Amnesty says UK government disregards preventing genocide in Gaza

Amnesty International has denounced the UK government’s “disregard for its legal obligations” to prevent genocide, claiming this has allowed Israel to continue its attacks without facing accountability, The New Arab reported on January 27th.

The UK-based human rights watchdog called on the government led by Keir Starmer to “take urgent and meaningful steps” to stop Israel’s “genocidal” actions against Palestinians in Gaza, as a commitment to the Genocide Convention, in its capacity as a State Party. 

“The genocide against the Palestinian people is a matter of law and evidence, not opinion,” said Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK.

Deshmukh emphasised that “Prime Minister Keir Starmer must accept the UK’s obligations to prevent Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and help ensure there is justice and accountability.” 

This statement coincided with the one-year anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s ruling, which indicated a plausible risk that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. 

Deshmukh said: “The UK government should have taken heed of this extremely significant ICJ ruling the day it was announced.”

He added: “UK inaction and disregard for its international obligations to prevent genocide contributed to Israel’s impunity and risked British complicity in serious crimes against international law.” 

Amnesty said: “The UK has a legal obligation to use all reasonable means to help prevent genocide and be consistent when supporting international law – just as it has done when calling out crimes carried out by Russian forces.”

In its December 2024 report, the rights organisation concluded that Israel had committed and continues to commit genocide in Gaza following its military actions in the area, a claim rejected by Israel and its national branch of the group.

The rights organisation found that the state has caused harm and death to civilians while obstructing aid and failing to target Hamas members as it claimed it would do legally.

The report illustrated how Israel has executed actions that violate the Genocide Convention, treating Gazans “as a subhuman group” with the “intent to physically destroy them.”

Since October 2023, Israel’s military actions have caused the deaths of over 47,000 Palestinians, with the United Nations reporting that the majority of deaths are of women and children.

Even with the ceasefire on January 19th, Israel continues to assault Palestinians, concentrating its efforts on the occupied West Bank and maintaining its offensive in Jenin city and its refugee camp.

The New Arab