Documented Intent: A Legal Case of Public Incitement to Genocide in Gaza

A Verified Israeli Figure Calls for Mass Extermination in Gaza—An Annotated Legal Case Study

May 04, 2025

On May 3, 2025, Elad Baruchi, a verified Israeli public figure, published a post on X (formerly Twitter) that explicitly and unambiguously calls for the annihilation of Gaza’s 2.6 million Palestinian inhabitants. Written in Hebrew and subsequently translated and widely disseminated, the statement not only advocates for mass killing but frames it as morally imperative, militarily necessary, and historically justified.

(Post in full at the end of the article)

This is not protected political expression or wartime rhetoric. It constitutes a direct and public incitement to genocide as defined in both the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (“Genocide Convention”) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Baruchi’s statement is thus not only politically repugnant—it is criminal under international law.

I. Legal Definition and Classification: Genocide and Incitement to Genocide

The Genocide Convention (UNGA Res. 260 (III) A, 1948) defines genocide in Article II as:

"...acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group..."

The post in question contains multiple indicators of mens rea (genocidal intent) and calls for specific actus reus (genocidal acts), including:

Killing members of the group
Causing serious bodily or mental harm
Deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction

Furthermore, Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention criminalizes:

“Direct and public incitement to commit genocide”

This provision has been tested and affirmed in international tribunals. Notably:

ICTR, Prosecutor v. Ferdinand Nahimana et al. (2003), convicted Rwandan media executives for using broadcast media to incite genocide through dehumanizing language and calls to violence—even when they did not themselves carry out the killings.
ICTY, Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj (2018) upheld that public speech need not be followed by actual genocide to constitute a punishable offense—it is the act of incitement, not the outcome, that is criminalized.

In Baruchi’s post, all threshold elements are satisfied:

Public dissemination: Posted on a platform with global reach.
Targeted group: Palestinians in Gaza—a national and ethnic group under siege.
Call to destruction: Phrases such as “they deserve death,” “no mercy,” “gas chambers,” and “a Holocaust in Gaza.”
Dehumanization: Palestinians described as “Nazis,” “vermin,” “criminals,” and “animals.”
Gendered violence: Women targeted explicitly for reproduction (“Even women—they raise terrorists”).

II. Gaza as a Protected Civilian Population Under Occupation

The Palestinian population in Gaza qualifies as a protected population under the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), particularly Articles 27–34 and 47–78. Despite claims of disengagement, Israel exercises effective control over Gaza’s borders, airspace, telecommunications, and access to humanitarian aid—therefore, it is an occupying power under international humanitarian law (IHL). This is affirmed by:

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
UN Human Rights Council reports (e.g., A/HRC/49/83, 2022)

The deliberate and open targeting of a civilian population—especially children (50% of Gaza’s population is under 18)—constitutes a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, qualifying as:

War crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute
Crimes against humanity under Article 7
Genocide under Article 6

III. Contextualizing Genocidal Intent: Structural and Discursive Patterns

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli assault on Gaza has resulted in tens of thousands of documented deaths, with independent analyses indicating significantly higher numbers due to unrecovered bodies beneath rubble, unregistered casualties, and mass graves. Beyond kinetic violence, the systematic destruction of medical infrastructure, enforced famine conditions, and obstruction of humanitarian aid have produced a lethal environment where survival itself is criminalized. These are not collateral consequences—they are manifestations of deliberate state policy. The intent is not only military—it is structural, infrastructural, and discursive: a coordinated campaign to dismantle the conditions of Palestinian life in Gaza and to normalize that dismantling through dehumanizing rhetoric and legal impunity.

Elad Baruchi’s post is not an aberration. It aligns with:

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s October 2023 statement labeling Palestinians “human animals” who should be “cut off from electricity, food, and water.”
President Isaac Herzog’s remarks in November 2023 dismissing the distinction between civilians and combatants in Gaza.
Statements by Knesset members advocating for the “erasure” or “flattening” of Gaza.

These statements form a pattern of cumulative incitement consistent with the framework of discursive genocide, as theorized by scholars like Mahmood Mamdani (2001) and Sherene Razack (2004). In this framework, the systematic erasure of civilian status and the reduction of ethnic or national identity to collective guilt operate as ideological preconditions for exterminatory violence.

IV. The Role of Digital Platforms: Complicity and Liability

Social media platforms such as X (Twitter) are not neutral conduits when they allow incitement to genocide to circulate unimpeded. Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), digital platforms have a responsibility to prevent, mitigate, and remedy human rights abuses linked to their services.

Given that X has previously suspended or censored Palestinian accounts, while allowing posts like Baruchi’s to remain public and amplified, the platform may be complicit in the dissemination of genocidal propaganda.

Legal scholars such as David Kaye (former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression) have warned of the “weaponization of speech” and the need for international regulation of platform responsibility in contexts of atrocity crimes.

Failure to act on such content may constitute contributory liability under evolving international human rights jurisprudence, especially when suppression is asymmetrically applied against the victimized population.

