What Is Happening in Gaza Is Not a War. It Is Eradication.
- Kal Inois
- May 22
- 10 min read
A Plain-Language Guide to the Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Annihilation of the Palestinian People — and What You Can Do About It
If you are reading this and you do not know much about what is happening in Gaza, that is not your fault. The story is massive, it is complicated, and the people most responsible for what is happening have every reason to make sure it stays confusing. This article is for you. Here we will explain, clearly and without flinching, what is actually happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza, what the documented evidence shows, what the world's top legal bodies have concluded, and what you, as an American citizen, can do right now to fight back.
This is not a debate about "both sides." The evidence is overwhelming, it is sourced, and it is devastating.
Section 1: Understanding the Three Terms
These three words are often used interchangeably, but they each describe something specific. And in Gaza, all three are happening simultaneously.
Genocide is a legal term defined by the United Nations 1948 Genocide Convention. It means acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The acts themselves — mass killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group physically — are not enough on their own. The law requires proof of intent. In Gaza, that intent is now documented not only by the pattern of destruction, but by the words of Israeli officials themselves. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Palestinians "human animals." Cabinet ministers called openly for Gaza to be "wiped out." These statements are part of the official record before the International Court of Justice.
Ethnic cleansing means the removal of an ethnic or national group from a territory through force, terror, starvation, or coercion. You do not have to kill everyone to ethnically cleanse a population. You can bomb their homes, destroy their hospitals, block their food and water, and make it impossible for human life to continue in a place. The United Nations Human Rights Office formally found that Israel's "intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza."
Eradication goes beyond people. It is the destruction of a civilization. The schools, the hospitals, the universities, the libraries, the mosques, the cemeteries, the water systems, the farms. When you destroy all of that, even the people who survive have nothing left to come back to. According to the Board of Peace's own report to the UN Security Council, 85% of Gaza's buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed.
These three things are not competing explanations. They describe three different dimensions of the same campaign. Genocide is the legal intent. Ethnic cleansing is the demographic outcome. Eradication is the civilizational result. All three are happening in Gaza right now.
Section 2: The Scale of Death
The official death count from Gaza's Ministry of Health, as of May 2026, is over 75,000 Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023. That number includes more than 270 journalists, 120 academics, and over 560 humanitarian aid workers. Scholars estimate that 80% of those killed were civilians. Independent peer-reviewed research published in The Lancet estimated the true violent death toll was already over 75,200 by early 2025, and that Ministry of Health figures represent a conservative floor, not an overcount, because the infrastructure needed to document death has itself been destroyed.
Think about what that means. The actual number of dead is higher than the official count, not lower, because Gaza's record-keeping systems have been bombed.
In addition to those killed by bombs and bullets, over 10,000 people have died of starvation, the threshold that classifies a crisis as a "major famine" in international humanitarian law. The World Food Programme and UNICEF confirmed in August 2025 that Gaza is experiencing the first officially declared famine in the Middle East region. As of this writing, 43,400 children under five are at severe risk of death from malnutrition. One in five babies in Gaza is now born prematurely or underweight.
Israel did not stumble into this famine. Al Jazeera's investigative reporting documented that starvation was a "calculated strategy," not a side effect. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food confirmed this met the strict criteria of using starvation as a weapon of war, which is a war crime under international law.
And beyond the dead: UNRWA reports that between October 2023 and April 2026, 172,411 Palestinians have been injured. Many of those injuries are amputations and complex wounds requiring reconstructive surgery. Independent research estimates between 29,000 and 46,000 of those injuries require operations that Gaza's decimated healthcare system cannot perform.
Section 3: Torture
This is the part of the story that receives the least attention in mainstream media, and it may be the most shocking.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, issued a formal report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2026 with this finding: torture has become "state doctrine" in Israel. She wrote that "since the onset of the genocide, the Israeli prison system has degenerated into a laboratory of calculated cruelty." The report documented abuse so severe that it is difficult to read. Detainees have been raped with bottles, metal rods, and knives. They have been starved, had their bones and teeth broken, been burned, been urinated upon by soldiers, and been attacked by dogs. Interrogation sessions last for hours or days, with prisoners held in what detention staff call "disco rooms" where deafening music is blasted continuously to prevent sleep.
