Washington, DC – Two years into the war on Gaza, legal scholars have emphasised the importance of labelling the mass atrocities Israel is committing against Palestinians as a genocide due to the legal and political implications of the determination.Additionally, experts stressed that it is the most accurate description of the Israeli campaign, and even some of Israel’s staunchest supporters acknowledged that the country has committed war crimes in Gaza.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listBut experts said Israel’s brutal assault is more than individual violations of the laws of war; it represents a push to destroy the Palestinians and must be described as what it is – a genocide.Former United Nations official Craig Mokhaiber said genocide involves the violation of core rights that apply without exception; it also invokes an international responsibility to stop it.“The obligations apply to all states,” Mokhaiber told Al Jazeera. “All states in the world are obliged to use whatever means they have in order to put an end to the genocide and to punish the perpetrators of the genocide and to prevent the genocide in the first instance.”He noted that the formal name of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention is the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.Adopted by 153 countries – including the United States, all Western powers and Israel – the convention is the ultimate international law on genocide.“The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish,” it reads.Susan Akram, director of Boston University’s Internation …
