US Senator Bernie Sanders calls Israel's war on Gaza a genocide

Almost two years after Israel’s war on Gaza began, progressive Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that Israel is guilty of committing genocide against the Palestinians.

Sanders' acknowledgement came after the United Nations (UN) released a report on Tuesday saying that Israel was committing a genocide in the besieged enclave, where over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed.

In an opinion article on his website, Sanders, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, wrote that he agreed with the UN and the assessments of other human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

“The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

“Israeli leaders have made their intent clear,” he added, quoting statements from Israeli politicians and lawmakers.

Progressives who have championed Sanders over the years have criticised the senator from Vermont for refusing to use the term "genocide" before the UN's declaration.

Sanders had avoided using the term despite its widespread use by numerous human rights experts and scholars. In interviews, he had previously said that he refused to be drawn into definitions, opting to describe the atrocities Israel is committing against the Palestinians as “ethnic cleansing” and “war crimes”.

In his article, Sanders wrote: “Genocide is defined as actions taken with the 'intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group'. The actions include killing members of the group or 'deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part'. The legal question hinges on intent."

While some supporters breathed a sigh of relief at his admission, others said it was a little too late and he lacked a nuanced understanding that Israel’s war on Gaza did not begin on 7 October 2023, but decades before, with no mention of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

“Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with its brutal attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages. Israel, as any other country, had a right to defend itself from Hamas,” Sanders wrote.

“But, over the last two years, Israel has not simply defended itself against Hamas. Instead, it has waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.”

Track record

Sanders has spoken out about Trump’s proposal to "clean out" Gaza and forcibly relocate Palestinians living there to neighbouring countries. Sanders said in a post on X in January, “There is a name for this - ethnic cleansing - and it’s a war crime”.

Sanders has also been a vocal advocate against the US selling weapons to Israel and has repeatedly forced votes to block military aid to Israel.

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Representative Rebecca Balint of Vermont became the first Jewish member of Congress to use the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Balint said, "I believe the Israeli government is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people,” in an opinion article in the Courier Newsroom.

Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all called Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide.

Sanders also added that while people might disagree on definitions, he said it was important that the US ends its “complicity”.

“I recognize that many people may disagree with this conclusion,” he wrote. “The truth is, whether you call it genocide or ethnic cleansing or mass atrocities or war crimes, the path forward is clear. We, as Americans, must end our complicity in the slaughter of the Palestinian people”.

He urged Americans to “use every ounce of our leverage” to demand an immediate ceasefire, a huge increase in humanitarian aid facilitated by the UN, and investing in efforts to provide Palestinians with their own state.

“The starvation of children cannot be tolerated, he added. “The flattening of cities must not become the norm. Collective punishment is beyond the pale. The very term genocide is a reminder of what can happen if we fail”

He warned against the rise of barbarism worldwide and that stopping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his “fellow war criminals” was critical to preventing genocide from happening again.