Amnesty report says Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza

Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a report released on Thursday—a claim Israeli officials have vehemently denied.

The London-based human rights organisation reached this conclusion after months of examining incidents and reviewing statements by Israeli officials. Amnesty asserted that Israel's actions meet the legal criteria for genocide, marking the first such determination made during an ongoing conflict.

Palestinians search for belongings at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza StripReuters

The 1948 Genocide Convention, which defines genocide as acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. This definition was central to Amnesty's findings. However, Israel has rejected the accusations, describing its military actions as lawful and a necessary response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis and resulted in over 250 hostages being taken.

Presenting the report to journalists in The Hague, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the conclusion had not been taken "lightly, politically, or preferentially".

She told journalists after the presentation

"There is a genocide being committed. There is no doubt, not one doubt in our mind after six months of in-depth, focused research."

Amnesty’s report states that Israel’s military actions, ranging from killings to inflicting life-threatening conditions meet at least three of the five criteria set out by the Genocide Convention.

Israel’s military has consistently claimed that Hamas fighters are embedded within civilian areas, using them as shields. Hamas denies the accusations and accuses Israel of indiscriminate strikes. Amnesty, however, concluded that Israel’s objective extends beyond dismantling Hamas to the physical destruction of Palestinians as a group.

Amnesty is now urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate allegations of genocide. The ICC’s office confirmed it continues investigating war crimes in Gaza, but did not comment further on the genocide accusation.

Israel's military campaign, which began in response to the deadly Hamas attacks, has claimed more than 44,400 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, with many others injured. The conflict has displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents.