Amnesty International has concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This accusation is based on an intensive investigation, including interviews and analysis of evidence, on mass killings, destruction of infrastructure, and imposition of inhumane living conditions that point to a systematic intention to destroy the Palestinian population.

The organization presented its findings in a report published this Thursday, entitled “Feels like you’re subhuman”: Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which documents how Israel unleashed hell and destruction against the Palestinians in Gaza, brazenly and with complete impunity, during its military offensive, launched in the wake of attacks carried out by Hamas.

Amnesty International's report documents that Israel carried out acts prohibited by Genocide Convention, with the intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include murder, severe bodily and mental harm, and living conditions calculated to cause physical destruction. The continued treatment of Palestinians as a subhuman group reflects this genocidal intent.

“Our damning conclusions should serve as a warning to the international community: this is genocide.”

“It has to end now” – Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

The report also denounces that states that continue to transfer weapons to Israel are violating their legal obligations to prevent genocide, becoming complicit. It calls on countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other members of the European Union to take immediate action.

Over the past two months, the situation in North Gaza province has become even more critical. The besieged population faces famine, forced displacement and destruction, with constant bombing and severe restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Amnesty's investigation concluded that Israel persisted in committing genocidal acts, fully aware of the irreparable damage caused. Despite legally binding orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to allow humanitarian assistance, Israel ignored these orders.

“Israel has repeatedly argued that its actions in Gaza are legal and can be justified by its military objective of eradicating Hamas.”

“But genocidal intent can coexist with military objectives and does not have to be Israel’s sole intention.” – Agnès Callamard.

Comprehensive Analysis of Acts and Impacts

Amnesty International analyzed Israel's actions considering frequency, simultaneity, immediate impact and cumulative consequences. It also included public statements by senior officials, who often announced or requested these prohibited acts.

The context in which these actions occurred – expropriation, apartheid and illegal military occupation – led to the conclusion that Israel's intention was the physical destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza. This was presented as a parallel goal, and sometimes a means, to achieving the elimination of Hamas.

“The atrocity crimes committed on October 7, 2023, by Hamas and other armed groups against Israelis and victims of other nationalities, including deliberate mass murder and hostage-taking, can never justify Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.” – Agnès Callamard.

According to international jurisprudence, it is not necessary for genocide to be successful for it to be considered as such. The practice of prohibited acts with the intention of destroying the protected group is sufficient.

The report is based on evidence collected between October 2023 and July 2024. Interviews were conducted with 212 people, including Palestinian victims, witnesses, local authorities, and health professionals. Additionally, digital evidence, satellite imagery, and statements from senior Israeli officials were analyzed.

Despite sharing preliminary findings with Israeli authorities, there was no concrete answer until the date of publication of the report.

Israel's actions following the deadly Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, have brought the population of Gaza to the brink of collapse.

Its brutal military offensive has killed more than 42.000 Palestinians, including more than 13.300 children, and injured more than 97.000, as of October 7, 2024, many of them in direct or deliberately indiscriminate attacks, often wiping out entire families spanning several generations.

It caused unprecedented destruction that, according to experts, occurred at a level and speed never seen in any other conflict in the 20th or 21st centuries, razing entire cities and destroying critical infrastructure, agricultural land, and cultural and religious sites. It also rendered large swathes of the Gaza Strip uninhabitable.

Mohammed, who fled with his family from Gaza City to Rafah in March 2024 and was displaced again in May 2024, described his struggle for survival in horrific conditions:

“Here in Deir al-Balah, it’s like an apocalypse…”

"We have to protect our children from insects, from the heat, and there is no drinking water or bathrooms while the bombings continue."

“Here we feel as if we are subhuman.”

Israel imposed living conditions in Gaza that created a deadly mix of malnutrition, hunger, and disease, exposing Palestinians to a slow and calculated death. Israel also subjected hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza to incommunicado detention, torture, and other ill-treatment.

Taken in isolation, some of the acts investigated by Amnesty International constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law. But if we look at the broader picture of Israel's military campaign and the cumulative impact of its policies and actions, genocidal intent is the only reasonable conclusion.

Intent to destroy

To establish Israel's specific intent to physically destroy Palestinians in Gaza, Amnesty International analyzed the overall pattern of Israel's conduct in Gaza.

It reviewed the inhumane and genocidal statements of Israeli government and military officials, especially high-level ones, and considered the context of Israel's apartheid system, its inhumane blockade of Gaza, and its 57-year-old illegal military occupation of Palestinian territory.

They also examined Israel's claims that its armed forces were lawfully targeting Hamas and other armed groups. Israel justified this by claiming that the unprecedented destruction and denial of humanitarian aid were the result of Hamas's illegal actions, such as the presence of fighters in civilian areas.

However, it has been concluded that these justifications are not credible. The presence of Hamas fighters in densely populated areas does not absolve Israel of its obligations to protect civilians and prevent indiscriminate attacks.

The investigation demonstrated that Israel repeatedly failed to fulfill these obligations, committing multiple crimes under international law. No evidence was found that the diversion of humanitarian aid justified the severe restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of essential humanitarian assistance.

The organization also analyzed arguments such as that Israel wanted to destroy Hamas and considered the destruction of Palestinians an acceptable byproduct. This disregard for Palestinian life is, in itself, evidence of genocidal intent.

A total of 102 statements issued between October 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024, many of which dehumanized Palestinians or called for genocidal acts, were also analyzed.

