By M. Basheer Ahmed — 18 September 2025
Walking the sunlit halls of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, I often engaged in dialogue with Jewish colleagues whose unwavering commitment to justice and human dignity inspired me daily. They carried stories of resilience and a shared hope that the horrors of the Holocaust would never darken humanity’s path again.
It is profoundly heart-breaking that those once persecuted with unimaginable cruelty now inflict devastation on others. Many Israeli citizens, leaders, and institutions have either supported—or remained silent—as Gaza and the West Bank are ravaged in ways countless experts now describe as genocidal. The very people who once vowed “Never Again” now preside over a humanitarian catastrophe, while much of the world watches silently—or worse, supplies arms to the perpetrators.
Historical Echoes of Oppression
In a tragic twist of history, Israel’s current leadership has adopted policies echoing colonialist and supremacist ideologies. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s push for a “Greater Israel”—through occupation, displacement, and indiscriminate violence—resembles the nationalist expansionist ideologies of the past.
Armed with U.S. military aid and political backing, Israel has grown into a regional power that exerts disproportionate force on a stateless and defenseless population. History shows how fear, ideology, and unchecked power can numb the human conscience. When national narratives dehumanize others, even moral people can suspend their humanity.
October 7 and Its Aftermath
When Hamas launched its brutal assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 civilians and seizing more than 250 hostages, I joined countless others in condemning the atrocity.
Yet Israel’s response transcended the boundaries of legitimate self-defense. What followed was not a targeted mission to liberate hostages or neutralize combatants. Instead, it became an indiscriminate campaign of starvation, siege, and relentless bombardment aimed at an entire population. Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, half of them children, were trapped without access to food, clean water, or medical care. This was not warfare—it was the systematic annihilation of Palestinians.
Even before October 7, Gaza had endured waves of destruction that shattered hospitals, schools, and infrastructure. Israel’s control of borders, airspace, and maritime routes, enforced through a blockade lasting nearly two decades, had steadily strangled life in the territory. Hamas justified its attacks as resistance to occupation, desecration of sacred sites, and settler abuse in the West Bank.
Ironically, Netanyahu’s government even bolstered Hamas indirectly by allowing Qatari funds into Gaza—an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority. This cynical political gamble only fueled chaos, not security.
Gaza: The World’s Worst Humanitarian Catastrophe
By April 2024, Israel dropped over seventy thousand tons of bombs on Gaza—more explosive tonnage than was unleashed on Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined during World War II.
- Civilian Deaths: The Lancet reported over 186,000 Palestinian deaths by mid-2024.
- Disappearances: The Harvard Dataverse estimated up to 377,000 people disappeared, half of them children.
- Infrastructure Destruction: Haaretz documented damage to more than 174,000 buildings, including hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches.
The result? Gaza tragically holds the world’s highest rate of child amputees. Malnutrition and psychological trauma threaten to scar an entire generation permanently.
This is no longer a conflict zone—it is the very definition of genocide in Gaza.
Genocidal Rhetoric and Clear Intent
Genocidal intent has never been more blatant.
- Prime Minister Netanyahu invoked the biblical Amalekites—ancient enemies of Israel—suggesting Palestinians deserve extermination.
- Defense Minister Yoav Gallant referred to Gazans as “human animals” while ordering a complete siege.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared starvation both “just and moral.”
- Minister Yitzhak Shapira even proposed deploying nuclear weapons.
Members of the Knesset openly spoke of annihilation. Israel’s military repeatedly struck designated “safe zones,” killing families who had been told to seek shelter there. Doctors Without Borders documented cases of children shot in the head by snipers. Starvation itself has become a deliberate instrument of war.
International Experts Agree: Genocide in Gaza
Since its founding, the United Nations defined genocide as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Today, global experts affirm that Israel’s actions meet these criteria.
- Omer Bartov, Brown University historian, has spoken of genocidal evidence.
- Shmuel Lederman, a genocide scholar, confirms the intent is undeniable.
- Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur, echoed the conclusion.
- William Schabas, a Canadian legal authority, reached the same verdict.
Israel’s own human rights organizations—B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel—have documented crimes against humanity.
In January 2024, South Africa brought a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled Israel’s conduct “plausibly genocidal.” Yet the U.S. and European allies continue to supply arms, betraying the very legal order they helped establish after the Holocaust.
Humanitarian Aid as a Weapon
Even aid has become a death trap. Since May 2025, more than 700 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 5,000 wounded while queuing for food at distribution sites run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Tanks, drones, and attack helicopters target civilians seeking aid. In response, six U.S. senators and over 240 NGOs have demanded an immediate halt, warning that aid has itself become a weapon.
And yet, hope stirs. More than 140 UN member states now back Palestinian statehood. Leaders like Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, and governments of Spain, Ireland, and Norway have recognized or pledged to recognize a Palestinian state.
In the United States, a generational shift is underway—many younger Jewish Americans no longer view Israel as a moral beacon but as an occupying force. However, many Holocaust scholars and institutions refuse to acknowledge Palestinian suffering, dismissing criticism of Israeli policy as antisemitism. This conflation silences debate and undermines the global fight against hatred.
Towards a Two-State Solution
If peace is to be real, it must move beyond platitudes. The two-state solution remains the only framework that offers justice and security for both peoples.
I propose a roadmap:
- Unified Palestinian Government across the West Bank and Gaza, supported by Gulf states and Western powers.
- Demilitarized Palestine for 3–5 decades, without standing army, navy, or air force.
- UN Peacekeeping Forces to secure borders and ensure Israel’s safety.
- International Financing for infrastructure, education, healthcare, and economic development.
With dignity and self-determination, Palestinians can build stability. With security guarantees and diplomacy, Israelis can live without fear.
Final Reflections: A Plea for Humanity
The logic driving Israel’s campaign is chilling: Palestinian men are presumed terrorists, women are “terrorist incubators,” and children are future threats. By that logic, all Palestinians are marked for elimination.
Mass graves are real. Starvation is absolute. The charred bodies of children are real. The ruins of Gaza’s schools, hospitals, mosques, and churches are undeniable. No diplomatic spin can wash away oceans of Palestinian blood.
The moral catastrophe unfolding before our eyes violates the essence of the “Never Again” pledge humanity once embraced.
The question is no longer whether genocide in Gaza is happening—the question is whether humanity still possesses the will to stop it.
If conscience exists, it must speak now. Let the world remember the promise I once shared with my Jewish colleagues at Einstein: that the lessons of the Holocaust should guide us toward compassion and justice.
That pledge is being betrayed today. We must recommit to ensuring state-sanctioned genocide is neither condoned nor concealed, and that peace rooted in justice finally prevails.
Every government, every leader, every citizen must act to stop this genocide and the annihilation of Palestinians. Preventing genocide is not just a legal duty—it is a moral obligation to preserve humanity itself.
“The death of human empathy is the earliest sign of a culture about to fall into barbarism.”
Dr. M. Basheer Ahmed is a psychiatrist, interfaith advocate, and founder of the Muslim Community Center for Human Services and American Muslims for Human Rights. He is a former assistant professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine New York and professor of psychiatry UT Southwestern Medical School Dallas TX.