Germany: Shock at Israeli acts of genocide
A child looks on as Palestinians gather to collect water, amid water shortages, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 2, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
On December 20, 2024, the Middle East Monitor reported that Germany has expressed dismay at the Human Rights Watch report on Israeli “acts of genocide” in their war with Gaza – a war that has entered its second deadly year. Despite the German government publicly declaring staunch support for Israel’s right to self-defence, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry has announced that “it is really urgent that the Israeli government, so to speak, deals with these allegations and addresses them”. They have also called for increased efforts to get aid into Gaza.
Read: UN says most humanitarian aid to Gaza blocked in last two months
Human Rights Watch argues that their investigation has confirmed that “Israel is pursuing extermination and genocide in its war on Gaza, specifically zeroing in on the critical issue of access to water, which Israel has worked to deliberately deny”. They believe there is evidence that Israel has deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure vital for water and sanitation purposes. The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure violates the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits collective punishment. This means it is illegal to punish a group of people for crimes they have not committed. If Israel maintains that their war is with Hamas, then they should not punish the civilian population in Gaza.
This flagrant violation of International Law is one of many accusations made against the Israeli government during this brutal war. Human Rights Watch has also reported that Israel has provided “unsafe evacuations in the Gaza Strip, describing them as brutal and illegal and paving the way for further crimes against civilians”. According to reports, Israel have forced Palestinian civilians to move south to areas that have been repeatedly subjected to Israeli bombardment.
Read: “Ethnic cleansing” blatant in Israel’s attack on Gaza, report finds
The ambiguous discourse used by the German government and other western allies of Israel does not appear to resonate with senior elites in the Israeli government. Rather, the people appear to be ‘rallying around the flag’ so to speak, broadly supporting Netanyahu. The state has rejected all calls from international institutions to change their military operation in Gaza, killing 19 Palestinians on Friday 20, 2024, alone. Whilst there are rumours a ceasefire are brewing, the credibility of these rumours are yet to be seen.
Middle East Monitor
