Amnesty International on Thursday accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, saying the Israeli army intentionally committed war crimes.

The human rights organisation, in a 300-page report titled ‘You feel like you are subhuman: Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza’, stated that during what it called Israel’s offensive, the army intentionally brought suffering and destruction to the people living in Gaza.

“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement.

Israel has consistently rejected such accusations, calling its actions defensive and citing its right to self-defence.

The trigger for the Gaza conflict was the massacre by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and other extremists on October 7, 2023, when they invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages.

Hamas fighters reportedly used civilians as human shields, while Israel, they stressed, did everything possible to spare civilians.

Amnesty, however, emphasised that Israel aimed to destroy Palestinians as a group.

Countries and nations that continue to supply weapons to Israel risk becoming complicit, the report warned.

“States that continue to transfer arms to Israel at this time must know they are violating their obligation to prevent genocide and are at risk of becoming complicit in genocide,” Ms Callamard warned. “All states with influence over Israel, particularly key arms suppliers like the USA and Germany, but also other EU member states, the UK and others, must act now to bring Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza to an immediate end.”

The organisation is calling for an immediate end to what it says is genocide, the establishment of a ceasefire, and the release of all hostages.

The Israeli government has ignored countless warnings about the catastrophic humanitarian situation and disregarded measures from the International Court of Justice, criticised Julia Duchrow, secretary general of Amnesty International in Germany.

The ICJ had called on Israel to ensure humanitarian supplies in Gaza.
“Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza,” Ms Callamard wrote.

Israel has been engaging heavily with ground troops and airstrikes against Hamas in the densely populated coastal strip, home to more than two million people, for over a year.

According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 44,500 people have died so far, and around 105,500 have been injured.

A large portion of residential buildings and infrastructure has been destroyed. Aid organizations are warning of a famine.

(dpa/NAN)