Warren says Israel’s actions could be deemed genocide

WASHINGTON — Answering questions at a Boston-area mosque last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren said she thinks international officials will determine Israel’s actions in Gaza legally constitute genocide.

“If you want to do it as an application of law, I believe that they’ll find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so,” the Massachusetts Democrat said of the International Court of Justice, which found in January it was “plausible” that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and continues to investigate.

A video of Warren’s comments Friday at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland was posted on X on Monday by GBH reporter Tori Bedford. The comments were confirmed in a transcript of the event from Warren’s office.

Warren stressed at the mosque that she would rather talk about exactly what Israel is doing in Gaza than focus on a “labels argument, which seems to throw up a screen” in the passionate debate over the war.

“For me, it is far more important to say what Israel is doing is wrong. And it is wrong. It is wrong to starve children within a civilian population in order to try to bend to your will,” she said. “It is wrong to drop 2,000pound bombs, in densely populated civilian areas.”

But Warren was not expressing her personal view on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, but giving her legal analysis, according to a statement from her office.

“In a Q&A, Senator Warren commented on the ongoing legal process at the International Court of Justice, not sharing her views on whether genocide is occurring in Gaza,” the statement said.

Warren has been under pressure from progressive activists who oppose the Biden administration’s support of Israel as it responds to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.