Israeli rights groups brand Gaza campaign ‘genocide’

AFP | Jerusalem

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Rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Monday that they had concluded the war in Gaza amounts to a “genocide” against Palestinians, a first for Israeli NGOs.

Both organisations are frequent critics of Israeli government policies, but the language in their reports issued on Monday was their most stark yet.

“Nothing prepares you for the realisation that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us,” B’Tselem executive director Yuli Novak told a news conference unveiling the two reports.

“As Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness the reality every day, we have a duty to speak the truth as clearly as possible,” she said.

“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.”

A spokesman from the Israeli prime minister’s office, David Mencer, denounced the allegation.

“We have free speech here in Israel but we strongly reject the accusation,” he said.

“Our defence forces target terrorists and never civilians. Hamas is responsible for the suffering in Gaza.”

Israel’s war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry has killed at least 59,921 people, most of them civilians.

All Gazans have been driven from their homes at least once since the start of the war, and UN agencies warn that residents face a growing threat of famine and malnutrition.

The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it “plausible” that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention.

The Israeli government, backed by the United States, fiercely denies the charge and says it is fighting to defeat Hamas and to bring back Israeli hostages still held inGaza.

The reports from B’Tselem-- one of Israel’s best-knownrights groups -- and Physiciansfor Human Rights Israel argue that the war’s objectives gofurther.

B’Tselem’s report cites statements from senior politicians toillustrate that Israel “is takingcoordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society inthe Gaza Strip”.

Physicians for Human RightsIsrael’s report documents whatthe group says is “the deliberate and systematic destruction ofGaza’s healthcare system”.

Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 16 Gaza’s civil defence agency said16

people were killed by Israelifire Monday in the Palestinianterritory devastated by more than21 months of war.

Agency spokesman MahmudBassal told AFP the dead includedfive people killed in an overnightstrike on a residential buildingin the southern Gaza district ofAl-Mawasi.

A pregnant woman was amongthose killed, the Palestinian RedCrescent said, adding its teamssaved the woman’s foetus by performing a Caesarean section in afield hospital.

Israel designated Al-Mawasi, acoastal area west of the southerncity of Khan Yunis, as a humanitarian zone in the early monthsof the war.

Despite that designation, it hascontinued to be hit by air strikesand now shelters a large share ofGaza’s displaced people.