"B'Tselem" and "Physicians for Human Rights": Israel is Committing Genocide That Could Extend Beyond Gaza

SadaNews - Two Israeli human rights organizations confirmed in reports released today, Monday, that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and warned of the potential expansion of this genocide to other Palestinian areas outside the strip, calling for urgent action to confront the genocide and prevent its escalation.

Despite Israel's brutal practices in the occupied territories, the "Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - B'Tselem" emphasized in its report that "since October 2023, Israel has fundamentally changed its policy towards the Palestinians. Israel launched an intensive military operation in the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for more than 21 months. This attack on the residents of the Gaza Strip includes mass killings and creating catastrophic living conditions leading to enormous casualties; causing severe physical or psychological harm to all residents of the Gaza Strip; massive destruction of infrastructure and essential services; destroying the social fabric, Palestinian institutions, and cultural and educational sites; mass arrests and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners in prisons that have effectively turned into torture camps; forced mass displacement and making the ethnic cleansing of the residents of the strip one of the official war goals; and attacking the Palestinian identity through the deliberate destruction of refugee camps and attempting to inflict serious harm on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees - UNRWA."

B'Tselem added that "reflecting on the Israeli policy in the Gaza Strip and investigating its horrific results, against the backdrop of statements by senior Israeli political and military officials regarding the goals of this attack, leads us to a conclusive conclusion that Israel is acting in a coordinated manner and based on clear intentions to destroy the Palestinian community in the Gaza Strip. That is to say, Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians residing in the Gaza Strip."

It noted that "the term genocide describes a social-historical-political phenomenon and refers to acts committed intentionally with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part. Genocide cannot be justified under any circumstances, neither morally nor legally, nor even in the context of self-defense."

B'Tselem pointed out that "genocide always occurs in a context: there are conditions that allow it to be perpetrated, events that promote it, and an ideology that directs it. The current attack targeting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians in general should be understood against the backdrop of more than seventy years of a violent, oppressive, and discriminatory regime imposed by Israel on all Palestinians, and in its most extreme form, on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

It added that "since the establishment of the State of Israel, the apartheid and occupation system has systematically worked to institutionalize and activate mechanisms for violent control, demographic engineering, discrimination, and dismantling the Palestinian people as a collective entity. These systemic foundations enabled the far-right government to exploit the shock experienced by the Israeli public due to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and launch a campaign of genocide against the Palestinians."

B'Tselem emphasized that "the attack on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip cannot be separated from the increasing violence perpetrated by the same regime to varying degrees and in multiple forms against Palestinians living under Israeli control, in the West Bank and inside Israel. Violence and destruction in these areas are escalating over time and in the absence of an internal or international mechanism that effectively works to stop them. We warn of a clear and immediate danger that genocide will not be limited to the Gaza Strip and that the measures and trends at its core may be applied to other areas."

It continued that "recognizing the reality that the Israeli regime is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and the deep fear of its extension to other areas where Palestinians live under the Israeli regime requires urgent and clear action from the Israeli public and the international community, utilizing all possible means under international law to stop the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians."

The rights organization "Physicians for Human Rights" noted in a position paper today that "on October 13, 2023, the Israeli army issued an order to evacuate 22 hospitals in Gaza City and the northern strip, marking the beginning of an unprecedented attack on the healthcare system in Gaza. Over the past twenty-two months, Israel has conducted a systematic campaign targeting the health infrastructure in the strip: it has bombed 33 out of 36 hospitals and clinics, depriving them of fuel and water. More than 1,800 health workers have been killed or detained."

The rights organization described its comprehensive documentation of this attack as a "deliberate, cumulative, and systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza, and the capacity of the population to survive. This amounts to genocide. Israel bombed hospitals, destroyed medical equipment, and exhausted stocks of medicines, making access to urgent and ongoing medical care almost impossible. The healthcare system has collapsed under continuous bombardment and a suffocating siege."

It added that "dozens of people die daily due to malnutrition, and 92% of children aged six months to two years have been deprived of adequate food, while at least 85 children have died from hunger. Israel has displaced nine out of every ten residents of Gaza, destroyed or severely damaged 92% of their homes, and deprived more than half a million children of education and any routine that ensures their stability and normal growth."

The organization stressed that Israel has "eradicated essential health services such as dialysis, maternity care, cancer treatment, and chronic disease management such as diabetes. Israel did not create a temporary crisis; it has pursued a deliberate strategy to undermine the basic conditions for life. Even if Israel were to stop its military assault today, the effects of the destruction it has caused will continue to claim lives due to hunger, infections, and chronic diseases for years to come. This is not collateral damage; these are not merely the results of war; they are the result of a systematic policy of existential exclusion. Israel has systematically created unbearable living conditions and has denied the residents of Gaza the very basics of survival. This is clear genocide."

Physicians for Human Rights demanded that governments and international bodies must act immediately, holding Israel accountable for its actions by: enforcing an immediate ceasefire; protecting and rebuilding the healthcare system in Gaza; restoring the UN and international and Palestinian institutional support mechanisms; ensuring the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid; and providing full protection for medical staff and health workers.

The organization views these steps as urgent and indispensable actions that must be implemented without delay to prevent further loss of life. The limited remaining capacity of the healthcare system in Gaza now completely relies on the commitment and resilience of medical personnel, to whom we dedicate this report and whatever hope remains."