Rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Monday that 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 issued on Monday 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.”
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.
The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry has killed at least 59,921 people, most of them civilians.
All Gazans have been driven from their homes at least once since the start of the war, and UN agencies warn that residents face a growing threat of famine and malnutrition.
The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it “plausible” that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention.
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 reports from B’Tselem — one of Israel’s best-known rights groups — and Physicians for Human Rights Israel argue that the war’s objectives go further.
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”.
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