Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war, which Israel strongly denies.
The UK-based human rights group said its decision was based on “statements of inhumanity and genocide” by Israeli officials, digital images and witness testimony, and should serve as a “wake-up call” to the international community.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry explained 295 page report “Completely false and based on lies”, but said the Israeli military’s claims were “totally baseless and fail to take into account the operational realities it faces”.
In the past day, meanwhile, local doctors say at least 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza.
A large number of people were killed in the al-Mawasi tent camp for displaced people, where Israel says Hamas operatives were targeted.
Amnesty said its months-long investigation “found sufficient grounds to conclude that Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide against Palestinians”.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted after the mass killing of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnic or religious group”.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, said Israeli actions “include killings that cause serious physical or psychological harm and deliberately inflict living conditions on Palestinians that lead to their physical destruction”.
“Month after month, Israel treats the Palestinians in Gaza as an inhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them,” he continued.
The global campaign group’s report continues as the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, continues to scrutinize South Africa’s allegations that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza.
Israel has called the case “completely baseless” and based on “biased and false claims”.
Responding to Amnesty’s allegations, Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein described the human rights group as a “deplorable and fanatical organization”.
“On October 7, 2023, the Hamas terrorist organization committed a genocidal massacre against Israeli civilians,” he said, adding that Israel was acting in self-defense and “fully in accordance with international law.”
The Israeli military said it was “actively working to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure” in Gaza and would “take all feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians during the operation”.
About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in southern Israel 15 months ago during a Hamas-led offensive that triggered the Gaza war.
Since then, at least 44,532 people, mostly civilians, have died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable.
Over the past day, Israel has continued its attacks throughout the Palestinian territories.
At least 23 people were killed and many injured in an airstrike on a camp for displaced people in Al-Mawasi in Khan Yunis. Video on social media shows residents battling the fire overnight.
At nearby Nasser Hospital, a local BBC cameraman filmed the arrival of the wounded, including blood-stained children and a disabled man. The bodies of two small children were among the dead brought wrapped in blankets.
Israel’s military said the attack targeted senior Hamas operatives in what it considers a humanitarian zone. “After the strike, secondary explosions were detected, indicating the presence of weapons in the area,” it said in a statement.
It said it had taken measures to “mitigate the risk of harm to civilians” and accused Hamas of using civilians as “human shields for terrorist activity”.
On Thursday, BBC footage showed people picking through the wreckage of huts and piles of ash.
“The strike hit us without any warning and caused this great carnage,” said Mohammad Abu Shahli. “The people here are refugees from different places – from Rafah and the north. He came to a place he thought was safe.
His head was bandaged, seven members of his family, including his father and three brothers, were killed, Abdul Rahman Jama said.
He told the BBC: “The Israelis say there are no protected safe areas. It’s all a lie. God save us.”