V. Documentation and the Demand for Accountability

The post by Elad Baruchi is:

Publicly archived and verifiable
Translated and preserved across platforms
Part of a pattern of genocidal discourse

It should be included in submissions to the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN Commission of Inquiry on the OPT, and any independent tribunal or truth commission established to investigate atrocities in Gaza.

Failure to document and prosecute this case would represent not only a legal dereliction, but a moral collapse in the post-World War II international order built on the promise of “Never Again.”

The Time for Legal Clarity Is Now

What Elad Baruchi published on May 3, 2025, is not free speech under international law. It is not wartime venting or political hyperbole. It is a clear, deliberate, and public incitement to genocide, targeting a stateless and besieged national group.

For genocide scholars, jurists, and human rights defenders, this is a moment to:

Name the crime as it is: genocidal incitement
Archive and legally annotate the speech
Demand accountability from both state and corporate actors
Use every mechanism of international law to halt an ongoing exterminatory campaign

This is not speculative. It is ongoing. It is documented. And it constitutes a crime.

For justice to begin, we must start by naming the crime. This is incitement to genocide. Let it be recorded—and let it be prosecuted.

Original Hebrew Post by Elad Baruchi

Archived Original Post: https://archive.ph/TVRNd

Date: May 3, 2025
Platform: X (formerly Twitter)
Username: @ldbry3 (Elad Baruchi)
Language: Hebrew (untranslated source)
Content Type: Public statement containing direct and explicit incitement to genocide

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

אני רוצה להגיד תודה ענקית למערכת @Uvda_tweet ולאילנה דיין.
(למרות שאני בן לה ולדעתה:) הערב אני מלא הערכה אליה.
צפיתי בפרק של עובדה על אלי שרביט שחזר משבי חמאס,
ופשוט דמעתי מאושר. תודה לאילנה שנותנת לנו הזדמנות
להתקרב שוב לפי הנאצים בעזה. ואני שואל מי זה האיש שלא רוצה
להתקרב שוב לפי הנאצים בעזה מראש צה"ל? מי האיש שמלמד זכּות
ורחמים על הנאצים האלה?

מי הוא אותו הכסיל שאומר שיש בעזה
"חפים מפשע?" מי הוא אותו נבל כמנובל שרוצה לתת להם לצאת
לירדן או ערב או אירופה באופן חופשי?
בעזה גרים 2.6 מיליון מחבלים בעזה דינם מוות!!
דינם מוות! דינם מוות! גברים נשים וילדים גם דרך שיאפשר צריך
למות במוות קשה שנאה. כן תקראו שוב – ש–י–א–ה ! מבחינתי תאי
גזים.

קבורות ברכב. ועוד סוגי מוות אכזריים למצרים האלה. בלי פחד בלי
פוזות רכב.
לדרוס. לשרוף. לשחוט. לשטוף. לקרוע. לרצוץ.
לכלות ולרחם. ילדים והורים שיחזיקו את גופות ילדיהם לפני שהם בני מוות.
ואז להראות לכל העולם. וכולם יבינו את הציוץ הזה ויוכלו להגיב באמפתיה
ושטויות.
פשוט תענוג את הזיכרון החלש שלכם
בבעיות ששברה אמת סוסנה.
בכוחות משתף אלי שרביט.

בהוצאות להרוג של הרש ואוּרי.
בשירי אריאל וכפרי נשרים.

ועוד על סיפורי אימה שעוברים מרגע טופופי בשבי. מי האיש האמיץ
מהשבי. איך קבלת ההחלטה שואה כוללת על עזה שברוחות דם ישפכו
בשמחה. שופרות עתידים סוחרות יעמדו בעמותות ולאחר מכן ישרפו.

#יופץ בכל חלון בעזה.

Official Translation of Elad Baruchi's Post (Original in Hebrew)

Archived Original Post: https://archive.ph/TVRNd

Date: May 3, 2025
Platform: X (formerly Twitter)
Username: @ldbry3 (Elad Baruchi)

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

I want to express my deep thanks to the Uvda team and to Ilana Dayan.
(Even though I’m her son and disagree with her), tonight I’m full of appreciation for her.
I watched the Uvda episode about Eli Sharvit who returned from Hamas captivity,
and I simply wept with joy. Thank you, Ilana, for giving us the opportunity
to once again come closer to the mouths of the Nazis in Gaza. And I ask:
who is the person that does not want to come closer to the mouths of the Nazis in Gaza—from the IDF Chief of Staff down?
Who is the person who teaches about rights and compassion for those Nazis?
Who is the fool who says there are “innocent people” in Gaza?
Who is the villainous scoundrel who wants to let them leave
to Jordan, or Arabia, or Europe freely?
There are 2.6 million terrorists in Gaza. Their sentence is death!!
Death! Death! Men, women, and children—yes, children too!
They must die terrible deaths of hatred.
Yes, read it again—hatred! For me: gas chambers.
Mass graves. And other cruel forms of death for these Egyptians [sic].
Without fear. Without performance.
Run over. Burned. Slaughtered. Flooded. Torn. Crushed.
Destroy them without mercy. Let the children and parents
hold the bodies of their children before they themselves are condemned to death.
Then show the entire world. Everyone will understand this post
and they will be able to respond with “empathy” and nonsense.
It is simply a pleasure to destroy your weak memory
regarding the dangers you’ve long since forgotten.
With the power of Eli Sharvit’s participation,
in the executions ordered by Harash and Uri,
with Ariel’s songs and the hawks of the village.
And more horror stories from those captured in soft moments of captivity.
Who is the brave man of the captivity? How the decision was made for
a total Holocaust against Gaza, where blood will be spilled
joyfully.
The shofars will be traded, the organizations will stand at their stalls,
and then they will burn.
#DistributeInEveryWindowInGaza

