Palestinians — Nakba to 2023
Mandatory Palestine / Israel & the Palestinian territories · 1948–2023
The long-running dispute over whether Israeli conduct toward Palestinians from the 1948 Nakba through 2023 — mass expulsion, occupation, blockade, and recurring wars — amounts to genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, or war crimes. Framings range widely, and no court ruled genocide before the 2023 ICJ case.
Process stage (Stanton)
Recognition status
Contested / denied. Heavily contested. A 1982 UN General Assembly resolution called the Sabra and Shatila massacre 'an act of genocide' (non-binding; the massacre was physically carried out by allied Lebanese militia, with Israel found indirectly responsible). Scholars use 'incremental genocide' / 'politicide'; NGOs (HRW, Amnesty, B'Tselem) found apartheid and persecution; the 2009 Goldstone Report found war crimes. No court issued a pre-2023 genocide finding.