A Pause in Killing Is Not an End to Genocide: Justice Is the Only Path to Peace

 

Statement of the Hind Rajab Foundation – Brussels, 9 October 2025

The Hind Rajab Foundation welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire agreement as a hopeful and necessary pause in the ongoing mass killing in the Gaza Strip. Any cessation of active hostilities that spares civilian lives is to be welcomed. However, it must be stated unequivocally that the genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza has not ended. The mere suspension of military operations does not terminate a genocidal process that is both material and structural in nature.

Under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide is defined not only as killing members of a group, but also as causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. The current situation in Gaza continues to satisfy several of these elements.

The total blockade imposed on the population remains in effect, with continued restrictions on fuel, food, water, medical supplies, and humanitarian relief. The deliberate creation of conditions that render civilian life unsustainable falls squarely within Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention: “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction.” Reports from United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations indicate that acute malnutrition, disease, and lack of access to healthcare are widespread and worsening. Such deprivation, imposed collectively and intentionally, constitutes an ongoing genocidal act.

Moreover, the extensive and systematic destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure—homes, hospitals, schools, water and energy systems—has rendered large parts of the territory uninhabitable. Over 1.8 million people remain displaced without access to adequate shelter or basic services. Reconstruction is rendered impossible under blockade. The annihilation of the conditions necessary for civilian survival, coupled with statements of intent from senior Israeli officials expressing the objective of eliminating Gaza or its inhabitants, demonstrates the continuation of genocidal conduct and intent, as defined under Article II of the Convention and affirmed by international jurisprudence.  (more...)

A Pause in Killing Is Not an End to Genocide: Justice Is the Only Path to Peace