and illegally annexed Palestine for decades now. Its wrong to believe that the actions of Israel on Palestine started in 2023 when it actually started way before than the 1960s. And it is also equally astonishing that the same government who funded and gave weapons to Hamas is saying this. Moreover u claimed about Hamas hiding in civilian infrastructure. So how does Israel justify headshots into kids going to take aid, how does Israel justify the 300+ bullets it hit on HInd Rajab's car? wht is he a hamas terrorist now? How does Israel justify going into UNRWA refugee camps via foot and killing women and children even though they can identify who is a millitant or not? This is just bogus claims made by the Israeli Government. Moreover I can prove to u that the intent for Palestine is something genocidal coming from their own ministers . Benjamin Netanyahu justified his actions in Palestine by recognizing sm bs biblical quote about the "Amaleks". Itamar Ben Gvir held phosters of Terrorists who killed innocent palestinians in his office and also vowed to make a "Concentration Camp" for detained Palestinians with crocodiles around it so that if they want to leave and run, they get eaten by the Crocodiles. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minsiter said that " the whole village of Huwara should be wipped of". Israel Katz, the defence minister said that the only solution to Gaza is to depopulate the whole of Gaza. These are genocidal claims by a phony apartheid government

You're conflating historical grievance with current intent, which lets you avoid the hard question: does Israel intend to destroy Palestinians as a group, or does it intend to destroy Hamas? Those aren't the same. Ministers saying inflammatory things doesn't prove genocide any more than Fatah calling for Israeli destruction proves Palestinian intent to commit genocide. You're treating rhetoric as policy. Show me the actual demographic data proving Palestinians are being systematically eliminated as a population. Without that, you're arguing about rhetoric, not genocide.

Oh u want demographics. Ok then, what about Israel on foot missions killing more civilians than militants including babies and women and children. Israel has killed more than 70,000 ppl in Palestine my friend 70,000. 30% of those killed are children with literal headshots to their heads ( this is not collateral damage ). Israel killed people waving the white surrender flag. Israel killed people while they were getting food from aid. Israel killed women and children in UNRWA camps. Israel literally created mass graves with more than 300 corpses lying. Israel according to Haaretz, literally created kill zones in Gaza where the commanders where told to kill anyone in sight even if they were children, women or unarmed people. According to the Associated Press, Israel has literally killed entire generations of some families. If we compare this to the Rwandan Genocide, the civilian casualty rate in Gaza is far more than that of Rwanda with an unprecendeted level of 83% civilian deaths. IDF soliders were literally asked to shoot at t=crowds collecting aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation which killled 1000 civilians. Israel has killed journalists, americans etc. You are tlling me that ministers saying stuff doesnt prove genocide - buddy, Israel katz the defence minister said that gaza needs to be depopulated, he literally is responsible for ewhat the IDF does and so is Itamar Ben gvir who literally called for concentration camps with crocodiles to eat palestinians

You're stacking casualty numbers on top of intent as if volume alone proves genocide. Genocide requires *purposeful intent to destroy a group*. High civilian deaths in warfare, even horrifically high ones, don't equal genocide without that intent. Rwanda killed 800,000 in 100 days *specifically to eliminate Tutsis as a group*. Gaza's deaths span months with stated military objectives against Hamas. One minister's "depopulation" comment isn't policy. Show me: an actual order from Israeli command to kill Palestinians *because they're Palestinian*, not operational directives against militants. Rhetoric plus casualties doesn't prove intent.

"kill as many people as possible": Dozens of IDF veterans from the group Breaking the Silence testified they were briefed to shoot to kill unarmed civilians, including children. One soldier described the order: "every person you see on the street, `kill him.' And we would just do it." In Gaza in May 2004, "the commanders said kill as many people as possible," with standing orders to shoot anyone on a roof or balcony — which is how two children, aged 16 and 13, collecting washing on their roof were shot dead with single bullets to the head. "Everyone's a terrorist": A Haaretz investigation published 18 December 2024, based on interviews with IDF soldiers, officers, and commanders, reported that anyone crossing an unmarked line in the Netzarim Corridor was shot dead, with every Palestinian casualty counted as a "terrorist" — even children. A soldier quoted a battalion commander: "Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist — no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone's a terrorist." A commander in the 252nd Division said: "The division commander designated this area as a 'kill zone.' Anyone who enters is shot. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, 9 Oct 2023: "We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly," announcing a complete siege with no electricity, food, water, or fuel.

You just quoted soldiers describing *past operations* from 2004 and current combat zones, not a genocidal blueprint. "Kill zone" in active conflict where Hamas operates isn't genocide—it's counterinsurgency doctrine, brutal as it is. You're treating combat orders as proof of genocide when the intent is eliminating a militant organization in territory it controls, not erasing Palestinians as a people. If Israel wanted genocide, why 2 million Palestinians still live in Israel proper with citizenship? Counter that contradiction without pivoting to rhetoric.

so lets just say ur the IDF soldier and ur ordered to kill anyone in that kill zone. So its justified for u to shoot a 3rd old baby passing through it? just say yes or a no

No, it's not justified. But that's a war crime under the laws of armed conflict, not genocide. Genocide requires intent to destroy a group. A commander's unlawful kill order targeting a location isn't proof of intent to eliminate Palestinians as a people. You're conflating two different crimes. Which do you actually want to prove?

buddy the ministers who are responsible for the government and the army's actions are saying to wipe gaza of the face o fearth and kill everyone, it is literally the intent of the israeli ministers and the government as a whole

Ministers say inflammatory garbage constantly; that's not operational intent. Show me a written directive from the Defense Ministry ordering the elimination of Palestinians *as Palestinians*, not Hamas fighters. Katz and Ben Gvir don't control field operations—military command does. If your whole case rests on quotes instead of actual policy documents, you've already lost. Where's the smoking gun order?

The ICTY/ICTR established that genocidal intent is proven through inference from a pattern of conduct — scale, systematicity, targeting of a group as such — plus statements. Nobody produced a written extermination order for Srebrenica either; the Krstić conviction rested on the pattern of mass executions plus circumstantial evidence of intent. So "no memo" doesn't legally settle anything either way.

Fair point on the legal standard—pattern plus statements can establish intent. But you're still conflating the *scale of harm* with *intent toward a group*. Srebrenica targeted Bosniak Muslims explicitly to ethnically cleanse territory. Israel's stated target is Hamas, not Palestinians as a group. Your pattern shows mass civilian death, not systematic targeting *because they're Palestinian*. The IDF accepts Palestinian soldiers, permits Palestinian citizens, and doesn't target Palestinians in the West Bank at this scale. That inconsistency breaks your genocide argument. What explains why Israel treats Palestinians differently depending on location?