erate-to-high water insecurity.

The distinction between trucks approved, trucks crossing into Gaza and supplies successfully collected and distributed to civilians has been a persistent source of conflicting claims throughout the war.

Issacharoff did not identify a source or time period for his assertion that births have exceeded deaths.

The arithmetic may be possible depending on the dates and figures used. UNICEF estimated in January 2024 that nearly 20,000 babies had been born during the first 105 days of the war. By February 2026, it reported that 71,803 Palestinians had been killed since Oct. 7, 2023, citing Gaza health authorities.

But birth figures do not, by themselves, determine whether genocide has occurred. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires certain prohibited acts committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group  in whole or in part. 

A population does not have to be completely eliminated, or even register a net decline, for conduct to meet that definition.

There is no final international court ruling that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. South Africa's case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention remains pending before the International Court of Justice, which has issued several provisional measures but has not ruled on the merits.

Israel categorically rejects the accusation and says its military campaign has targeted Hamas following the group's Oct. 7 attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages.

However, Ruffalo's use of the term is not without support from international investigators. In September 2025, an independent commission established by the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded that Israeli authorities had committed four of the five acts enumerated in the Genocide Convention and possessed the required genocidal intent.

Israel rejected that report as false and politically motivated. Amnesty International and other human-rights organizations have reached similar conclusions, while some governments and legal scholars maintain that genocide has not been legally established.

Ruffalo's comments came as part of his campaign against Paramount Skydance's proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. In an Instagram post, the actor criticized Oracle executive vice chair Safra Catz for discussing the company's support for Israel after Oct. 7 and accused Oracle of powering  an apartheid system of oppression  and contributing to genocide.

Oracle was co-founded by Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison controls Paramount Skydance.

Paramount accused Ruffalo of invoking antisemitic tropes and said applying the words  genocide  and  apartheid  to a corporate transaction was  a bridge too far.  Ruffalo denied that his remarks were antisemitic, calling the accusation  appalling and fundamentally dishonest. 

 Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people, the actor said.

The dispute has since divided Hollywood.

Nearly 1,000 entertainment figures signed a letter condemning Ruffalo's remarks, while more than 180 Jewish artists, writers and academics, including Joel Coen, Tony Kushner, Hannah Einbinder and Todd Haynes, signed a separate letter defending him.

Ruffalo's collaborator Kenneth Lonergan penned an open letter defending him against the antisemitism accusations. George Clooney has also defended Ruffalo's right to speak out while stopping short of endorsing all of his claims.

Issacharoff acknowledged that his criticism was unlikely to change Ruffalo's mind.

 At the end of the day, I do believe that I'm an optimistic guy,  he said.  You have to believe that one day people will understand reality better and won't surrender to all kinds of slogans and clichés and lies that are being spread.  

Representatives for Ruffalo and Issacharoff did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.