“That indicates the zones were relatively safe, despite Hamas using them to launch rockets,” Orbach stated.

The report notes that context is crucial, stating that Hamas deliberately positioned itself in civilian areas, used human shields, and blocked evacuations to increase civilian casualties and international condemnation of Israel.

“Hamas exposes its own people to danger intentionally so Israel will be blamed,” Orbach said.

A Gazan man mourns relatives killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

While critics have accused the Israeli Air Force of indiscriminate bombing, the study finds that strikes generally targeted military objectives, though civilian casualties were inevitable.

“The IDF is the first army in history to issue focused warnings, deliver large-scale aid into enemy territory, and sacrifice surprise to protect civilians,” he said. “You cannot fight an enemy embedded in 500 kilometers of tunnels, dressed as civilians without massive destruction.”

The study pays particular attention to casualty figures published by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, claiming they were manipulated to create misleading impressions of the demographics of the dead. It presents alternative statistical models suggesting combatant fatalities may have been underreported, distorting the civilian-to-combatant ratio.

Hamas terrorists carrying clubs and firearms secure and divert humanitarian aid trucks in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya on June. 25 (TPS-IL)

The report says that genocide requires systematic intent to destroy a people—something it finds absent in Gaza. “You don’t see the hallmarks of genocidal warfare here,” Orbach said. “There are no campaigns of rape, frontal massacres or close-range executions. In other conflicts in the Middle East, dozens of such atrocities occurred in just a few hours of fighting.”

The IDF announced its troops are now operating in Rafah. Its troops are continuing ground activity in northern and central Gaza. (IDF)

Orbach and his fellow authors conclude that allegations of genocide against Israel rely on politicized narratives, selective data and the exploitation of humanitarian discourse.

“Analyzing devastation or civilian deaths without understanding Hamas’ tactics is absurd,” he stated.