Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, has said that ‘for over a year, Israel has convinced its allies, and much of the world, that its efforts to annihilate Gaza are a legitimate act of self-defence.’
‘For over a year, the government of Israel has waged a brutal and relentless military offensive in the occupied Gaza Strip,’ Callamard said in a recently published website article.
‘The assertion that Israel’s war in Gaza aims solely to dismantle Hamas, and not physically destroy Palestinians as a national and ethnic group, even in part, simply does not stand up to scrutiny.
‘Amnesty International just published conclusive evidence that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and continues to do so,’ Callamard underlined.
‘Genocide is a crime. It is not a political, personal, or public opinion, nor a judgment about Israel’s actions. It is a crime, defined under international law by the Genocide Convention,’ she said.
‘The finding that Israel has perpetrated genocide is a conclusion based on painstaking research and rigorous legal analysis. Our research shows that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention against Palestinians in Gaza, including killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,’ her article highlighted.
‘The Israel Defence Force has wrought destruction on Gaza at a speed and on a scale unseen in any other conflict this century. It has levelled entire cities and pulverised vital infrastructure, agricultural land, and cultural and religious sites.
‘The direct killing of more than 42,000 Palestinians in a year – not including the toll of starvation and disease – is a tragedy of utterly staggering proportion. However, what makes this a genocide under international law is the intent behind Israel’s actions.
‘The evidence presented in our report clearly shows that the deliberate goal of Israel’s military campaign is the destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza.
‘From the outset of this war, public statements by high-level Israeli officials have dehumanised Palestinians and called for genocidal acts, contributing to an overall pattern of conduct that reveals Israel’s true intentions.
‘Time and again, Israel has carried out unlawful, deadly attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in places and under circumstances with no presence of Hamas nor any military necessity.
‘Time and time again, Israel has deployed large explosive weapons in densely populated residential neighbourhoods, knowingly inflicting a wide radius of destruction at times when such weapons would result in the highest civilian casualties.
‘Time and again, Israel issued waves of arbitrary and confusing mass “evacuation” orders, forcibly displacing civilians into ever smaller and more inhospitable areas, all the while carrying out attacks on vital life-sustaining infrastructure.
‘Time and again, Israel deliberately obstructed or denied humanitarian aid to Gaza, ignoring pleas from the international community, humanitarian organisations, and even legally binding orders from the International Court of Justice to take immediate steps to avoid genocide.
‘Israel’s repeated refusal to take necessary actions within its power allowed a deadly mix of hunger and disease to take hold, further endangering the survival of Palestinians in Gaza. The effects on young children and on pregnant and breastfeeding women have been particularly severe.
‘Identification of genocidal intent in armed conflict is complex and challenging, not least because of the multiple military objectives often in play. It’s complex, but not impossible. Moreover, it is essential that genocide in the context of armed conflict be recognised for what it is, that war not be allowed to excuse it, and that the “heat of battle” not cloud the facts on the ground.
‘The evidence laid out in our 300-page report clearly shows that the destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza was and remains a goal for Israel, either in addition to or as a means to achieve its other military goals.
‘Only one reasonable inference can be drawn from the evidence: genocidal intent has been part and parcel of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
‘Millions of people will bear the scars of this genocide for decades to come. People like Hussein Abdelal, who lost 20 family members across three generations to an Israeli airstrike on April 20, 2024.
‘ “I keep looking in the rubble for whatever I can find from my mother and my children,” Hussein told us. “Their bodies were torn to shreds. I found shreds, body parts of my children. I found them without heads”,’ Callamard cited the Gazan father as saying.
‘However uncomfortable our findings may be, inaction in the face of such cruelty is indefensible. The evidence we have published means there is no room to hide; Israel’s allies must stop pretending that international crimes have not been committed.
‘It’s time to stand up for humanity and against inhumanity. States must challenge Israel and push for an immediate ceasefire. They must finally address Israel’s longstanding policies and practices of apartheid and unlawful occupation, which have continued with impunity for decades, laying the ground for the genocide we witness today.
