Amnesty says Israel is carrying out ‘genocide’ in Gaza
A report by Amnesty International released on December 5th accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Arab News via AFP.
The London-based rights group said its conclusion was based on “dehumanizing and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials,” satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from those in Gaza.
“Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them,” Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard said in a statement.
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“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” she added.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Israel has military objectives. But the existence of military objectives does not negate the possibility of a genocidal intent,” Callamard told AFP at a press conference in The Hague.
The 300-page report points to incidents where there “was no Hamas presence or any other military objectives,” citing 15 air strikes in Gaza between October 7th 2023 and April 20th this year which killed 334 civilians including 141 children, for which the group found “no evidence that any of these strikes were directed at a military objective.”
In addition to tens of thousands of killings and physical and psychological trauma, the report also points to the conditions in Gaza, where it says Palestinians are subjected to “malnutrition, hunger and diseases” and exposed to a “slow, calculated death.”
“States that transfer arms to Israel violate their obligations to prevent genocide under the convention and are at risk of becoming complicit,” Callamard added during the press conference.
AT least 44,532 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7th 2023, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry, operated by Hamas authorities and deemed reliable by the UN.
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Amnesty has also stated that it will publish a report on crimes committed by Hamas during the October 7th attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 Israeli’s, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures including hostages killed in captivity.
Hamas seized 251 hostages during the attack, some of whom were already dead. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli army says are dead.
A few weeks ago, a report by a UN Special Committee also accused Israel’s tactics in Gaza as being “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
AFP
