Israeli human rights groups say genocide being committed in Gaza and west must act

Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the country's western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it.

- Emma Graham-Harrison

In reports published yesterday, the two groups said Israel had targeted civilians in Gaza only because of their identity as Palestinians over nearly two years of war, causing severe and in some cases irreparable damage to Palestinian society.

A number of international and Palestinian groups have already described the war as genocidal, but reports from two of Israel-Palestine's most respected human rights organisations, who have for decades documented systemic abuses, are likely to add to pressure for action.

The reports detail crimes including the killing of tens of thousands of women, children and elderly people, mass forced displacement and starvation, and the destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure that have deprived Palestinians of healthcare, education and other basic rights.

"What we see is a clear, intentional attack on civilians in order to destroy a group," said Yuli Novak, the director of B'Tselem, calling for urgent action. "I think every human being has to ask himself: what do you do in the face of genocide?"

She said it was vital to recognise that a genocide was under way even without a ruling in the case before the international court of justice. "Genocide is not just a legal crime. It's a social and political phenomenon."

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) focuses in its report on a chronological account of the assault on Gaza's health system, with many details documented directly by the group's own team, which worked regularly in Gaza before 7 October 2023.

Its director, Guy Shalev, said that the destruction of the healthcare system alone makes the war genocidal under article 2c of the genocide convention, which prohibits deliberately inflicting conditions of life to destroy a group "in whole or part".