Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians during its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The human rights group said Israel sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by launching deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.
It said such actions met the legal threshold for the crime of genocide. It is the first time it has made such a determination during an active armed conflict.
In a report, Amnesty said Israel’s actions could not be justified by Hamas’ attack into Israel on 7 October last year which ignited the war, or on the presence of militants in civilian areas.
Amnesty said the US and other Israeli allies could be complicit in genocide and called on them to halt arms shipments.
Israel has consistently rejected any allegations of genocide.
It is challenging such allegations at the International Court of Justice and has rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusations Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister committed war crimes in Gaza.
“The deplorable and fanatical organisation Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Israel accused Hamas of carrying out a genocidal massacre in the attack that triggered the war and said it is defending itself in accordance with international law.
Source : Sky News