‘The international community’s inertia has shielded Israel from accountability under international law, thereby also eroding what remains of the rules-based order.
‘States must push for an immediate end to Israel’s unlawful and inhumane blockade of Gaza, and those that continue to send weapons to Israel must suspend arms transfers now or know they risk complicity in genocide.
‘Instead of undermining institutions like the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, states must restore faith in international law and justice by ensuring implementation of the courts’ decisions.’
The Amnesty International chief concluded her article by saying that ‘for the last 13 months, millions of people across the globe have marched, week after week, to call for an end to Israel’s crimes in Gaza,’ calling on countries to stop turning their backs on those demands and shoulder their ‘legal and moral duty to bring an immediate and conclusive end to this genocide and take all measures under the law to bring those responsible to justice.’
Gaza faces the most brutal historical catastrophe in modern times!
The Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza says the Palestinian people are facing a historic catastrophe, the most brutal in modern times, as Israeli massacres continue.
The Israeli occupation army has persisted in its brutal attacks against civilians, displaced individuals, journalists, medical teams, civil defence, and those securing humanitarian aid, resulting in the killing of over 110 Palestinians in the past few hours and days alone.
GMO director Dr Ismail Thawabteh said in a statement on Sunday evening: ‘These attacks are part of an ongoing escalation that has lasted for more than 435 days, constituting a crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.’
The GMO pointed out that the Israeli occupation has committed numerous simultaneous massacres against journalists, including the recent killing of Ahmad Bakr Al-Louh, a photographer for Al Jazeera, following the martyrdom of journalist Muhammad Jabr Al-Qurenaoui, a correspondent for the Sanad News Agency, whose entire family was wiped out, in addition to the martyrdom of journalist Muhammad Hamid Ba’alousha, a correspondent for Al Mashhad TV, bringing the total number of journalists killed by the occupation to 196.
The Office also noted that the occupation army committed a brutal massacre against civil defence teams when they bombed a field headquarters in Gaza, killing four civil defence personnel, raising the total number of civil defence martyrs to 94.
It further announced that the occupation also perpetrated a horrific massacre against displaced individuals in the Khalil Awida School in Beit Hanoun, killing over 43 people, as well as a massacre in Al-Nuseirat camp killing over 42 Palestinians, and a massacre in Al-Bureij camp against the Al-Qurenaoui family.
The GMO added that the occupation army targeted municipal teams in Gaza, bombing the Deir al-Balah municipality, killing 12 individuals, including the mayor, Dr Diab Al-Jaru. This attack adds to a series of assassinations targeting four mayors in the Gaza Strip as part of the occupation’s policy to create an administrative and governmental vacuum.
The Office also confirmed that the occupation committed two massacres against humanitarian aid security personnel in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 15 individuals, raising the total number of martyrs in this sector to over 722. It noted that the occupation army continued to target medical teams and hospitals, where several doctors and medical personnel were killed, particularly in Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
It warned that the occupation continues to pursue a systematic starvation policy against over 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including over one million children and nearly one million women, and the occupation. It continues to close crossings leading to the Gaza Strip and prevents the entry of aid and food, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
The GMO strongly condemned the compounded crimes being carried out by the occupation army against the Palestinian people, including the systematic assassinations of journalists, medical personnel, and civil defence teams, as well as the deliberate starvation policy against children and women. It called on countries around the world to condemn these crimes, which constitute crimes against humanity under international law.
The Office pointed out that the Israeli occupation and its supporters, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, bear moral and legal responsibility for participating in the ongoing genocide, which has resulted in over 165,000 martyrs, wounded, missing, and detained.
It urged the international community and international organisations to pressure the occupation to stop the genocide and cease targeting journalists, medical teams, civil defence, and all segments of Palestinian society.
In conclusion, the GMO said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached an extremely critical level, warning that the continuation of these massacres and crimes exposes the Palestinian people to a historical catastrophe, the most brutal in modern times.
