NPR Report Analyzes Genocide Accusations Against Israel in Gaza

On September 25, 2025, NPR reported on the mounting accusations of genocide against Israel for its actions in Gaza, focusing on the legal definition of the term and the high bar for proving intent. The 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention defines genocide as specific acts committed with the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". This issue has become central to legal proceedings, such as the case South Africa brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in late 2023.

wikipedia.org reported, The NPR report also examines why some scholars have changed their minds on the matter. In September 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating that Israel's actions meet the legal definition of genocide. Other experts and Israeli officials strongly deny the accusation, arguing that Israel's actions are in self-defense against Hamas and that the difficulty in legally proving specific intent to destroy a people remains a high threshold. The ICJ issued a preliminary order in January 2024 for Israel to prevent genocidal acts and enable humanitarian aid while it continues its deliberations on the core accusation.