Amnesty International Report Says Israel’s Conduct in Gaza Amounts to Genocide
Amnesty International has released a 296-page report alleging that Israel’s conduct in Gaza during the 2023 war constitutes genocide against the Palestinian people. The report details numerous instances of Israel’s military and government’s violations of international law, including the mass killing of Palestinian civilians, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life “calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part.”
The report claims that Israel’s actions were intentional and part of a deliberate effort to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza. Amnesty International argues that the evidence gathered over nine months shows that Israel’s military and government officials have committed three of five acts prohibited under the United Nations’ Genocide Convention.
The report highlights various incidents, including the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, such as US-manufactured Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), in densely populated areas, and the repeated targeting of residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian aid convoys. Additionally, the report documents the forced mass displacement of Palestinians, with over 90% of Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants being displaced multiple times, often forced to live in unsanitary and inhumane conditions.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard stated, “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 called on the international community to act, warning that states that continue to transfer arms to Israel could be at risk of becoming complicit in genocide.
Israel has vehemently denied the allegations, calling the report “entirely baseless” and stating that it failed to account for the operational realities faced by Israeli soldiers within Gaza. However, Amnesty International believes that Israel’s actions are in violation of international humanitarian law and urges the international community to take immediate action to bring the atrocities to an end. The organization accuses Israel of deliberately inflicting harm on Palestinians and undermining their right to live with dignity, and warns that the world should not continue to turn a blind eye to these human rights abuses.