Israel/OPT: Israeli organizations conclude Israel committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in another milestone for accountability efforts
Following the landmark publication of two reports by leading Israeli human rights organizations B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said:
“With the publication of these two reports, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel become the first two Israeli organizations to state it loud and clear, based on meticulous documentation and research: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This is another milestone in the human rights community’s efforts to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their crimes against Palestinians.
“Amid ongoing efforts by the Israeli government to crack down on the work of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations, such publications demanded courage and unyielding commitment to justice and accountability. Their findings must be heeded by the international community and translated into action to stop Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territory, and dismantle its system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights Israel controls.”
“B’Tselem’s report builds on a large body of work undertaken for decades to document Israel’s crimes under international law and demonstrate the cloak of impunity that has sheltered Israeli authorities from accountability. The report’s findings on the occupied West Bank, including Israel’s campaign of forcible transfer, are particularly damning and illustrate the importance of twinning the call to stop Israel’s genocide with clear demands to end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territory and dismantle its system of apartheid.”
“Physicians for Human Rights Israel’s report comprehensively documents Israel’s deliberate and systematic destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza. Taking the violations against the healthcare system and healthcare workers in their totality, its harrowing examination clearly lays out how the damage and destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza is not merely a byproduct of war, but rather part of a deliberate and calculated policy to destroy Palestinian lives in Gaza in what amounts to genocide.”
“The publication of these reports coincides with the start of the UN conference on Palestine in New York. Their unequivocal findings add to the inescapable call for participating states to recognize Israel’s action against Palestinians in Gaza for what it is: genocide. States know their obligations; there is no more time for performative debates, they must take urgent and effective measures to end Israel’s impunity for its human rights violations against Palestinians and stop its genocide, apartheid and unlawful occupation. Palestinians have already suffered irreversible harm; the horrors inflicted will require generations to recover from. States must not miss yet another opportunity to change course, restore some faith in international law and enable Palestinians to begin their recovery process.”
Background
The report published by B’Tselem today, titled Our Genocide, examines Israel’s actions in Gaza since 7 October, together with statements made by Israeli officials and commanders, and the broader context of Israel’s system of apartheid, decades of dehumanization of Palestinians and a pervasive culture of impunity. In addition to focusing on killings, causing bodily and mental harm, and patterns of inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group in Gaza, B’Tselem’s report analyzes escalating patterns of destruction and annihilation in the occupied West Bank, including forcible transfer, raising the alarm that Israel is “replicating in the West Bank – albeit on a smaller scale – some of the patterns it is implementing in Gaza.”
The medical-legal analysis published by Physicians for Human Rights Israel documents Israel’s deliberate destruction of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip and other systems critical for the survival of the Palestinian civilian population. Building on visual evidence and the testimonies of healthcare workers and other Palestinian victims, as well as the organization’s own legal work challenging Israel’s blockade, the report documents direct and indiscriminate attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza, blocking of medical aid, arbitrary and sweeping restrictions on medical evacuations of critically sick and wounded Palestinians outside the Gaza strip, and the detention, torture and killings of healthcare workers.