Amnesty International research has found sufficient evidence to conclude that Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, the organisation said in a groundbreaking new report released today.
The report entitled 'You feel like subhumans': Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza documents how Israel, during its military offensive launched after the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, has brazenly, continuously and with complete impunity unleashed hell and destruction on the Palestinians in Gaza.
"Amnesty International's report demonstrates that Israel has carried out acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately creating living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza that are intended to lead to their physical destruction. Month after month, Israel treats the Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity and demonstrates its intention to physically destroy them," She told Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
"Our damning findings must send a warning signal to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop immediately. States that continue to supply arms to Israel at this time must know that they are in breach of their duty to prevent genocide and risk becoming complicit in it. All states that have influence over Israel, especially key arms suppliers such as the US and Germany, but also other EU Member States, the UK and others, must act immediately to bring an immediate end to Israel's atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza."
In the last two months, the crisis has escalated particularly in northern Gaza, where the besieged population faces starvation, displacement and extermination under constant bombardment and the curtailment of life-saving humanitarian aid.
"Our research reveals that Israel has persisted in committing acts of genocide for months, fully aware of the irreparable damage it is inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza. It has continued to do so despite countless warnings about the dire humanitarian situation and legally binding rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to take immediate measures to enable the provision of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza," said Agnès Callamard.
"Israel has repeatedly claimed that its actions in Gaza are lawful and can be justified by its military goal of eliminating Hamas. However, genocidal intent can exist alongside military objectives and need not be Israel's sole purpose."
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Amnesty International has examined Israel's actions in Gaza in detail and in their totality, taking into account their repetition and co-occurrence and their immediate impact as well as their cumulative and mutually reinforcing effects. The organization considered the scale and severity of casualties and destruction over time. It also analyzed public statements by officials and found that prohibited acts were often reported or encouraged, particularly by high-ranking officials in charge of the war effort.
"Considering the previous context of dispossession, apartheid and illegal military occupation in which these acts were committed, we could only come to one reasonable conclusion: the Israeli intention is the physical liquidation of the Palestinians in Gaza, either in parallel with the military goal of destroying Hamas or as a means to achieve it," said Agnès Callamard.
"The atrocious crimes committed on October 7, 2023 by Hamas and other armed groups against Israelis and victims of other nationalities, including deliberate mass killings and hostage-taking, can never justify Israel's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza."
International jurisprudence recognizes that it is not necessary for the perpetrator to succeed in his attempts to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group in order to commit genocide. The commission of prohibited acts with the intent to destroy the group as such is sufficient.
The report examines in detail Israeli violations in Gaza over a nine-month period from 7 October 2023 to early July 2024. The organisation interviewed 212 individuals, including Palestinian victims and witnesses, local authorities in Gaza, health workers, conducted field research, and analysed an extensive range of visual and digital evidence, including satellite imagery. It also analysed statements by senior Israeli government and military officials and official Israeli authorities. On several occasions, the organisation communicated its findings to the Israeli authorities, but at the time of publication had received no substantive response.
Amnesty International/ gnews - RoZ_07
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