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Two Israeli human rights groups said on Monday that Israel is carrying out genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, marking the first time major organisations within the country have made such an accusation.
B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released separate reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, accusing the Israeli state of using planned and targeted actions to destroy Palestinian life in Gaza.
“The report we are publishing today is one we never imagined we would have to write,” said Yuli Novak, executive director of B’Tselem, according to Reuters. “The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights.”
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said Gaza’s health system had been “destroyed in a manner that is both calculated and systematic,” Reuters reported.
Israeli officials rejected the allegations. Government spokesperson David Mencer called the claims “baseless” and said, “There is no intent, which is key for the charge of genocide. It simply doesn’t make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid most of it food if there is an intent of genocide,” according to
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel has faced genocide accusations since the start of the war in Gaza, including a case brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the case “outrageous.”
Genocide is defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
The term has particular weight in Israel, where the Holocaust and its aftermath influenced how genocide was first defined in international law. Israeli officials have previously described accusations of genocide against the state as defamatory and antisemitic.
In December, when Amnesty International said Israel had committed genocidal acts, the Israeli foreign ministry called the group a “deplorable and fanatical organisation.”
Israel’s war in Gaza began after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Israel described the attack as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and has often referred to it as genocidal in nature.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Nearly the entire population of the territory over two million people has been displaced.
Israel says its military operations are an act of self-defence and blames Hamas for the civilian harm, accusing the group of operating in civilian areas and refusing to surrender or release hostages. Hamas denies the accusations.
International concern over conditions in Gaza has increased in recent weeks. UN agencies say the territory is close to running out of food.
Israel, which controls aid into Gaza, says it has let in sufficient food supplies and blames the UN for distribution delays. It closed the border to aid for nearly three months from March to May and reopened it under new rules aimed at preventing supplies from reaching armed groups.
Since then, Israeli forces have shot hundreds of Palestinians at food distribution points, according to Reuters.
Israel has recently announced new steps to increase aid, such as short pauses in fighting, air deliveries, and opening safer routes for trucks.
Inside Israel, public attention has mostly remained focused on the hostages still held in Gaza. Images of destruction and hunger in Gaza are shown less often in Israeli media compared to international broadcasts.
However, that may be starting to shift. Oren Persico of The Seventh Eye, a media monitoring group, told Reuters: “You see cracks. It’s very slowly evolving.”
Still, he said the genocide claims are unlikely to change most people’s minds. “The Israeli perception is: ‘What do you want from us? It’s Hamas’ fault. If they put down their weapons and release the hostages, this would end.’”
In a column for Ynet last week, journalist Sever Plotzker said many Israelis view the destruction in Gaza as justified retaliation.
And writing in the Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Dani Dayan, head of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, said he does not believe Israel is committing genocide.
“But that does not mean we should not acknowledge the suffering of civilians in Gaza,” Dayan wrote. “There are many men, women, and children with no connection to terrorism who are experiencing devastation, displacement, and loss. Their anguish is real, and our moral tradition obligates us not to turn away from it.”
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