Since October 7, 2023, more than 18,500 Palestinians have been detained, including at least 1,500 children. Thousands remain held without charge or trial. Nearly 100 have died in custody. Human Rights Watch confirmed that Israel has denied all independent access to detention facilities, including to the International Committee of the Red Cross, since October 2023.
Al Jazeera published first-person survivor testimony in May 2026. One survivor, Mohammed al-Bakri, described being arrested in March 2024, held blindfolded and handcuffed for months, and then one night stripped naked by Israeli soldiers who unleashed dogs and sexually assaulted him along with other prisoners.
This is not the behavior of an army pursuing a military objective. This is a documented system of organized cruelty. The UN Special Rapporteur's report to the Human Rights Council characterized it plainly: "What once operated in the shadows is now practiced openly: a regime of organised humiliation, pain and degradation, sanctioned at the highest political levels."
Section 4: The American Role
Here is where this becomes a story about us — about American taxpayer money, American weapons, and American officials.
The United States has armed Israel throughout this campaign, providing the bombs used in strikes on hospitals, refugee camps, and residential buildings. The U.S. has repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions, shielding Israel from international accountability. But under the current Trump administration, American involvement has gone even further.
In January 2026, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, acting as an informal envoy, stood at the World Economic Forum in Davos and unveiled a plan called "New Gaza." The slides showed AI-generated images of luxury high-rise towers and beach resorts along Gaza's Mediterranean coast. †rump called Gaza "a great location" and described himself as "a real estate person at heart." The plan designated the entire Gaza coastline for "coastal tourism" with 180 mixed-use towers. It was presented while more than 71,000 Palestinians lay dead and Gaza was reduced to 60 million tons of rubble.
What was not shown in those slides: Kushner's private equity firm, Affinity Partners, has amassed over $6 billion in assets, with 99% of its funding coming from foreign governments, primarily Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund invested $2 billion in Affinity Partners, approved directly by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overruling his own screening committee. In April 2026, Rep. Jamie Raskin opened a formal congressional investigation into Kushner's conflicts of interest. In late 2024, Senator Ron Wyden referred Kushner to the Department of Justice for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Meanwhile, Trump's "Board of Peace," the body ostensibly overseeing reconstruction, has delivered essentially nothing. Its own report to the UN Security Council noted that only roughly 1% of the pledged reconstruction funds have actually materialized. And the Board's lead envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, has been presenting Hamas with a demand that amounts to unconditional surrender, disarm completely before receiving any reconstruction aid, any Israeli withdrawal, or any governance transition, none of which was part of the original ceasefire agreement.
As Drop Site News' investigation documented in detail this week, Palestinian negotiators charge that both †rump and Netanyahu have ripped up the deal that was actually signed, rewritten its terms unilaterally, and used targeted assassinations of Hamas negotiators' family members as leverage during talks. The U.S. government is not a neutral mediator. It is an active partner in the conditions that are killing Gaza.
And when the International Criminal Court moved to hold officials accountable, the †rump regime sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors and is demanding the court drop investigations not only of Netanyahu and Gallant, but of potential U.S. involvement as well. International legal experts have noted that there is "open chatter" in the legal community about eventual prosecutions of Trump administration officials for their role in supporting these crimes.
Section 5: The Legal Record
This is a fact that cannot be overstated: Benjamin Netanyahu is an internationally wanted criminal.
On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court unanimously issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The charges include:
The war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare
Crimes against humanity including murder and persecution
Intentionally directing attacks against civilians
Under the Rome Statute, all 125 ICC member states are legally obligated to arrest Netanyahu if he enters their territory. Countries including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Switzerland have explicitly confirmed they will honor the warrant. Netanyahu's travel is now severely restricted as a result.
The United States is not an ICC member and has actively worked to block enforcement of these warrants, including sanctioning court officials. This is not a neutral position. Blocking an arrest warrant for a man credibly accused of starving children is itself a moral and political choice, and under international law, it may constitute complicity.
