在一份纪念10月7日大屠杀三周年的公开信中，签署者认为事实不支持种族灭绝的指控，并警告降低法律门槛可能会对未来的美军军事行动产生后果。
In an open letter marking the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, the signatories argue that the facts do not support allegations of genocide and warn that lowering the legal threshold could have consequences for future US military operations.
周三，在哈马斯2023年10月7日大屠杀三周年之际，超过75名美国资深退役军事领导人和法律专家在一份公开信中驳回了以色列在加沙犯下种族灭绝罪的指控。
More than 75 senior retired US military leaders and legal experts rejected allegations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza in an open letter released Wednesday, on the third anniversary of Hamas's October 7, 2023, massacre.
这份由美国犹太国家安全研究所（JINSA）组织的公开信得出结论，认为种族灭绝的指控缺乏事实支持，也不符合种族灭绝的法律定义。
The letter, organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), concludes that the genocide allegation is unsupported by the facts and does not meet the legal definition of genocide.
签署者中包括曾指挥美军参战的前资深军官。凭借其军事和法律经验，他们主张无论平民伤亡多么严重，本身并不构成认定种族灭绝所需的特定意图。
Among the signatories are former senior US military officers who commanded American forces in combat. Drawing on their military and legal experience, they argue that civilian casualties, however severe, do not in themselves establish the specific intent required for a finding of genocide.
根据签署者的说法，以色列既未表现出消灭巴勒斯坦人作为一个群体的意图，也未以符合此种意图的方式开展军事行动。
“指控以色列在加沙犯下种族灭绝罪是淫秽的，”JINSA总裁兼首席执行官迈克尔·马科夫斯基表示。
According to the signatories, Israel has neither demonstrated an intent to destroy Palestinians as a group nor conducted its military campaign in a manner consistent with such an intent.“Accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza is obscene,” JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky said.
“它严重歪曲了真相、事实和法律。”马科夫斯基表示，签署该信函的前指挥官和律师既了解“战争的现实”，也了解他所描述的以色列为限制平民伤亡所采取的前所未有的措施。签署者指出以色列国防军保护平民的措施信中列举了以色列国防军在战争期间采取的一系列措施，包括提前预警、疏散指令、受保护走廊、战术暂停、对潜在目标进行法律审查，以及在平民在场时决定取消空袭。
“It egregiously distorts the truth, the facts, and the law.”Makovsky said the former commanders and lawyers who signed the letter understand both “the realities of war” and what he described as the unprecedented measures Israel has taken to limit civilian casualties. Signatories point to IDF measures to protect civiliansThe letter cites a series of measures taken by the IDF during the war, including advance warnings, evacuation instructions, protected corridors, tactical pauses, legal reviews of potential targets, and decisions to cancel strikes when civilians were present.
签署者认为，这些预防措施有时要求以色列部队放弃战术优势，并让自己的士兵面临更大风险。
Those precautions, the signatories argue, have at times required Israeli forces to relinquish tactical advantages and expose their own personnel to greater risks.
该信函并未否认加沙地带巴勒斯坦平民遭受苦难的规模。相反，签署者表示，他们指挥美军的经验告诉他们，即使军队寻求遵守武装冲突法，平民伤害仍可能发生。
他们写道：“不存在完美的攻击；只有指挥官利用所有可用信息做出艰难决定，并运用最佳判断来履行法律义务、保护平民的攻击。”
The letter does not dismiss the scale of Palestinian civilian suffering in Gaza. Instead, the signatories say their own experience commanding American forces has taught them that civilian harm can occur even when militaries seek to comply with the laws of armed conflict.“There is no perfect attack; there are only those in which commanders use all available information to make hard decisions and their best judgment to comply with legal obligations and protect civilians,” they wrote.
签署者还区分了以色列政治官员的言论与以色列国防军的实际行动。
The signatories also distinguish between statements made by Israeli political officials and the conduct of the IDF.
他们谴责以色列政客发表的煽动性言论，但同时指出，此类言论本身并不能作为军事行动存在种族灭绝意图的证据。这封信还指出，此次确立的先例所产生的影响并不仅限于以色列。签署者警告称，若降低界定种族灭绝的标准，可能会促使敌对势力将军队混入平民之中，利用由此产生的平民伤亡来将原本合法的军事行动歪曲为种族灭绝行为。
They condemn inflammatory rhetoric by Israeli politicians but argue that such statements cannot, by themselves, substitute for evidence of genocidal intent in the conduct of military operations.' The precedent established today' could affect US forcesThe letter also frames the debate as having implications beyond Israel. The signatories warn that lowering the threshold for defining genocide could incentivize adversaries to embed military forces among civilians, exploit the resulting casualties, and then characterize otherwise lawful military operations as genocidal.“The precedent established today will shape the conditions under which American forces fight tomorrow,” the letter states.
“今天确立的先例将决定未来美军作战的环境，”信中这样写道。他们呼吁那些提出种族灭绝指控的人士严格按照《防止及惩治灭绝种族罪公约》的法律要求来行事，并区分战争造成的平民苦难、可能违反武装冲突法的行为以及种族灭绝这一特定的犯罪行为。他们认为，滥用这一标准不仅可能助长那些蓄意将平民置于危险之中的敌对势力，还会削弱美国及其盟友的自卫能力。
“保护平民并维护国家自卫能力，要求我们坚决捍卫事实真相——绝不能任由有人歪曲战争法来捏造种族灭绝的虚假指控，”信的结尾如此说道。
They call on those making genocide allegations to apply the Genocide Convention according to its legal requirements and to distinguish between civilian suffering caused by warfare, possible violations of the laws of armed conflict, and the separate and specific crime of genocide. Misapplying the standard, they argue, risks rewarding adversaries who deliberately place civilians in danger while undermining the ability of the United States and its allies to defend themselves.“Protecting civilians and preserving the ability of our nation to defend itself requires us to defend the truth when the laws of war are being distorted to make false charges of genocide,” the letter concludes.