A pair of Israel’s leading human rights groups became the first to argue that Israel “confessed genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.”
B’tselem said in a major report released Monday that it said “along with an investigation into Israeli policies and their horrific consequences in the Gaza Strip and statements by Israeli politicians and military commanders regarding the targets of the attack.”
The second Israeli group, Human Rights Physician Israel (PHRI), has announced that it has joined B’tselem in calling Israel’s actions in the Gaza genocide. We have published another legal and medical analysis documenting what is called the “intentional and systematic extinction of the Gaza health system.”
Israeli government spokesman David Mensah has rejected the report. “We have freedom of speech in this country, but we strongly reject this claim,” he told reporters, adding that Israel has allowed assistance to Gaza.
Israel has consistently acted in accordance with international law, claiming that the war in Gaza was one of self-defense following the fatal Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
When other non-Israeli groups accused them of committing genocide or genocidal acts earlier, the Israeli government reacts to anger, strongly rejects statements, and often responds with the assertion that the accusations are based on antisensitivity.
In a 79-page report, B’tselem stated that the reality of Gaza on earth cannot be justified or explained as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas regime or its military capabilities.
Release of the findings of the report, Yuli Novak, executive director of B’tselem, said, “There is nothing to prepare you for the recognition that you are part of a society that is committing genocide. This is a very painful moment for us.
“But as Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness reality every day, we have an obligation to speak the truth as clearly as possible. Israel commits genocide against Palestinians. Our genocide has a context,” Novak said.
The group said Israel’s onslaught in Gaza involves mass murder, both in direct attacks and in creating catastrophic living conditions.
It added that a statement by senior Israeli decision-makers “expressed the intention of genocide through the conflict.”
B’tselem said the report is based on data collected over the past 20 months, including information on “thousands of lawsuits” allegedly committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israeli territory.
The group said it used its own information as well as external data collected by thoroughly reviewed organizations.
Phri added that the evidence it collected indicates “the intentional and systematic demolition of the health system of the Gaza Strip and other important systems for the survival of the population.”
“This is not about collateral damage caused by war, but rather a deliberate policy aimed at harming the Palestinian population as a group,” Phri said in a statement.
However, B’tselem says the Israeli government is responsible for the situation in Gaza, but accused the international community of making genocide possible.
“Many national leaders, particularly in Europe and the United States, have not only refrained from effective action to stop genocide, but have made it possible — through a statement supporting Israel’s “right of self-defense” or positive support, they have determined that an international court exists, even after the international court has determined that there is an amount of abused behavior, and that an international court exists.
The group said the sense of revenge, anger and desire felt by many Israelis after the terrorist attacks on October 7 served as “a fertile foundation for instigation against the Palestinians in general, and Gazan in particular.”
Hamas and its allies killed 1,200 people, including children, and lured 251 to Gaza during the attack.
A report from B’tselem has put pressure on Israel throughout the devastating circumstances of Gaza. Images of children dying from acute malnutrition sparked global rage last week, when the UK, France and Germany cited the crisis as “artificial and avoidable.”
At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is under pressure from all sides from within. The protest calls for an end to the war, and the release of all hostages has grown with strength and frequency, and far-right members of his coalition are growing, threatening to collapse the government if he ends the conflict.
On Monday, five presidents of Israel’s leading universities issued an open letter to Netanyahu, raising concerns about the Gaza crisis.
“In addition to the growing segment of the Israeli masses, we shock the tragic scenes that emerge every day from Gaza, where hunger and disease continue to assert the lives of those most vulnerable,” the university leader said. They added that “they were “approved” by a statement made by politicians who defended the deliberation and forced deportation of Gaza.
of civilians. ”
B’tselem was the first Israeli organization to condemn the genocide government, but many international groups, organizations and governments have come to the same or similar conclusions in the past.
The accusations have constantly triggered responses given the severity and sensitivity of the use of the term genocide. This is defined by the United Nations Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Genocide Crimes, as “an act of intention to destroy national, ethnic, racial and religious groups.”
The United Nations Special Committee said last November that Israeli warfare in Gaza was “consistent with the characteristics of genocide,” including the use of large-scale civilian casualties and starvation as a weapon.
Human Rights Watch accused Israel of committing “genocide acts” against Palestinians in Gaza by stealing proper water supplies last December, but Amnesty International said at the same time there was “sufficient evidence” to conclude that genocide was happening on the territory.
The South African government filed a lawsuit against Israel in December 2023, accusing them of committing genocide in Gaza. Ireland joined the South African incident earlier this year.
A top UN court ordered Israel to “all measures” to prevent Gaza genocide in its ruling on South Africa’s demand for emergency measures. This works like a restraining order, with the court considering the full merits of genocide cases and considering a move that could take years.
A prominent Israeli individual has also made the same accusation. This was reported by Omar Bartov, a leading genocide expert in the New York Times, who said, “it was his inevitable conclusion that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.”
Israeli historian Lee Mordecai gave a similar point earlier this month, collated a database of what he said, claiming that it was an example of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, and that the evidence he saw was “one of Israel’s highly likely purpose to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.”
