Amnesty International has accused Israel of subjecting Palestinians to a system of apartheid founded on policies of “segregation, dispossession and exclusion” that has amounted to crimes against humanity.

The rights group, in its 280-page report said its findings were based on research and legal analysis into Israeli seizure of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer of people and denial of citizenship.

Amnesty said Israel was enforcing a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians “wherever it has control over their rights”.

Alongside forcible transfers, torture and unlawful killings, which Amnesty said were intended to maintain a system of “oppression and domination”, they constitute “the crime against humanity of apartheid”.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement that “the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly are obliged to heed the compelling evidence presented by Amnesty and other leading human rights organizations.

“It holds Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, including through sanctions”.

However, Israel said the report, the second by an international rights group in less than a year to accuse it of pursuing a policy of apartheid, “consolidates and recycles lies” from hate groups and was designed to “pour fuel onto the fire of antisemitism”.

It accused Amnesty UK of using “double standards and demonisation in order to delegitimise Israel”.

Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, said “Israel is not perfect, but it is a democracy committed to international law and open to scrutiny” with a free press and a strong Supreme Court.

(Reuters/NAN)