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Rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said overnight 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 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.”
B’Tselem’s report cites statements from senior politicians to illustrate that Israel “is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip”.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel’s report documents what the group says is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system”.
Israel rejects accusation
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 militant group Hamas on October 7 2023 in which around 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.
The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and has killed at least 59,921 people, most of them civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
According to the UN, over 90% of the people in Gaza have had to leave their homes at least once since the conflict began. UN agencies also caution that these residents are increasingly at risk of hunger and malnutrition.
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 in Gaza.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, adopted globally after the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.
