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The word genocide is not rhetorical.

It has a precise meaning in international law: actions intended to destroy a group in whole or in part.

It carries obligations.

When it is used by Israel’s own leading human-rights group, B’Tselem, the world has no excuse to ignore it.

In July, B’Tselem reported that Israel’s assault on Gaza — mass civilian deaths, forced displacement, and deliberate starvation tactics — meets that definition.

Coming from an Israeli organisation with decades of meticulous documentation, the finding has exceptional weight.

It isn’t activists or foreign critics saying it: it is Israelis themselves.

So what did the UK government do? Issue cautious calls for “restraint” and “humanitarian access” — while continuing to license arms sales and provide diplomatic cover.

That matters because under the Genocide Convention, our obligations are crystal clear: prevent, punish, and act.

Silence is not neutrality.

It is complicity.

This month’s Whip Line pamphlet examines what B’Tselem’s report meant for international law, for Britain’s responsibilities, and for the moral credibility of those in power.

If our allies say “genocide”, and we still look away, what does that make us?

Read the full piece in The Whip Line, out this Saturday.

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