Separately, South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice. The court did not dismiss the case. It found it legally plausible and issued provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent genocidal acts. That is a formal judicial threshold: the world's highest court looked at the evidence and said this case must proceed.
Section 6: A Citizen's Action Guide
You are not powerless. The following actions are specific, concrete, and achievable. Every one of them matters.
Contact Your Representatives
Your senators and representatives need to hear from you. Call them. Emails are easy to ignore. Phone calls are not.
Find your senators at senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm and your House representative at house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative.
When you call, demand:
An immediate halt to all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel
U.S. support for ICC enforcement of the Netanyahu arrest warrant
Congressional hearings on Kushner's conflicts of interest
A formal investigation into Trump administration complicity in war crimes
The U.S. Capitol switchboard connects you to any member of Congress: 202-224-3121.
Support Organizations Doing the Legal Work
DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now) has submitted formal ICC communications naming Israeli commanders and calling for investigation of U.S. officials. Donate or follow their work at dawnmena.org.
The Hind Rajab Foundation filed a historic submission to the ICC accusing 1,000 Israeli soldiers of crimes in Gaza. They accept testimony, evidence, and support at hindrajabfoundation.org.
Al-Haq is one of the oldest Palestinian human rights organizations, currently sanctioned by the U.S. government because their documentation work threatens impunity. Support them and amplify their findings at alhaq.org.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both formally characterized what is happening in Gaza as genocide. Subscribe to their alerts, share their reports, donate to their work.
File a Complaint/Communicate Evidence to the ICC
The ICC has a public communications portal. Any person can submit information about alleged crimes: otplink.icc-cpi.int
If you have witnessed, documented, or have access to evidence of war crimes, including soldiers' social media posts, which have been used in formal ICC submissions, you can submit it here or through the Hind Rajab Foundation.
Push for Congressional Accountability on Trump
Contact the House Judiciary Committee Democrats directly to express support for the Raskin investigation into Kushner: democrats-judiciary.house.gov
Contact the Senate Finance Committee to support Senator Wyden's investigation: finance.senate.gov | Phone: 202-224-4515
Demand your representative co-sponsor legislation to repeal the "Hague Invasion Act" (the American Servicemembers' Protection Act), a 2003 law that authorizes the U.S. to use military force to free Americans detained by the ICC, and which effectively shields the president and defense secretary from international prosecution.
Boycott, Divest, Sanction
The BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) calls on consumers and institutions to economically pressure Israel until it complies with international law. Learn which companies to avoid and why at bdsmovement.net.
Show Up
Find local Palestine solidarity actions, vigils, and organizing events through uscpr.org (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights) and jewishvoiceforpeace.org. Both organizations run campaigns specifically targeting U.S. policy and congressional members.
Stay Informed from Independent Sources
The mainstream U.S. media has systematically underreported this story. Follow:
Drop Site News — investigative journalism by Jeremy Scahill and others
The Electronic Intifada — Palestinian-centered reporting
Middle East Eye — independent regional reporting
Al Jazeera English — on-the-ground Gaza coverage
Mondoweiss — U.S.-focused Palestine advocacy journalism
A Final Word
The Palestinian people in Gaza are not abstractions. They are 2.3 million human beings — engineers, teachers, grandmothers, newborns, poets, doctors, children who had names and dreams and futures. Over 75,000 of them are confirmed dead. Tens of thousands more have died of starvation. Nearly 100 have died under torture in Israeli custody. Their hospitals are rubble. Their schools are rubble. Their cemeteries have been bulldozed. And while all of this happens, the man who calls himself a "real estate person at heart" is presenting slideshows of luxury beach towers to billionaires in Davos.
The UN Special Rapporteur has called this genocide. The International Court of Justice found the case legally plausible. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants. And the United States government, under Donald †rump, is actively blocking accountability at every turn while arming the perpetrators and planning profit from the ruins.
This is happening in your name, with your tax dollars. You have the right to demand it to stop. You have the power to act. And the people of Gaza, who have endured the unendurable, deserve nothing less than your full voice.
Use it.
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