Refugees International Statement on Genocide in Gaza

By Jeremy Konyndyk | September 16, 2025

Statement from Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk:

Refugees International endorses the conclusion of today’s report by the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel” (the COI) finding that “the State of Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.”

The Commission report lays out a robust, painstaking, and credible analysis documenting both the acts of genocide and the “specific intent” of genocide required to make such a determination. Refugees International’s own research and analysis aligns with the report’s findings, particularly regarding the genocidal act of “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” as evidenced by (1) obstruction of humanitarian aid and other basic essentials of life; (2) creating the conditions that led to famine; (3) forced displacement; and (4) destruction of healthcare.

Since October 2023, Refugees International has produced analysis and field reporting that substantiates many of the Commission’s conclusions:

In March of 2024, Refugees International issued a major report documenting Israel’s practices of besiegement and aid obstruction in Gaza, finding that Israel “consistently and groundlessly impeded aid…blocked legitimate relief operations, and resisted implementing measures that would genuinely enhance the flow of humanitarian aid.”
A Refugees International report in September 2024, found evidence of severe hunger, including famine-like conditions in Gaza, and “found that the ebbs and flows in hunger conditions are closely linked to Israeli government restrictions and concessions on aid access, and to the conduct of the Israeli military.”
A Refugees International–led multi-agency scorecard in November 2024 – informed by operational humanitarian groups on the ground in Gaza – found that “Israel has consistently failed to uphold its legal obligations to facilitate adequate humanitarian relief for civilians in Gaza,” and warned that “the healthcare system [was] on the brink of collapse due to resource depletion and continuous, targeted attacks.” The scorecard also found that Israel was engaged in forced displacement of civilians.
In May 2025, Refugees International warned the Israel blockade of aid into Gaza was leading to the “the near complete collapse of the humanitarian situation inside of Gaza.” This blockade was a key factor in precipitating famine, and the Commission report notes that it caused extensive harm to Palestinian civilians with no defensible military rationale.
In statements and briefings following the declaration of famine in Gaza at the end of August, Refugees International has documented how Israeli famine denial, aid impediments, and military actions are obstructing famine response, forcibly displacing more Palestinians, and leading to further loss of life.

Our work, along with similar analysis by legal experts and peers – and extensive reporting by Palestinians themselves – corroborates much of the core analysis in the Commission report. That work also establishes that the Israeli government received repeated warnings about its conduct and had reasonable grounds to know that it was creating conditions that would bring about the destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza, and proceeded nonetheless. These and many other factors cited in the Commission report clearly and compellingly establish that Israel is responsible for genocide in Gaza.

As we warned in the days immediately following the October 7th attack, “reciprocal crimes against humanity between Hamas and the Israeli military will lead inevitably to a historic humanitarian calamity that will principally devastate civilians. There can be no legitimizing such actions by either side.”

In that spirit, we again call on Israel to abide by its legal and moral obligations to halt the commission of genocide, halt the use of starvation as a weapon of war, ensure the protection of civilians, and ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. We again call on Hamas to release the remaining hostages without preconditions, as required by international law. We again call on both sides to lay down arms and agree to an immediate end to this horrific war. And we call on all countries of the world to deploy maximum diplomatic and political leverage to force an end to the genocide in Gaza.