Today marks three years of the Gaza war that began after Hamas's October 2023 attack.
Over 74,000 Palestinians were killed amid mass destruction and blockade.
UN panels and international courts allege Israeli genocidal acts.
Three long years have passed in Gaza since Israel launched a genocidal war following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. For the people living in the Gaza Strip, it has been a never-ending nightmare.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked inside the territory of Israel, which resulted in the killing of approximately 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 hostages. In response, Israel launched an attack on the Gaza Strip, claiming it was fighting Hamas.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health has reported that more than 74,245 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks by the Israeli forces. Over 20,000 Palestinian children were killed during the Israeli attacks, and more than 44,000 were injured.
The lives of around 2 million people in Gaza have been affected by the Israeli war. The United Nations (UN) stated that by September 2026, around 94% of Gaza’s population were in urgent need of shelter and basic household assistance.
A UN report said that starvation imposed by Israel through blockade and siege has resulted in the death of Palestinian children and severely impacted the health of others.
The killings have not stopped even after the ‘ceasefire’ that was announced in October 2025. The Ministry of Health said that 1,462 Palestinians have been killed since the “ceasefire” was announced. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that even after the so-called 'ceasefire' between Israel and Hamas, on average, one child is being killed daily.
However, leaders from Israel have rejected the allegations of atrocities and genocide time and again. Israel has maintained that its military's operations in Gaza have been conducted in self-defence.
According to Israel, they have carried out operations to defeat Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and to secure the release of Israeli hostages.
International Law on Israel’s Conduct in Gaza
International humanitarian law is governed primarily by the Geneva Conventions, especially during a war. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which was adopted in 1949, calls for the overall protection of people who do not take part in any hostilities – be it children, patients, or healthy adult men.
Various articles of the Geneva Convention address the issue of civilian casualties. Article 14 of the Convention says that hospitals and safety zones must be established for the injured, sick, and pregnant women. Article 18 of the Convention states that civilian hospitals and their staff must be protected.
According to WHO, Israel has carried out 464 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza. The attacks have resulted in the death of 727 health care workers, injury of 933 health care workers, and damage to 113 ambulances as of June 2024.
On 13 March 2025, a United Nations investigation concluded that Israel has committed genocidal acts in Gaza by systematically destroying its reproductive healthcare facilities
Article 54 of Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions prohibits starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. It also prohibits the destruction of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, and livestock, etc.
Article 48 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions says explicitly that parties engaged in conflict must separate fighters from civilians, and military equipment or locations from civilian property. Israel has been accused of killing Humanitarian workers, journalists, and doctors in Gaza.
International Committees On Israeli Action In Gaza
The actions of Israel in Gaza have been labelled as ‘genocide’ by a special fact-finding committee of the United Nations. Several prominent human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) have also labelled Israeli actions as genocide.
A report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, chaired by Justice Srinivasan Muralidhar, found that Israel has deliberately targeted and killed children.
Muralidhar said, “The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces.”
A UN report alleges that Israeli authorities and security forces have "deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children."
It also found that the killings continued even after last October's ceasefire in Gaza. The UN reports also allege that Israeli security forces have used sexual violence against children as part of the collective shaming and oppression.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that the Israeli military is in control of around 70 percent of Gaza. This means more than two million Palestinians concentrated in less than 30% of the Strip.
South Africa has initiated proceedings against Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention. It has accused Israel of committing and failing to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2024 issued two arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on accusations of using starvation as a weapon of war and deliberately attacking civilians in Gaza.
