On July 22, 2025, journalist Bret Stephens published an article for The New York Times titled “No, Israel is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza.”[1] In the article, Stephens addresses the charge of genocide leveled against Israel regarding their actions during the current war in Gaza and argues that these allegations are unsubstantiated. Stephens has worked for The New York Times, NBC, MSNBC, SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations, the Wall Street Journal, and The Jerusalem Post. He has received the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and three honorary doctorate degrees.[2] Stephens’ secular Jewish background gives him insight into issues involving Israel and the Jewish people as well.[3]

As a Messianic Jewish organization whose mission is to bring the light of Yeshua to the Jewish people, Chosen People Ministries cares deeply for the peace of Israel and loves His people. As a ministry that seeks to obey Scripture by embodying His love for all people, we do not take allegations of genocide lightly. We know that the Lord values the truth (Ephesians 4:25) and all human life, for we are made in His image (Genesis 9:6). We are going to reflect upon the arguments in Stephens’ article, as well as cross-examine these allegations of genocide in search of the truth. Proverbs 18:17 reminds us: “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him.”

Defining Genocide

This is the legal definition of genocide according to the United Nations: “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”[4] The term “genocide” was first coined during World War II to describe the Nazi crimes of the Holocaust.[5]

In his article, Stephens emphasizes that “Genocide does not mean simply ‘too many civilian deaths’—a heartbreaking fact of nearly every war . . . It means seeking to exterminate a category of people for no other reason than that they belong to that category . . . ”[6] He uses an example from World War II: “. . . the fact that over a million German civilians died in World War II . . . made them victims of war but not of genocide. The aim of the Allies was to defeat the Nazis for leading Germany into war, not to wipe out Germans simply for being Germans.”[7] Civilian deaths caused by war are horrific, but do not automatically equal genocide.

Hamas’ War Tactics: Human Shields and Use of Gazan Civilians

There is clear evidence that Hamas intentionally sacrifices and endangers the lives of Palestinian civilians by violating the international law against using human shields in the Gaza war against Israel. In his article, Stephens has this to say on the matter: “In Ukraine, when Russia attacks with missiles, drones or artillery, civilians go underground while the Ukrainian military stays aboveground to fight. In Gaza, it’s the reverse: Hamas hides and feeds and preserves itself in its vast warren of tunnels rather than open them to civilians for protection.”[8]

The use of “human shields” is forbidden by the Geneva Conventions and defined as “Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations.”[9] Evidence strongly suggests that Hamas is guilty of using human shields in conflicts against Israel since 2007.

According to a 2019 NATO report, “Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure hubs and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and commercial areas. . . . there is every reason to believe Hamas will continue resorting to the use of civilians as human shields.”[10] In April 2025, a case study from the Henry Jackson Society confirmed that Hamas’ tactic of shielding themselves with the lives of Palestinian civilians has continued to this day,[11] and included a list of evidence verifying numerous incidents of Hamas’ human shield tactic harming Palestinian civilians.

Israel’s Actions toward Gazan Civilians: Evacuation Warnings and Aid

The IDF works to protect non-combatants in Gaza; they have made phone calls, sent text messages, dropped leaflets, and done more to warn civilians to evacuate areas they are about to strike, while Hamas tells them to ignore the warnings and stay put.[12] Given Israel’s documented efforts to preserve the lives of Palestinian civilians, genocidal intent seems unlikely.

Israel has also sent an unprecedented amount of aid to Gazans. Since the beginning of the war, over 1.3 million tons of aid have been delivered.[13] Unfortunately, “Images have been captured of Hamas violently overtaking trucks carrying aid, taking goods to the group’s own storage facilities and selling them overpriced . . .”[14] Since countries are not required to supply aid to their enemies’ civilians in wartime, the fact that Israel makes efforts to supply so much aid despite the risk of fueling Hamas is more evidence against genocidal intent or behavior.

The Tragedy of War, God’s Love for All People, and Why the Truth Matters

None of this is to say that Israel and the IDF are perfect and unflawed, that individual IDF soldiers and Israeli politicians have not done wrong, or that we cannot critique or disagree with what they do. In his article, Stephens says this: “There are important questions to be asked about the tactics Israel has used,” but even if we are seeing some “bungled humanitarian schemes or trigger-happy soldiers or strikes that hit the wrong target or politicians reaching for vengeful sound bites [these] do not come close to adding up to genocide.”[15]

Just as Americans who love their country can still disagree with and critique the US government about their actions, so can those who love and support Israel and its people still disagree with and critique the Israeli government and military. However, neither the mistakes of individual soldiers nor the angry rhetoric from a few individual politicians constitute genocide.

There is immense suffering of innocent people in Gaza, and that is why we care so much about refuting false allegations of genocide against Israel and accurate placement of responsibility for the Gaza crisis. Seth Mandel, a Jewish journalist and editor, sums it up this way in his article “Why the Truth Matters”: “the truth is that there are real concerns about possible near-term hunger and malnutrition in Gaza because Hamas steals aid, hoards food and medicine away from civilians, and punishes dissent. . . . Why, I have been asked, should we quibble over the cause . . . That is like asking why we take pains to ensure we convict the real perpetrator of any crime.”[16] Telling the truth about who is responsible for the suffering in Gaza is necessary to achieve justice for the people there. Not telling the truth of Hamas’ responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and accusing Israel of genocide has fueled the alarming increase in antisemitism since October 7, 2023.[17]

As believers in Yeshua, what should be our response to the horrors in Gaza? It certainly should not be to support Hamas, accuse the Jewish people of genocide, and believe everything we hear on the news, but it should also not be to turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians—whom God loves and made in His image—under Hamas’ oppressive regime. In the new heavens and new earth, Israel and the countries around it will be at peace with one another (Isaiah 19:23–25). As we await the day when war will be no more (Isaiah 2:4), we as a Messianic organization pray for hurting Israelis and Palestinians, Hamas’ defeat, an end to wars in the Middle East, that truth and justice on the media and in Gaza would reign, and that both Israelis and Palestinians would encounter and come to know Yeshua, the Messiah and Prince of Peace.

Also published on Chosen People Ministries.