Israeli NGOs have started referring to Gaza as a 'genocide' — will it matter?

After nearly two years of horrific violence that has paralyzed the Middle East and captivated the world, two Israel-based human rights organizations have publicly condemned their government for committing what they deemed "genocide" against Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. By invoking the charged term, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel have not only reopened an acrimonious global debate over Israel's wartime conduct but raised the prospect that Israeli civil society may have reached a tipping point over the conflict. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist governing coalition struggles to maintain control amid increasing global isolation, are these domestic allegations of genocide a sign that Israel's support for its war in Gaza is weakening?

What did the commentators say?

The conclusions of human-rights focused B'Tselem in its "Our Genocide" report and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel in its "A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide" position paper have added fuel to a "passionately fought international debate" over whether Israel's conduct in Gaza has "crossed a moral red line," said The New York Times. The joint reports are "another milestone in the human rights community's efforts" to hold Israeli officials accountable for their "crimes against Palestinians," said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard in a statement.

"Nothing prepares you" for the realization that "you are part of a society committing genocide," said B'Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak in a statement accompanying the report. "This is a deeply painful moment for us." While Israel's right-wing government has "angrily rejected" allegations of genocide, their "remonstrations" have not "deterred Israel's fiercest critics from using the word," said The Washington Post.

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The latest allegations come as "pressure mounts" on Israel over the "catastrophic situation in Gaza," CNN said. At the same time, Netanyahu is "under pressure from all sides domestically," with anti-war protests "growing in strength and frequency" and right-wing ministers "threatening to collapse the government" if he ends the violence in Gaza.

Despite being considered on the "political fringe" domestically, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel are "prominent and respected internationally," and their conclusion "shatters a taboo in a society that has been reticent to criticize" its handling of Gaza, said NPR. As one of Israel's "most prominent human rights organizations," B'Tselem's use of the term "genocide" is "bound to draw criticism of the group in Israeli society," Al Jazeera said. Many Israeli critics of the Gaza war have already faced "brutal denunciations from their compatriots."

What next?

While the groups' reports are focused primarily on conduct in the Gaza Strip, both organizations are keenly aware that their allegations of genocide may not be so geographically limited in the future. The authors of B'Tselem's assessment "link" their allegations of genocide in Gaza to the "rise in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and even within Israel," said Haaretz, "expressing deep concern that the genocide could spread to other areas where Palestinians live."

After publishing their findings, both groups say they expect pushback from across Israeli society. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel has been "under pressure for months" and expects "stronger backlash" now that it has released its report, Reuters said. "We've looked into all of the risks that we could be facing," said B'Tselem International Director Sarit Michaeli to the outlet. "These are legal, reputation, media risks, other types of risk, societal risks and we've done work to try and mitigate these risks." Still, with international pressure mounting and domestic opposition to the war finding traction, it wouldn't be unreasonable "to expect this issue, which is so fraught and so deeply contentious within Israeli society and internationally, to lead to an even greater reaction."