David Grossman Says Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, Marks Shift in Public Criticism

Award‐winning Israeli author and peace activist David Grossman has publicly accused his own country of committing genocide in Gaza, in what many see as a striking escalation in critical discourse surrounding the Israel-Gaza conflict. The comments pusblished in the Italian daily La Repubblica, come amid international alarm over mounting civilian deaths, displacement, and reports of mass starvation in the besieged territory.

Key Claims

• Grossman said he had long resisted using the term “genocide,” but that recent reports—newspaper coverage, images, and direct testimonies—have made it inescapable.
• He spoke of “immense pain and with a broken heart” in making the claim, emphasising that the occupation, in his view, has “corrupted” Israel. He said that Israel’s militarily superior position has led to a temptation to believe “we can do anything.”
• He connected the current situation with what he calls the root of the problem: the 1967 occupation of Palestinian territories.

Grossman described the association of Israel with “hunger” as deeply painful, given Israel’s history and the moral ideals it has claimed. He said that once one uses the term “genocide,” it becomes an avalanche: “it just gets bigger, like an avalanche. And it adds even more destruction and suffering.”

©TNPP