In the course of the assault, Palestinian militants attacked communities, a music festival, and military bases in the region of southern Israel known as the Gaza Envelope.

[7][8] Criticisms against the allegation include citing the taking of hostages as proof that there was no genocidal intent, or that the attack was likely intended to kill and instill fear in Israelis, instead of destroy them.

[14][15] American counterterrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman, writing for The Atlantic, suggested the attacks were carried out with genocidal intent, pointing to Hamas' founding charter from 1988, which called for the destruction of Israel and featured antisemitic language.

[3] On October 7, 2023, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli first responders reportedly found instructions on the bodies of the operatives, directing them to target civilian populations, including elementary schools and a youth center, with the explicit order to "kill as many people as possible".

[6] According to the letter, "as these widespread, horrendous acts appear to have been carried out with an intent to destroy, in whole or in part a national group – Israelis – they most probably constitute an international crime of genocide".

The letter was endorsed by legal experts from prominent institutions, including Harvard and Columbia Law Schools, King's College London, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, chaired by former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, also signed the letter.

Hoffman noted that although the revised Hamas charter does not contain the same explicitly violent rhetoric, it nevertheless asserted a desire for the destruction of Israel though military force.

[35] Sociologist Martin Shaw viewed Hamas' attack as "a wave of 'genocidal massacres,' localized mass killings whose victims were defined by their Israeli-Jewish identity", adding that the concept of the genocidal massacre, first proposed by Leo Kuper, was "a logical extension of the notion in the convention that genocide can include destroying a group 'in part.

[10] According to international law expert Raphael van Steenberghe, a lack of evidence that Hamas intended to destroy a substantial part of the Jewish population is "arguably the only obstacle to qualifying the 7 October attacks as involving a crime of genocide", as Hamas "may well have anticipated that their operations could not extend beyond a limited geographical area".

[44] The Economist has argued that Hamas fighters who conducted the attack on October 7 were carrying out actions in line with their genocidal intentions outlined in the group's founding charter.

[45][46] John Kirby, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, accused Hamas of "genocidal intentions against the people of Israel.

"[47] At the UN's European headquarters, Yeela Cytrin, a legal advisor at the Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva, emphasized: "The attacks by Hamas on October 7 were motivated by a genocidal ideology.

[11][12] In February 2024, a separate complaint was filed with the ICC by a delegation of family members of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, accusing Hamas of committing war crimes.

The head of the legal team, Shelly Yeviv Aini, stated that "these crimes, including genocide, hostage taking, enforced disappearance, torture and sexual violence cannot and should not go unpunished".