Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza War, a charge Israel strongly denies.
The UK-based human rights group said its conclusions were based on “inhuman and genocidal statements” by Israeli officials, digital images and witness testimony, and should serve as a “wake-up call” to the international community. He said that.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the 295-page report was “completely false and based on lies,” while the Israeli military said the claims were “totally baseless and fail to explain the operational realities facing Israel.” “I haven’t.”
Meanwhile, local medical officials announced a day earlier that at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip.
The largest number of people killed was the Almawashi tent camp for displaced people, which Israel says was targeting Hamas operatives.
Amnesty International said its months-long investigation found “sufficient grounds to conclude that Israel has committed, and continues to commit, genocide against the Palestinian people.”
The 1948 Genocide Convention, established in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust’s genocide of Jews, defines genocide as “a crime committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.” It is defined as “an act that is performed.”
Amnesty International’s Director-General Agnès Callamard said Israel’s actions include “killing, inflicting grievous physical or psychological harm, and deliberately subjecting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to living conditions calculated to cause physical destruction.” “It includes things like that.”
“Month after month, Israel demonstrates its intent to physically destroy the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, treating them as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity,” she continued.
The report by the Global Campaign Group comes as the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, continues to hear South Africa’s claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel called the lawsuit “totally baseless” and based on “biased and false allegations.”
In response to Amnesty International’s claims, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein described the human rights organization as a “deplorable and fanatical organization”.
“The genocide of October 7, 2023 was carried out against the Israeli people by the terrorist organization Hamas,” it said, adding that Israel was acting in self-defense and “in full accordance with international law.”
The Israeli military said it was “actively working to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure” in the Gaza Strip and was “taking all possible measures to reduce harm to civilians during operations.”
The Hamas-led offensive that triggered the Gaza war 15 months ago killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel.
At least 44,532 people have been killed in Gaza since then, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, a figure deemed reliable by the United Nations.
In recent days, Israel has continued to carry out attacks across the Palestinian territories.
At least 23 people were killed and many more injured in an airstrike on a displaced persons camp in al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis. Videos on social media showed residents battling the fire throughout the night.
At nearby Nasser Hospital, a local BBC cameraman filmed the arrival of the injured, including a bloody child and a disabled man. The bodies of two young children were among the dead wrapped in blankets.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted senior Hamas operatives operating in what the country considers a humanitarian zone. “A secondary explosion was observed following the attack, indicating the presence of a weapon in the area,” the ministry said in a statement.
The government said it had taken measures to “reduce the risk of harm to civilians” and accused Hamas of using civilians as “human shields for terrorist activities”.
On Thursday, BBC footage showed people scavenging through the remains of shattered huts and piles of ash.
“Without any warning, the attack hit us and this massive massacre took place,” said Mohammed Abu Shari. “The people here are refugees from different places, including Rafah and the north. They came to a place where they thought it was safe.”
Abdul Rahman Jamaa, whose head was bandaged, said seven members of his family, including his father and three brothers, had been killed.
He told the BBC: “There is no such thing as a protected and safe area as the Israelis say. These are all lies. May God protect us.”
