several hundred New Jersey Air National Guard members from Atlantic City have been deployed to the Middle East along with the Squadron of F-16 Falcon fighter jets to support US forces in the region as the Israel Hamas conflict escalates a spokesperson for the Israeli military today said forces are preparing for the quote next stage of war with strikes on Gaza strengthening to Target what it refers to as Hamas Terror infrastructure adding a top priority is inating senior Hamas commanders that statement comes as President Biden today offered some of his strongest support yet for Israel saying Israel has the right and responsibility to respond to the slaughter of their people referring to the October 7th attacks by Hamas that killed 1,400 Israelis Palestinian officials estimate the death toll at more than 6,500 though President Biden today said he quote didn't have confidence in that data and Gaza officials say of the Palestinians who've been killed in the bombings more than 2,000 are children the nature of Israel's Counterattack now has a growing number of Scholars accusing the military of perpetrating crimes of genocide more than 800 international law and genocide Scholars have signed on to a public statement arguing Gaza is being subjected to a genocidal Siege and destructive assault among them is St University Professor Raz Segal he's an Israeli historian and endowed professor in the study of modern genocide and he joins me now Professor thank you so much for your time you say and you have written that uh this is intent to commit genocide on the part of Israel's military why do you make that argument thank you for having me uh today I uh uh make this argument because uh we're seeing um I think we're uh seeing a special intent to destroy that's required according to the UN genocide convention uh from 1948 uh and we're seeing this in we've seen this uh since uh 7th of October in very explicit uh statements by Israel leaders by army officers by the Israeli president who referred to all the Palestinians in Gaza um as responsible for the Hamas uh attack on 7th of October we've seen this in uh uh uh Israeli defense ministers uh proclamation of a Complete Siege we've seen this in politicians uh calling for example for a second nakba referring to the uh ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the 1948 war and creation of the state of uh Israel is that is that not a valid Counterattack given the reports uh both of just hamas's attack in general and the specifics of how the attacks were carried out on civilians uh and hostages I want to make it clear that I think that the Hamas attack was a horrendous uh uh mass murder War crime and and that constituted as well crimes against uh uh Humanity uh I wrote yesterday that uh and I also called for uh eventually for putting the planners and the perpetrators uh on trial um so I want to make it very clear what I think about the Hamas attack on 7th of October that's how however in no way justifies or excuses the reatory genocidal assault that we're seeing on Gaza so no that the answer to your question is no that's not an appropriate uh uh response I'm curious your take on this because it's been framed as and called and and rightfully so uh the most uh deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust but you've spoken extensively about this um idea of weaponizing Holocaust memory what do you mean by that and uh what are the dangers as you write um about that context so that's why I think we're saying the explicit language because uh uh the Hamas attack and actually in various explicit or implicit ways Palestinians more broadly are now framed as Nazis um and Israelis are framed as powerless uh Jews whereas we're talking here about a very powerful state with a powerful Army backed by all the Western uh powers and we're talking about a stateless people Palestinians under Decades of Israeli settler colonial rule military occupation Siege apartheid policies all this is is well documented the context of the attack on 7th of October by Hamas which as I said is a horrendous mass murder War crime and crimes against humanity is very different than the context of the attack against Jews during the Holocaust and weaponizing the Holocaust right in order to actually justify this ret retaliatory genocidal assault that were now seeing on guys again 19 days of bombings of a civilian population right uh um is a very is is is horrendous in itself this weaponization of the Holocaust and uh completely inappropriate as a as a holocaust and genocide studies scholar I think that the I can't speak in the name of uh you know more than aund people who signed the statement I think that all of them including the Holocaust and genocide study Scholars among them there's you quite a few and some very influential uh Scholars in the field are all very concerned um about uh what in my view is already a genocidal assault but certainly uh the prospect of genocidal assault and in without a doubt war crimes and crimes against humanity that are perpetrated in this Israel assault on uh on Gaza that's for sure Raz Segal Raz Segal is an Israeli Holocaust scholar and associate professor at Stockton University Ross thank you so much