Evidentiary Transcription Format (Genospectra Juris Archive)

Author: Elad Baruchi
Verified Account: Yes
Date: May 3, 2025
Platform: X (formerly Twitter)
Language: Hebrew (translated to English)
Type of Violation: Public incitement to genocide, direct and explicit, targeting a protected group
Relevant Legal Statutes:
• Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention)
• Article III(c): Direct and public incitement to commit genocide
• Rome Statute of the ICC, Article 25(3)(e)
• Israeli Penal Code §144 (Incitement to Violence or Terror)

Summary of Key Statements Indicating Genocidal Intent

Elad Baruchi’s post contains numerous statements that fulfill the legal criteria for direct and public incitement to genocide under Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention. The following statements are especially indicative of genocidal intent, demonstrating both motive and method for the targeted destruction of a national group—Palestinians in Gaza.

“There are 2.6 million terrorists in Gaza. Their sentence is death!!”
This statement erases any distinction between civilians and combatants, labeling the entire population of Gaza as terrorists and calling for their execution en masse. It is a wholesale justification for extermination.
“Men, women, and children—yes, children too!”
This line explicitly includes children as legitimate targets for killing, eliminating the possibility of misinterpretation. It demonstrates the speaker's support for the deliberate destruction of a protected group in whole, not merely in part.
“They must die terrible deaths of hatred… gas chambers.”
Here, the author does not simply advocate for death but calls for cruel and symbolic forms of execution, invoking Holocaust-era extermination tactics as desirable tools. This represents not only genocidal fantasy but an embrace of historical atrocity as a model.
“Mass graves… Burned. Slaughtered. Torn. Crushed.”
The author envisions multiple modes of death, each violent and dehumanizing, reinforcing a comprehensive vision of mass killing. These phrases reflect methods associated with known acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.
“Show the world... they will respond with empathy and nonsense.”
This mocks human rights frameworks and expresses disdain for legal and ethical concerns, revealing a mindset that sees genocide not as a crime, but as a necessary act unjustly obstructed by international norms.
“A total Holocaust against Gaza… blood will be spilled joyfully.”
This statement is perhaps the most damning, as it frames the total destruction of Gaza as a celebratory event. The use of the word "Holocaust" confirms the speaker's awareness of the historical parallels and intentionally reclaims that term as a model to emulate.
“#DistributeInEveryWindowInGaza”
This final line is a direct call for the dissemination of genocidal propaganda throughout the besieged territory. It reinforces that this speech act is not personal frustration but part of an organized ideological project intended to incite mass participation or complicity.

Taken together, these statements do not constitute emotional hyperbole or abstract rhetoric—they are direct, systematic calls for genocidal violence. They reflect not only the individual intent of the speaker but a broader discursive environment in which mass killing is publicly rationalized, demanded, and celebrated.

Annotation for Legal Record:
This post constitutes clear evidence of direct and public incitement to genocide. The use of explicitly exterminationist language, the naming of a national group (Palestinians in Gaza), and the celebration of violence against women and children meets all legal thresholds under international law. It also mirrors speech acts used during the Rwandan, Bosnian, and Rohingya genocides that were later used as primary evidence in international trials.

This document should be preserved, cited, and submitted in all future legal proceedings related to crimes against the Palestinian people.

Archived Source and Original Evidence

Post Title: Elad Baruchi incites genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
Date Published: May 3, 2025
Platform: X (formerly Twitter)
Username: @ldbry3 (Elad Baruchi)
Language: Hebrew
Status: Publicly available at time of capture; uncensored
Archived Link: https://archive.ph/TVRNd
Screenshot of Original Post:
(included below for evidentiary preservation)

Figure 1. Screenshot of original Hebrew-language post by Elad Baruchi, posted May 3, 2025, on X (formerly Twitter)

References

Mamdani, Mahmood.
When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda.
Princeton University Press, 2001.

A foundational work exploring how colonial categories and political discourse create the conditions for genocide, including the discursive dehumanization of entire populations.

Razack, Sherene H.
"Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping and the New Imperialism."
University of Toronto Press, 2004.

Examines how Western militaries justify racialized violence through narratives that collapse entire groups into threats, enabling moral disengagement and systemic killing.

Razack, Sherene H.
"Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics."
University of Toronto Press, 2008.

Explores how legal and political discourse constructs Muslim populations as inherently dangerous, laying the ideological groundwork for state-sanctioned violence.