Amnesty Inter­national has found “sufficient evidence” to conclude that Israel has committed and continues to commit “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, stating that “genocidal intent has been part and parcel of Israel’s conduct in Gaza since Oct 7 2023, including its military campaign.”

In its latest report titled, ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, the human rights body accused Israel of carrying out prohibited actions under the Genocide Convention, namely “killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.

“It considers that Israel committed these acts with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, as such. It concludes that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.”

In retaliation to Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attacks, Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 44,500 Palestinians and injured nearly 105,739 — with the death toll feared to be much higher due to thousands still missing under the rubble.

‘Like an apocalypse’

Amnesty International conducted the research for the report between Oct 2023 and July 2024. In doing so, it investigated the situation on the ground during the nine-month period.

The organisation interviewed 212 people, including Palestinian victims and witnesses, local authorities in Gaza, healthcare workers and NGO staff, conducted fieldwork and analysed a range of visual and digital evidence, such as satellite imagery. It also analysed statements by the Israeli government, army officials, and official Israeli bodies.

The report quoted a 42-year-old named Mohammed who spoke about his experience of displacement from Rafah: “Here in Deir Al-Balah, it’s like an apocalypse. There is no room for you to pitch a tent; you have to set it up near the coast … You have to protect your children from insects, from the heat, and there is no clean water, no toilets, all while the bombing never stops. You feel like you are subhuman here.”

Israel has committed at least three out of the five acts banned under the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, according to the findings.

“Genocide is a crime under international law, whether committed in times of peace or armed conflict,” the report stated.

In the report, Amnesty Inter­national considered the possible commission of genocide by Israel from the perspective of state responsibility.

It noted that Israel is a party to the Genocide Convention, and the commission of genocide by organs of the state or persons or groups whose conduct is attributable to the state accordingly gives rise to state responsibility.

For the assessment of state responsibility, the report takes two elements into account: attribution of allegedly wrongful conduct to a state and a breach of an applicable international obligation.

Amnesty noted that the conflict in Gaza has seen some of the highest known death tolls among children (13,319 by Oct 7, 2024), journalists, as well as health and humanitarian workers of any recent conflict in the world.

“The level and speed of damage to and destruction of homes and infrastructure across all sectors of economic activity has similarly not been seen in any other conflict in the 21st century,” it noted.

The report focused on the Israeli authorities’ policies and actions in the occupied Gaza Strip in the context of the military offensive launched in the wake of attacks carried out by Hamas and other armed groups on Oct 7, 2023.

But the exhaustive 296-page report — chock full of first-hand accounts, interviews, satellite imagery and analysis of videos and photos taken by journalists — covers only a small fraction of the allegations of violations and crimes under international law perpetrated by Israel. A fuller assessment, Amnesty notes, will only be possible after Israel’s current offensive has ended.

The report does address Israeli violations perpetrated against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the context of Israel’s increased repression through arbitrary restrictions on movement, an alarming spike in state-backed settler violence, the unlawful use of lethal force, mass arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, and forcible transfer, as well as aggressive settlement construction and expansion. It says that this issue is the subject of a separate investigation.

The Israeli army has repeatedly insisted that its military offensive was targeting Hamas. While the report acknowledged the crimes perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups against Israel, it stated that Israel’s military conduct against Palestinians was not “justified”.

Amnesty Secretary General Agnes Callamard said in a statement issued today, “The atrocity crimes committed on 7 October 2023 by Hamas and other armed groups against Israelis and victims of other nationalities, including deliberate mass killings and hostage-taking, can never justify Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

Press conference with media

Amnesty International held a press conference at The Hague a day earlier, which was virtually attended by Dawn.com. The panel, consisting of Callamard and two researchers, presented the research findings and answered questions from the media.

During the presentation, Callard said, “Israel has intended and intends to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza strip,” adding that Amnesty found Israel’s “clear intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza”.

She further stated that Israel had carried out “deliberate actions” for the destruction of Gaza and urged action from the international community.

“States that transfer arms to Israel violate their obligations to prevent genocide under the convention and are at risk of becoming complicit”, Callamard said, according to AFP.

While responding to a question on Israel’s motives behind the actions, she said, “[It] does not matter why … It must stop,” adding, “Whatever their motives were, it has genocidal intent.”

Israel denies accusations

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling the rights group a “deplorable and fanatical organisation” that has “once again produced a fabricated report”, according to Al Jazeera.

A statement published by The Times of Israel quoted Amnesty Israel saying that it “does not accept the claim that genocide has been proven to be taking place in the Gaza Strip and does not accept the operative findings of the report.”

It further said, “the scale of the killing and destruction carried out by Israel in Gaza has reached horrific proportions” but it does not believe Israel’s actions “meet the definition of genocide as strictly laid out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

Amnesty International’s statement mentioned, “On multiple occasions, the organisation shared its findings with the Israeli authorities but had received no substantive response at the time of publication.”

Previously, South Africa accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, arguing that even the Oct 7 attack could not justify such alleged actions, as it launched a landmark case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In response, Israel rejected the accusations as false and “grossly distorted” and argued it was acting to defend itself and was fighting Hamas, not the Palestinian population.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Nov issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu denounced the decision, calling the ruling “anti-Semitic”, according to Reuters.

“Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions levelled against it by ICC,” his office said in a statement, adding that Netanyahu won’t “give in to pressure” in the defence of Israel’s citizens.

While the ICC application is a separate matter, a decision by ICC judges that there are reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, could strengthen South Africa’s ICJ case, as that court also looks at other courts’ determinations.

‘Wake-up call’

Callard said in Amnesty’s statement, “We are calling on the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to urgently consider adding genocide to the list of crimes it is investigating and for all states to use every legal avenue to bring perpetrators to justice. No one should be allowed to commit genocide and remain unpunished.”

She also stated, “Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now.”

Around the world, there have been countless protests by civilians, activists, students and other groups calling for an end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Many international bodies like Amnesty and the UN, have repeatedly called out Israel’s indiscriminate attacks against Palestinians.

Despite such calls, the Israeli government has continued its military operations in Gaza and occupied Palestinian territories. There is an urgent need for governments, especially those supporting Israel, to hold Israel accountable for its actions.

Header Image: Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec 4, 2024. — Reuters