Two leading human rights organizations based in, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, claim that Israel is committing against them and that the country’s western allies have a legal and moral obligation to stop it.
In reports published on Monday, the two organizations said that Israel had targeted Gaza only because of their Palestinian identity during almost two years of war, causing serious and in some cases irreparable damage to Palestinian society.
Some international and Palestinian organizations have already described the war as genocide, but the reports of the two most respected human rights organizations in Israel-which have been recording systematic violations for decades, are likely to increase the pressure to take action.
Murders and displacements
The reports describe in detail crimes such as the killing of tens of thousands of women, children and the elderly, mass forced displacement and starvation, as well as the destruction of houses and infrastructure that have deprived Palestinians with health care, education and other basic rights.
“What we see is a clear, deliberate attack on civilians in order to destroy a group,” said Julie Novak, director of B’Tselem, calling for immediate action. “I think every person has to ask: What do you do when you face a genocide?”
Genocide in progress in Gaza
It is vital to recognize that a genocide is in progress, even without a ruling by the International Court of Justice, he said. “Genocide is not just a legal crime. It is a social and political phenomenon. “
The Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) organization focuses on its report on a detailed chronological description of the attack on the Gaza Health System, with many details being documented directly by the organization’s team, which regularly worked in Gaza before October 7th.
Genocide The Destruction of the Health System in Gaza
The destruction of the health system itself makes the Genoconutic war on the Genocide Convention, which prohibits the deliberate imposition of living conditions aimed at destroying a group “in whole or in part,” its director, Guy Shalev.
“It is not necessary to meet all five articles on the genocide contract to be considered genocide,” he said, although the report describes other genocidal aspects of the Israeli war.
Westerners facilitate genocide in Gaza
Both B wetlem and PHR have said that Israel’s Western allies facilitate the genocide campaign and share responsibility for the suffering of Gaza. “This could not happen without the support of the Western world,” Novak said. “Every leader who does not do what he can to stop it is part of this horror.”
The US and European countries have a legal responsibility to take stricter measures than they have done so far, Shalev. “All available means must be used. This is not our opinion, but what the Convention on Genocide requires. “
Israel: Self -defense the attack on Gaza
Israel denies that it commits genocide and claims that the war in Gaza is self -defense after Hamas’ cross -border attacks on October 7, 2023, who killed 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians. Over 250 other people were abducted and transferred to Gaza, where 50 are still held hostages, with 20 of them being believed to be still alive.
Israeli Representative: No Intention
Yesterday, Monday, July 28, 2025, an Israeli government spokesman described the human rights’ accusations of organizations as “unfounded”. “There is no intention, (the intention is a prerequisite for genocide) essential to the genocide category … It just doesn’t make sense for a country to send 1.9 million tonnes of help, most of which is food if there is a genocide intention,” said spokesman David.
The opposite of Israeli humanitarian organizations
A key element of the crime of genocide, as defined by the international convention, is proof of a state’s intention to destroy a target group, in whole or in part.
Genocide statements by political and military leaders, as well as a date of well -documented impact on citizens after nearly two years of war, are proof of this intention, even without written orders from the top, according to Phr and B weelem organizations.
The PHR report describes in detail how “the intention of genocide can be inferred from the pattern of behavior”, referring to a legal precedent by the International Criminal Court for Rwanda.
Extensive documentation, by doctors, media and human rights organizations for a long time, meant that the Israeli government could not argue that it did not understand the impact of its actions, Shalev. “There have been several times and many opportunities for Israel to stop this gradual systematic attack.”
Genocide has been recorded since the beginning of the war. It is one of the two issues on which the Israeli judge who heard the case at the International Court of Justice voted by the majority when he ordered extraordinary measures to protect the Palestinians from the potential risk of genocide.
“Human animals” Palestinians in Israel
“We do not have to guess what Israel is doing and what the Israeli army is doing, because from the first day of this attack, Israeli leaders, supreme leadership, political leadership, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the President of Israel, said.
“They talked about human animals. They talked about the fact that there are no civilians in Gaza or that there is a whole nation responsible for October 7th. “
“If the leadership of Israel, whether it is the leadership of the army or the political leadership, is aware of the consequences of this policy and continues to implement it, it is very clear that this is done deliberately.”
The destruction of health infrastructure in the two years without medical care and the murder of medical staff also mean that the genocide report will continue to grow even after the cessation of hostilities, Shalev.
“For example, there are no magnetic resonance imaging in Gaza for months, so what about all diseases and diseases that have not been diagnosed all this time? There are all cases of malnutrition and chronic diseases that have not been treated, and we will see its effects for months and years. “
While drugs can be transported within a few days, there is no easy way to replace the killed doctors, including experts who took decades to train, he said.
“Looking at the living conditions, there is a time scale that is frightening if we want to believe in a future where … Gaza people will somehow be able to live their lives safely and in good health. It’s very difficult to see that. “
The death toll in Gaza from the war is approaching 60,000, or more than 2.5% of the pre -war population. Some of those who defend the Israeli war argue that this number is too low to be considered the genocide campaign.
This is based on a fundamental misinterpretation of the crime of genocide, which the Convention defines as the targeting of a group “as a whole or in part,” Novak said. “It doesn’t mean you have to kill each person individually.”
The genocide that targets the Palestinians as a group was only possible because Israel has been denouncing the Palestinians for decades and denied their rights, Novak said. The collective trauma was exploited by far -right politicians to accelerate a program they have sought for years.
By control and oppression to destruction and extermination
«[Η 7η Οκτωβρίου] It was a shocking moment and a turning point for the Israelis, because they instilled a true and sincere feeling of existential threat. This was the moment when it pushed the whole system and its way of operating in Gaza by a policy of control and oppression to a policy of destruction and extermination. “
Now that Israel had launched a genocide campaign in Gaza, there was an emergency risk of spreading and targeting other Palestinians, the B’TSelem report warned.
Genocide, Israel’s new tool
“The Israeli regime now has a new tool it had not used in the past: genocide. And the fact that this tool or this policy applied to Gaza does not yet have [εφαρμοστεί] In other areas there is no reason to complain, “Novak said.
The West Bank is a special reason for concern, with nearly 1,000 Palestinians killed and more than 40,000 being displaced by communities such as Jenin and Tulcarem in a campaign of escalating attacks and ethnic cleansing from October 7.
Bell to spread the genocide from Gaza to West Bank
“What we see is basically the same status as the same logic, the same army, usually the same commanders and even the same soldiers who just fought in Gaza. They are now on the West Bank, where violence is growing, “Novak said.
“What is worried about and which we want to warn is the fact that any small stimulus can make the genocide spread from Gaza to the West Bank.”
Source: Guardian
