Heart for Israel

Genocide and Gaza

Is the State of Israel practicing Genocide? According to many in the Media, CNN reported on the UN making such a declaration, Tucker Carlson’s accusation of Israel committing War Crimes, the UN Commission on Human Rights, and many of our Universities have suggested this charge.

Is this the case? Are any of these people qualified to make such a determination? I’m not qualified to make all the evaluations, and I am very hesitant to speak out, especially on Israeli Policy. For one, I don’t live there and don’t fully understand everything going on. I live in America and still do not have inside briefings on intelligence to know everything.

John Spencer is the most qualified person to make such a determination. Who is John Spencer? Spencer currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project.

Spencer served as an infantry soldier and later became a sergeant in the army. He eventually became a Major and became an Airborne Ranger. He has experienced every level in the military and teaches at West Point. Spencer would be the best qualified to answer this question, rather than listening to a journalist podcasting who has never served in the military or even gone to Israel, even on a tour.

According to Spencer, “Israel has taken extraordinary steps to limit civilian harm. It warns before attacks using text messages, phone calls, leaflets, and broadcasts. It opens safe corridors and pauses operations so civilians can leave combat areas. It tracks civilian presence down to the building level. I have seen missions delayed or canceled because children were nearby. I have seen Israeli troops come under fire and still be ordered not to shoot back because civilians might be harmed” (Substack article “I’m a War Scholar. There Is No Genocide in Gaza”, July 23, 2025).

Spencer continues, “Israel has delivered more humanitarian aid to Gaza than any military in history has provided to an enemy population during wartime. More than 94,000 trucks carrying over 1.8 million tons of aid have entered the territory. Israel has supported hospitals, repaired water pipelines, increased access to clean water, and enabled over 36,000 patients to leave Gaza for treatment abroad”. Basically, who does this to the enemy that they are trying to defeat? Has America ever done this?

The enemy that Israel is fighting has embedded itself into the civilian population, making it almost impossible to fight. And yet, Israel has gone above and beyond to try to avoid killing civilians. According to Spencer, up to July of 2025, the “…US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation alone has delivered more than 82 million meals—one to two million a day—while weakening Hamas’s control over aid. This is not genocide. It is a responsible and historic mid-war humanitarian policy”.

Most would agree that Hamas has intercepted and hoarded the supplies for itself. Several media outlets reported that Hamas sells supplies on the black market for a profit. Yet the Palestinians are very poor and need supplies, but Hamas’s attitude toward them is, “Who cares? We can make some money”. The truth is that Hamas, the elected party in charge of the people, cares very little for its own people, and Israel has more concern for them. But if you listen to the MSM, you would not think so. Hamas could have surrendered for the sake of their people. But that is not the plan. The plan is to have as many civilians killed as possible so that they can blame Israel.

Hamas has reported that over 58,000 people have been killed, including 17,000 children. But how do they come up with these numbers? Are these all civilians? Are some of the enemy combatants? They have not been able to verify facts to align with the claims. Spencer points out that the Korean War saw two million civilians killed in the conflict, averaging 54,000 per month. Other wars seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, 100’s of thousands died. Every war could be defined as a genocide if we use the same standards that are being applied to Israel.

It does not seem, after reviewing the information, that one could honestly claim that Israel is committing Genocide. That being said, every life is precious in the eyes of God. Every death is a tragedy. God takes no pleasure in the death of the people who die (Ezekiel 18:32).

Peace will come when the Prince of Peace comes back to Jerusalem, the city of peace!