Amnesty International’s Israeli branch has distanced itself from the rights group’s claims that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza, but says there are potentially “grave crimes” being committed that need to be investigated. He said there was.
The local branch, which operates as a separate charity from the international organization, said in a statement: “Amnesty International’s Israel arm does not accept, based on available information, accusations that Israel is committing genocide, but is concerned.” Serious crimes are being committed in Gaza, and an investigation need to. ”
The 296-page report examined events in the Gaza Strip from October 2023 to July 2024, and found that Israel “brazenly and continuously treats Gaza’s 2.3 million people with total impunity.” “He has unleashed hell…” and pointed out “atrocious crimes” against Israelis. Hamas, which started the war on October 7, 2023, claimed that it “does not justify genocide.”
The publication was warmly welcomed by Palestinians and humanitarian organizations, but was met with outrage in Israel. “Amnesty International, a deplorable and fanatical organization, has produced a fabricated report that is completely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The United States said it disagreed with the report’s conclusions. “As we have said previously, we continue to confirm that the allegations of genocide are unfounded,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
Multiple attempts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Gaza conflict, which has now raged for 14 months, have failed, but mediator Qatar announced on Thursday that it would resume its role, with a new There are tentative hopes that progress will be made in the negotiations.
Egypt, another major mediator, has put forward a proposal that includes a temporary ceasefire of 45 to 60 days with gradual hostage releases and prisoner exchanges. A Hamas delegation met with Egyptian negotiators in Cairo earlier this week, and Israel is considering sending its own delegation in the coming days, the latest since the previous round collapsed in August. , was the biggest move in the negotiations.
Egypt’s proposal also gives the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority control of the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza, which Israel captured in May, and signals a significant increase in aid supplies. According to UN data, an average of 50 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border with Israel in November. Aid agencies say at least 500 people are needed to meet the population’s needs amid a severe humanitarian crisis and winter approaching.
At least 39 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli fires in the past 24 hours, doctors said, including an overnight airstrike that ignited cooking gas canisters and tents where Israel was housing displaced families. This includes at least 20 people who died. Humanitarian Zone.” Israel said the attack targeted a senior Hamas operative, but did not reveal the person’s identity.
Other Israeli airstrikes reported on Thursday were in Gaza City, where airstrikes destroyed a home where relatives had taken shelter, damaged two nearby homes and killed at least three people, a medic said. announced.
In the coastal town of Mawasi, south of the Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, residents searched for loved ones and belongings among the charred wreckage.
Abu Anas Mustafa told Reuters at a funeral for those killed in Mawashi near Khan Yunis that Amnesty’s report was a “victory for Palestinian diplomacy” but “too late”. .
“Today is the 430th day of the war, but Israel has been committing massacres and genocide since the first 10 days of the war,” he said.
