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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/world/middleeast/israel-genocide-defense-declassified.html
Israel Rebuts Genocide Charge by Declassifying Cabinet Decisions Aimed at Diminishing Palestinian Civilian Deaths
(New York Times) Patrick Kingsley - Israel has declassified more than 30 secret orders made by government and military leaders, which it says rebut the charge that it committed genocide in Gaza, and instead show Israeli efforts to diminish deaths among Palestinian civilians. The Genocide Convention of 1948, which South Africa accused Israel of violating at the International Court of Justice, does not define genocide solely as killing members of a particular ethnic or national group. Crucially, it says the killings must be committed "with intent to destroy" that group. Among the declassified Israeli documents are summaries of cabinet discussions in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered supplies of aid, fuel and water to be sent to Gaza. He also instructed the government to examine how external actors might set up field hospitals to treat Gazans. "The prime minister stressed time and again the need to increase significantly the humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip," reads one declassified document from a cabinet meeting on Nov. 14.