From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Amnesty International accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza
Amnesty International says Israel is “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, in a new report that it calls a “wake-up call” for the international community.
The London-based rights organization says its findings are based on “dehumanizing and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials,” satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from Gazans.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard says in a statement.
The human rights group says Israel has mounted deadly attacks, demolished vital infrastructure and prevented the delivery of food, medicine and other aid in Gaza, declaring that the actions cannot not be justified by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel. Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israeli communities that day, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in a brutal outpouring of violence that included rape and other atrocities. Nearly 100 of the 251 people taken hostage by the terror group remain in captivity.
The 296-page report includes scant mention of the hostages, beyond a terse call for the unconditional release of kidnapped civilians. While the report includes several pages urging the international community put various types of pressure on Israel, Amnesty does not recommend pressuring Hamas into releasing civilians held captive in Gaza for over a year.
Israel has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.” It is challenging such allegations at the International Court of Justice, and it has rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister committed war crimes in Gaza.
“The deplorable and fanatical organization Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement. It accuses Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate Israel, of carrying out a genocidal massacre in the attack that triggered the war, and said it is defending itself in accordance with international law.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Israel has military objectives. But the existence of military objectives does not negate the possibility of a genocidal intent,” Callamard says at a press conference in The Hague.
