On December 5, 2024, Amnesty International published a landmark report concluding that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. The nearly 300-page document entitled"'Wefeel like subhumans' -Israel'sgenocide of Palestiniansin Gaza" gathers overwhelming evidence of Israel's actions since the military offensive launched after Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. It is based on testimonies from 212 victims and witnesses, analysis of visual and digital evidence, and official Israeli statements.
The report highlights the systematic violence and ongoing destruction imposed by the Israeli state on the people of Gaza. The Israeli authorities have committed and continue to commit acts in direct violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, with the clear intention of physically destroying the Palestinian people of Gaza. Amnesty denounces an "unleashing of violence and destruction", marked by serious and systematic violations of human rights, carried out with complete impunity. The acts committed reveal a genocidal intent, fueled by dehumanizing rhetoric and a policy of denying Palestinians their fundamental rights.
An accumulation of damning evidence
The report establishes that Israel has committed acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention. These acts include:
- mass murders,
- serious attacks on the physical and mental integrity of Palestinians,
- and the subjection of Gaza's population to living conditions destined to bring about their physical destruction.
According to Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, "Month after month, Israel has treated the Palestinian population of Gaza as a sub-human group, unworthy of basic rights and dignity, demonstrating a clear intent to destroy."
Gaza: a humanitarian catastrophe
The figures give an idea of the scale of the violence: by October 7, 2024, one year after the start of hostilities, more than 42,000 Palestinians had been killed, including 13,300 children, and more than 97,000 injured. Incessant bombardment has razed entire towns to the ground, destroying essential infrastructure, farmland and cultural sites. The destruction has reduced entire towns to rubble, wiped out vital infrastructure and rendered large areas of Gaza uninhabitable.
In its report, Amnesty also reveals Israel's deliberate use of suffocating humanitarian restrictions, depriving the population of Gaza of food, drinking water and vital medical care.
To this end, Amnesty has gathered numerous testimonies, such as that of Mohammed, who has been displaced several times with his family, and who describes the disastrous living conditions:
" Here in Deir al Balah, it's as if it were the end of the world. Noclean water, no toilets, just constant bombardment. We feellike sub-humans."
A genocide under international law
Amnesty International points out that international jurisprudence recognizes that genocidal intent does not require the actual destruction of a group, but only the undertaking of acts aimed at that end. The report also highlights the dehumanizing statements made by Israeli officials, which testify to an explicit desire to destroy the Palestinian population, in a context of dispossession, apartheid and military occupation in which these acts have been committed. The organization has analyzed the dehumanizing statements of senior Israeli officials, concluding that these speeches and actions are part of a clear intention to physically destroy the Palestinian population.
For Amnesty, Israel's argument that its actions are aimed solely at Hamas is totally unfounded. The report concludes that considering the destruction of Palestinians as necessary to the elimination of Hamas or as an acceptable consequence reflects genocidal intent. The organization stresses that Israel has systematically violated its obligation to protect civilians, and has acted in total disregard of International Court of Justice rulings ordering immediate access to humanitarian aid, by imposing calculated and intentional restrictions.
Call à the international community
In the face of this overwhelming evidence, Amnesty calls on the international community to act without delay. States, including major arms suppliers such as the USA, Germany and the UK, are urged to immediately cease arms transfers to Israel. Agnès Callamard insists: " States must be aware thatthey are violating their obligationtoprevent the crime of genocide, and thatthey risk becoming accomplices. "
This landmark report should mark a turning point in the recognition and halting of the violence inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. Amnesty International urges the implementation of concrete measures to protect civilians and restore their dignity and fundamental rights.
