Gaza's Population Has Increased Since the War Began: Genocide versus Terrorist Cleansing
Israel has been repeatedly accused of committing "genocide" against the people of Gaza. However, four months ago, it was estimated that some 50,000 babies were born in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 war began nine months earlier. The number has since increased. This suggests that Gaza now has more people than it did before the war. What does this mean for the accusations leveled against Israel, relating to the Israeli military committing genocide?
Defining Genocide
Genocide is widely construed as a deliberate and systematic destruction of a distinct group of people based on their origins - nationality, religion, ethnicity, or race.
An implied definition refers to genocide as "acts" committed with the intention of "destroying" in "whole or in part", an ethnic, national, religious, or racial group.
The October 7 War & The Gazan Birth Rate
Those who accuse Israel assert that Israel is deliberately attacking and killing the Palestinian people. This is a broad accusation. There are several Palestinian territories, and Gaza is one of them. Thus, by engaging in war in Gaza, these accusers imply that Israel is attempting to destroy the Gazan population.
However, judging by the birthrate of the Gaza Strip, it is clear that the number of births exceeds the population replacement rate even during this period of war. This shows that the destruction of the Gazan population is not imminent. And even if this was a deliberate act of wiping out the people of Gaza, the number of live births renders it unattainable.
Systematic Destruction & Mass Killing
On the one hand, genocide involves a process where an identifiable people are separated and executed on a large scale. And this could involve an attempt directed at a "whole" or a "part" of the targeted population.
Obviously, there has been mass killing in Gaza since the war began. People who allege genocide in Israel's operations in Gaza claim they are targeting Gazans in general and/or young men of military fighting age in the Strip. That is because they are likely to be recruited and used in Hamas' wars.
Is this sufficient to hold Israel accountable for genocide?
Israel's Position - Counteraccusation of Hamas
Israel has stated that they do not seek to kill all the people of Gaza. They have shown that if that was the goal, they have the military capability to do so in a few days. While this might sound annoying and provocative, it shows objectively that Israel has a formal policy and mechanism of exercising restraint on its use of military power.
Then, they cite October 7, which was an act of mass murder that renders Hamas and the Gazan militias accountable for their crimes against humanity.
While the proportions might vary greatly, Israel shows irrefutably that Hamas fighters moved through Israel on October 7, 2023, to shoot anyone on sight. They killed, tortured, and kidnapped everyone - including Muslims on Israeli soil.
That is sufficient evidence of Hamas' genocidal intent and desire to cleanse Israel ethnically.
Through this, Israel establishes the fact that Hamas is rather an entity that seeks to commit genocide.
Necessity & Terrorist Cleansing
Israel goes further to indicate that they are in Gaza to cleanse the Strip of its terrorists.
In this sense, Hamas and its militia network are cast as the problem.
As de facto ruler of Gaza, Hamas made deep-rooted policies that made it impossible for Gazans (especially young men) to stay without serving in the militia. This came with direct and indirect policies that forced almost every young man to join the Gazan militias in some way or form. There were training camps for young Gazan boys who were prepared to join the militias in their teenage years.
Above that is Hamas' indiscriminate use of military force against the people of Gaza. Anyone could be accused of being a collaborator. Such persons were killed in some of the most gruesome forms of torture. Worse than that, their family endured humiliations they could never erase in the community.
Thus, it was unthinkable to refrain from serving in the Gazan militia. Apart from being excluded, one could be cast as weak and inferior in Gaza if he was male and out of the militias.
After October 7, Israel, as the state actor, was empowered under customary international law to go after the terrorists and ensure security. In effect, the attacks of October 7 allowed Israel to invoke the principle of necessity in the decision to go to war against Hamas in Gaza.
Thus, it is a conflict between a powerful militia embedded in a population and a sovereign state. Such wars are bound to be bloody and intense. However, it must be waged to its very end to remove Hamas as a ruling and militant entity in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza's unique geographical layout renders it one of the most densely populated areas in the world. As such, the collateral damage was bound to be intense in an attempt to destroy such an entrenched militia in a place like Gaza. However, necessity in the given circumstances rendered the military operation obligatory to Israel. This can be construed as "terrorist cleansing" - a move to eliminate all militants in Gaza.
Genocide & Armed Gazan Males Aged 15 to 49
It is difficult to categorize military actions aimed at executing armed men as "genocide".
It is also tempting to label the resultant killing of Gazan civilians as "ethnic cleansing". Israel calls that "collateral damage".
Israel goes further to blame Hamas for causing the "collateral damage" that leads to civilian deaths in Gaza.
Perhaps a more significant challenge in placing any of these labels of genocide and ethnic cleansing on Israel is the fact that Israel has given Hamas options. Israel has asked Hamas and Gaza's militias to surrender and return hostages.
In all legal systems, when a competent arm of a state gives a person or group conditions, and they fail to comply, the state has the power to use necessary force to end the relevant hostile situation.
Thus, in the battle of wills between Israel and Hamas as the de facto ruler of Hamas, Israel has the upper hand in the legitimate use of force. And the war will have to go on till one party is defeated. In this case, Israel has the military capability to do so. This is the reason all other states that armed, supported, and encouraged Hamas cannot intervene.
Conclusion
Gaza's birth rate is high enough to keep the population of Gaza growing in the face of this gruesome and devastating war. While the war has caused a lot of suffering to the civilians of Gaza, it is not correct to accuse Israel of genocide or ethnic cleansing. Balancing the principle of necessity and the targeting of armed militants, Israel has gone to great lengths to prevent the systematic destruction of a people based on an applicable demographic indicator. As Israel has stated from the beginning, they are out to destroy Hamas and Gaza's militias that seek to destroy Israel. This means Israel's military actions are directed at Gazan men aged 15 to 49. While the identifiable group Israel is targeting includes young Gazan children indoctrinated into fighting units - some as young as 13, their use of military firepower makes them legitimate targets under laws of armed conflicts.
Furthermore, it might have been possible to accuse Israel of altering the demographics of Palestinians in Gaza since the active male population is likely to diminish after this war. However, Israel has given the Gazan militias conditions that they refuse to adhere to. That means it is the voluntary choice of Hamas and other militias in Gaza to engage in armed combat with Israel. This absolves Israel of accusations of genocide. Instead, Israel's claim of "terrorist cleansing" wins the battle of legal definitions in this lawfare.