US policy toward Israel amid mounting genocide allegations in Gaza Case Note on framing: whether Israel's conduct in Gaza legally constitutes genocide is a contested question before international courts, not a settled fact - this entry presents the documented data, the finding by one UN body, and the range of government positions, rather than adopting the label itself. Humanitarian and casualty data As of September 2026, at least 73,400 people in Gaza have been killed, with roughly 10,000 more presumed buried under rubble, and at least 174,500 injured; the majority of victims are reported as civilians, and around half are women and children. Famine (IPC Phase 5) was confirmed in parts of Gaza in August 2025. Following an October 2025 ceasefire tied to a Trump administration peace plan, conditions improved somewhat, but as of late 2025, 1.6 million people still faced acute food insecurity, with over 100,000 in catastrophic conditions; most of Gaza was projected to remain in Emergency-level (IPC Phase 4) food insecurity through mid-2026. The genocide determination - contested The UN Human Rights Council's Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded on September 16, 2025 that Israel is committing genocide, finding reasonable grounds that Israel had committed four of five genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention. South Africa brought a formal genocide case against Israel at the ICJ in December 2023. The ICJ has issued provisional (interim) measures in Jan/March/May 2024 ordering Israel to prevent genocidal acts and allow humanitarian access, but a final merits ruling on whether genocide occurred is not expected before 2026 at the earliest. The U.S. government - under both the Biden and Trump administrations - has consistently and explicitly rejected the genocide characterization, with State and Defense Department officials repeatedly stating they have seen 'no evidence' of genocide. Israel also rejects the characterization. Other governments have taken a middle position, stating they are 'awaiting the ICJ verdict' rather than making an independent determination (e.g., Australia, Austria), reflecting a view that courts, not individual states, should resolve the legal question. US financial and diplomatic support The U.S. has provided Israel more than $25 billion in support since October 2023. The U.S. has, at points, publicly broken with Israel on specific policies - for example, explicitly rejecting Israeli officials' calls in 2026 for depopulating/forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza, citing its own ceasefire plan's terms. Update - US vetoes at the UN Security Council (2025) June 4, 2025: the US was the lone 'no' in a 14-1 vote, vetoing a resolution that demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent Gaza ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the lifting of aid restrictions. Acting US Representative Dorothy Shea, a career diplomat, called it 'unacceptable for what it does say... [and] for what it does not say,' objecting that it did not condemn Hamas or call for its disarmament. Sept 18, 2025: the US again vetoed a ceasefire resolution 14-1, its sixth Gaza ceasefire veto. It was cast by Morgan Ortagus, a political appointee. Ortagus said the text 'fails to condemn Hamas or recognise Israel's right to defend itself' and disputed the UN-backed famine finding as using 'flawed methodology.' Who Ortagus is: former Fox News contributor and State Department spokesperson under Pompeo (2019-2021). In 2022 she ran for Congress in Tennessee with Trump's endorsement but was removed from the ballot by the state party. She was Steve Witkoff's deputy Middle East envoy (Jan-June 2025) until moved out in an NSC purge of Israel and Iran staff, then became a senior policy adviser at the US Mission to the UN, a post that requires no Senate confirmation. She is close to Mike Waltz, who was confirmed as UN ambassador only days after the September veto. Note No court has ruled on genocide, and the U.S. says none has been proven and that one-sided ceasefire texts undercut negotiations. Sources [1] Jewish Insider (https://jewishinsider.com/2025/06/morgan-ortagus-u-s-mission-to-the-u-n-national-security-council/) [2] Wikipedia, citing UN/casualty tracking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_genocide) [3] Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/18/us-vetoes-un-security-council-demand-for-gaza-ceasefire-for-sixth-time) [4] ECCHR Q&A (https://www.ecchr.eu/fileadmin/Q_As/ECCHR_Q_A__Gaza_and_Genocide_20241210.pdf) [5] UN News (https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164056) [6] NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna232480) [7] Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/4/us-rejects-israeli-suggestions-of-removing-palestinians-from-gaza) [8] Times of Israel (https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-state-department-rejects-un-report-accusing-israel-of-genocide-in-gaza/) [9] Wikipedia: Gaza genocide recognition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_genocide_recognition) [10] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Ortagus) [11] NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-rejects-accusations-israel-committed-ge-rcna147031) [12] The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/is-israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-international-court-will-take-years-to-decide-but-states-have-a-duty-to-act-now-263076) [13] UNHRC Commission of Inquiry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_UNHRC_Commission_of_Inquiry_report_on_Gaza_genocide) Connections Related — AIPAC lobbying and campaign spending AIPAC lobbying and campaign spending is offered as a partial explanation for US policy alignment with Israel. Related — ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Mamdani's response Both concern US-Israel policy and the Gaza war; the ICC warrant for Netanyahu is a direct downstream consequence of the same conduct. Related — IRGC's Sept. 29, 2026 open letter to the American people The letter demands an end to U.S. aid to Israel and calls the Gaza war a genocide; this entry covers U.S. policy toward Israel and notes that the genocide label is contested before international courts. Related — Jared Kushner as U.S. special envoy: Affinity Partners' Gulf fundraising and Israeli war-linked holdings during the Iran war (2025-2026) Affinity's Israeli holdings, including Phoenix Financial's investments in defense-linked companies, bear on U.S. policy toward Israel covered in that entry. Cause and effect — Trump's first term and Israel (2017-2021): Adelson money, embassy move, Golan, Iran deal and aid cuts First-term policy shifts set the baseline for later US policy toward Israel. Same context — US-Israel law-enforcement channels: ICE spyware and forensics contracts and police exchange programs Wider context of US-Israel relations and money.