Sen. Elizabeth Warren said last week that she believes international courts could interpret Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide, according to a video posted by a GBH News reporter, after noting she thinks “what Israel is doing is wrong.”
“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,” Warren said at the Islamic Center of Boston in response to a question from an audience member on whether she thinks “Israel is committing a genocide.”
“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 them to your will. It is wrong to drop 2,000-pound bombs in densely populated civilian areas,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said. “I think I can make a more effective argument by describing the behavior that is happening and whether I believe it is right or wrong.” Warren also said she wanted to “get people past a labels argument.”
In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson for Warren said that she “commented on the ongoing legal process at the International Court of Justice, not sharing her views on whether genocide is occurring in Gaza.”
CNN has reached out to Warren’s office for comment.
In January, the International Court of Justice voted in favor of six emergency measures, ordering Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent acts which could fall foul of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and to ensure its military does not commit genocidal acts in Gaza.
Warren has criticized the Biden administration’s policies on Israel, calling for a ceasefire and demanding conditions on future aid to the US ally.
After seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike, Warren posted on X, “Aid workers reflect the best of humanity and need to be protected. @WCKitchen is trying to help feed people starving in Gaza. Netanyahu’s government must stop the indiscriminate bombing. We need an immediate ceasefire and to deliver massive amounts of humanitarian aid.”
