A new study debunks the allegations of Israel committing a genocide in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre. The study claims how the narrative of induced-starvation, indiscriminate bombing, and intentional attacks on civilians of Gaza lacks substantial evidence.
The report has been prepared by researchers at the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, and is called, ‘Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War (2023-2025)’. The study suggests that the genocide narrative has at play, faulty data, uncritical sourcing, and a humanitarian system vulnerable to manipulation.
Touching upon a key element of the genocide narrative, which is that Israel deliberately starved the population of Gaza, the study reveals how the claims of starvation prior to March 2, 2025 were based on inaccurate data, circular citations, and lacked critical review of data sources.
While UN officials and rights groups maintained that 500 trucks a day were needed to prevent famine, prewar UN figures show Gaza averaged 292 daily in 2022, only 73 of them carrying food.
The study maintained that Israel regularly surpassed the required food supply in Gaza during the war, the average being 100 trucks a day during March 2025, and during a ceasefire-for-hostage deal, the number of trucks hiked to about 600 daily.
The report claims how an ‘inverted funnel of information’ was at play through which the genocide allegations against Israel spread across. It was on Hamas-linked translators and fixers that journalists and workers in Gaza often depended for information and data, which in turn moved to UN reports, mainstream media, and online platforms.
Therefore, while innumerable reports of alleged ‘war crimes’ by Israel made it to the mainstream media platforms and met the eye of an average viewer, it is noteworthy how the information in the reports came from sources affiliated with Hamas itself.
About another claim stating how Israel attacked civilians intentionally, the report acknowledges civilian deaths but highlights how there is no evidence of any systematic policy of massacre. It is to be noted how between May 2024 and January 2025, 550 people were killed in the designated safe zones in Gaza, but that is merely 2.1 to 3.5 percent of the total casualties, while half of Gaza’s population was living there for much of the said period.
The report says how these numbers show that these zones were relatively safe, and it was Hamas that used these spaces to launch their rockets. It was Hamas that deliberately positioned itself in civilian areas, used civilians as human shields, and blocked rescue operations to increase civilian death toll and paint the picture of Israel being the ‘criminal state’ for the word to believe in.
Further, while Israel has been accused of ‘indiscriminate bombing’, the report explains how strikes generally targeted military objectives, though civilian casualties were imminent. The IDF issued focused warnings, delivered large-scale aid into enemy territory, and sacrificed surprise to protect the civilians, and became the first army to do so.
The Gaza Health Ministry, itself run by Hamas, issued the casualty numbers that were manipulated to create the false impression of a much larger number of deaths.
The study reveals how Gaza did not have any typical markers of genocidal warfare unleashed. There were no campaigns of rape, frontal massacres, or close-range executions. In other such conflicts in the Middle East itself, innumerable such factors could be seen active within a few hours of fighting.
Therefore, the study concludes how the allegations of genocide on Israel are based on intentionally set political narratives, selective and manipulated data, and the exploitation of humanitarian discourse. Hence, it would be absurd to analyse the devastation and civilian deaths in Gaza without keeping in mind the tactics of Hamas.
