Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war, a claim that Israel strongly denies.
The UK-based human rights group stated that its conclusion was based on “dehumanising and genocidal statements” made by Israeli officials, digital images, and witness testimony, urging the international community to take this as a “wake-up call.”
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the 295-page report as “entirely false and based on lies,” while the Israeli military described the allegations as “entirely baseless” and not reflecting the operational realities it faces.
Meanwhile, local medics report that at least 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza over the past day, with the highest death toll recorded at the al-Mawasi tent camp for displaced people, which Israel claims was targeting Hamas operatives.
Amnesty, based on months of research, stated it found sufficient evidence to conclude that Israel has committed, and continues to commit, genocide against Palestinians.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, established after the Holocaust, defines genocide as actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general, stated that Israeli actions include killings, inflicting serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately creating conditions in Gaza aimed at the physical destruction of Palestinians.
“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,” she continued.
The report by the global campaign group comes as the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice at The Hague, continues to examine allegations by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has called the case “wholly unfounded” and based on “biased and false claims”.
Responding to the allegations by Amnesty, Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, described the human rights group as a “deplorable and fanatical organisation”.
“The genocidal massacre on 7 October 2023, was carried out by the Hamas terrorist organisation against Israeli citizens,” he stated, adding that Israel as acting in self-defence and “fully in accordance with international law”.
The Israeli military has stated that it is “actively working to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure” in Gaza and emphasizes that it “takes all feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians during operations.”
The ongoing conflict began 15 months ago when Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, sparking the Gaza war. Since then, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reports that at least 44,532 people have been killed, most of them civilians, and these figures are considered reliable by the UN.
In the past day, Israel has continued its attacks across Gaza, with an airstrike on a displaced persons camp in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, resulting in at least 23 deaths and many injuries. Social media videos show residents battling fires throughout the night. At Nasser Hospital, a local BBC cameraman filmed the arrival of the wounded, including bloodstained children and a disabled man. Two small children’s bodies were also seen wrapped in blankets.
Israel’s military stated that its airstrike targeted senior Hamas operatives in what it regards as a humanitarian zone. It also mentioned secondary explosions, suggesting the presence of weaponry in the area. The Israeli military further claimed that it had taken steps to reduce civilian harm and accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields for terrorist activities.
On Thursday, BBC footage showed people picking through the mangled wrecks of shacks and piles of ash.
“The strike hit us without any warning and did this big massacre,” Mohammed Abu Shahli said. “The people here are refugees from different places – from Rafah and the north. They came to a place they thought was safe.”
His head bandaged, Abdul Rahman Jamaa said seven members of his family were killed including his father and three brothers.
He told the BBC: “There are no protected safe areas as the Israelis say. These are all lies. May God protect us.”