Of these, 22 justified genocidal acts, providing explicit evidence of genocidal intent. This rhetoric was echoed by soldiers on the ground, as demonstrated by analyzed audiovisual content, in which they celebrated the destruction of infrastructure and called for the "erasure" of Gaza.

Amnesty International has documented the genocidal acts of killing and causing severe bodily and mental harm to Palestinians in Gaza, analyzing the results of its investigations into 15 airstrikes between October 7, 2023, and April 20, 2024, which killed at least 334 civilians, including 141 children, and injured hundreds of others.

No evidence has been found that any of these attacks were directed at a military target. In one illustrative case, on April 20, 2024, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the Abdelal family home in the Al-Jneinah neighborhood of eastern Rafah, killing three generations of Palestinians, including 16 children, as they slept.

While these strikes represent only a fraction of Israel's airstrikes, they are indicative of a broader pattern of repeated direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, or deliberately indiscriminate attacks. The strikes were also conducted in a manner that caused a very high number of civilian deaths and injuries.

Cause Physical Destruction

Amnesty International's report documents how Israel deliberately inflicted living conditions on Palestinians in Gaza designed to lead, in the long run, to their destruction.

These conditions were imposed through three simultaneous patterns that repeatedly compounded each other's devastating impacts: damage and destruction of life-support infrastructure and other objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.

The repeated use of arbitrary and confusing mass “evacuation” orders to forcibly displace nearly the entire population of Gaza; the denial of essential services, humanitarian assistance, and other life-saving supplies in and within Gaza.

After October 7, 2023, Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza, cutting off electricity, water, and fuel.

During the nine months analyzed in the report, Israel maintained a suffocating and illegal blockade, strictly controlled access to energy sources, failed to facilitate meaningful humanitarian access to the interior of Gaza, and obstructed the delivery of essential goods and humanitarian aid.

In this way, they exacerbated an already existing humanitarian crisis. This situation, combined with the damage caused to Gaza's homes, hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, and agricultural land, as well as mass forced displacement, has caused catastrophic levels of hunger and led to the spread of disease at an alarming rate.

The impact was particularly severe on young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women, with expected long-term consequences for their health.

Israel has repeatedly had the opportunity to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but for more than a year it has refused to take steps within its power, such as opening sufficient access points or lifting strict restrictions on entry into the Gaza Strip, while the situation has progressively worsened.

Forced Displacements

Through its repeated “evacuation” orders, Israel has displaced some 1,9 million Palestinians – 90 percent of Gaza’s population – into ever-shrinking and insecure pockets of land in inhumane conditions, some up to 10 times larger.

These multiple waves of forced displacement have left many jobless and deeply traumatized, especially since around 70 percent of Gaza's residents are refugees or descendants of refugees whose towns and villages were ethnically cleansed by Israel during the 1948 Nakba.

Despite conditions quickly becoming unfit for human life, Israeli authorities refused to consider measures that would have protected displaced civilians and ensured their basic needs were met, demonstrating that their actions were deliberate.

They refused to allow displaced people to return to their homes in northern Gaza or to temporarily relocate to other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory or Israel, continuing to deny many Palestinians the right to return under international law to the areas from which they were displaced in 1948.

They did so knowing that there was no safe place for Palestinians in Gaza to flee to.

The seismic and shameful failure of the international community for more than a year to pressure Israel to end its atrocities in Gaza, delaying calls for a ceasefire and continuing arms transfers, is and will continue to be a stain on our collective conscience.

Governments must stop pretending they are powerless to end this genocide, made possible by decades of impunity for Israel's violations of international law.

States need to go beyond mere expressions of regret and take strong and sustained international action, however uncomfortable a finding of genocide may be for Israel's allies.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, issued last month, offer real hope of long-awaited justice for victims.

States must demonstrate respect for the court's decision and the universal principles of international law by arresting and surrendering those wanted by the ICC.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should consider adding genocide to the list of crimes it is investigating so that all states use legal avenues to bring perpetrators to justice.

“No one must be allowed to commit genocide and remain unpunished.” – Agnès Callamard.

Amnesty International also calls for the unconditional release of all civilian hostages and for Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to be held accountable for the crimes committed on 7 October.

The organization also calls on the United Nations Security Council to impose targeted sanctions against Israeli and Hamas officials most implicated in crimes under international law.

On October 7, 2023, in an attack carried out by Hamas and other armed groups, rockets were fired indiscriminately into southern Israel and carried out deliberate mass killings and hostage-taking, killing 1.200 people, including more than 800 civilians, and kidnapping 223 civilians and capturing 27 soldiers.

The crimes perpetrated by Hamas and other armed groups during this attack will be the subject of a forthcoming Amnesty International report.

Since October 2023, Amnesty International has been conducting in-depth investigations into the multiple violations and crimes under international law committed by Israeli forces, including direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects and deliberately indiscriminate attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians, as well as other unlawful attacks and collective punishment of the civilian population.

The organization called on the ICC Prosecutor's Office to expedite its investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine and is campaigning for an immediate ceasefire.

Amnesty International provides a comprehensive and documented analysis of the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza in its report, clearly demonstrating that Israel has acted with genocidal intent.

This call for justice and accountability is urgent to ensure that such crimes do not continue to go unpunished. The international community, especially states that support Israel, have a responsibility to intervene and ensure that human rights are protected.