Leading Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights

Two of the best-known Israeli human rights groups said Monday that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, adding fuel to a passionately fought international debate over whether the death and destruction there have crossed a moral red line.

The two groups were B’Tselem, a rights monitor that documents the effects of Israeli policies on Palestinians, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

Their announcement was the first time major Israeli rights groups have publicly concluded that the war in Gaza is a genocide, an assessment previously reached by some organisations such as Amnesty International.

In a report, B’Tselem cited the devastating effects of Israel’s war on ordinary Palestinians to support their claim: the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza; the razing of huge areas of Palestinian cities; the forced displacement of nearly all of Gaza’s 2 million people; the restriction of food and other vital supplies.

All together, the Israeli campaign has amounted to “coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” the organisation wrote.

Israel rejected the accusations as “baseless.” David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesperson, said Israeli troops were targeting Palestinian militants, not civilians. If Israel truly intended to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, the country would not have facilitated nearly 2 million tons of aid to the territory, he said.

The debate over whether the war in Gaza constitutes genocide has also played out at the International Court of Justice, where South Africa has brought a genocide case against Israel. The court has yet to rule on the matter.

Genocide has a specific definition in international law: particular acts carried out with intent to destroy a group in whole or in part.

Israel vigorously denies that its war against Hamas in Gaza amounts to genocide, countering that Hamas seeks to destroy the Jewish state. Israeli officials have also pointed to the Hamas-led attack Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, which prompted the devastating Israeli response.

The subsequent Israeli bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza have killed more than 59,000 people, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. That toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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