Australia and the World Past and Present

In August the International Association of Genocide Scholars issued a resolution on the situation in Gaza.

They began by saying that the October 7 Hamas attack “itself constitutes international crimes”.

However, the rest of the document deals with Israel’s actions in Gaza.

IAGS accused the Israeli government of sexual and reproductive violence.

It says that there have been deliberate attacks on medical personnel, humanitarian aid workers and journalists.

IAGS says that the deprivation of food has been deliberate.

It claims that Israel has “demolished more than 90 percent of the housing infrastructure in the territory”.

The organisation argues that Israel has destroyed institutions that are key to maintaining Palestinian identity. Among these are schools and archives.

IAGS notes the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in November 2024 for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

The scholarly institution believes that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).”

It calls on Israel to follow the Provisional Measures already outlined by the International Court of Justice and on other states to surrender any individual subject to a warrant in their jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court.

It also calls for a process of “transitional justice”. This is perhaps the vaguest part of the resolution. It is unclear exactly what it means by the term and it is not spelt out in detail.

How influential will the IAGS resolution be?

It is a resolution from a scholarly association. It carries some weight. Members are specialist in the field of genocide studies and they dedicate their careers to the discipline.

The resolution adds weight to the slew of reports that accumulating and dealing with Gaza. Only one month later, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry brought out its latest report also stating that the Israeli government has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The IAGS report will be less influential than the UN Commission Inquiry report. Nevertheless, it will carry some weight.