Amnesty International accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the bombardment last year, saying its new report was a “wake-up call” for the international community, AFP reports.
The London-based rights organisation said its findings were based on “dehumanising and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials”, satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from Gazans.
“Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them,” Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard said in a statement.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” she added.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Israel has military objectives. But the existence of military objectives does not negate the possibility of a genocidal intent,” Callamard told AFP at a press conference in The Hague.
She said the organisation had based its findings on the criteria set out in the UN Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.
UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Philemon Yang has said the international community’s demands are clear on Gaza, noting that 14 members of the UN Security Council voted for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, only for the resolution to be blocked by the US, Al Jazeera reports.
The “horror in Gaza must end”, Yang said in a speech at the UNGA in New York.
“Once again, the Security Council is paralysed, unable to fulfil its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security,” he remarked.
The resolution, put forward by 10 non-permanent UNSC members, called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 14-month conflict, while also demanding the release of captives held in Gaza.
Yang called for the UNGA to take the lead on resolving the conflict due to the paralysis in the UNSC, and said the issue cannot be fixed through “endless war and occupation”.
As Israeli tanks pushed into northern parts of the Khan Younis area in the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said further Israeli airstrikes killed at least 47 people in a day across the enclave, Reuters reports.
With shells crashing near residential areas, families left their homes and headed westward toward the nearby humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi.
Israeli forces also fired on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza for the fifth straight day, hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said. Three of his medical staff had been wounded, one critically, on Tuesday night, he said.
An Israeli airstrike at a tent encampment in al-Mawasi killed at least 17 people and wounded several, medics said. The Civil Emergency Service said the attack sparked fires in several tents housing displaced families.
The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted senior Hamas fighters operating from the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
Doctors Without Borders Deputy Head of Mission for Palestine Karine Robert said that Israel’s “violent incursion” at the Turkish Hospital in the city of Tubas was “unacceptable and shocking”, Al Jazeera reports
“During this hour-long raid, five medical staff were detained and one person was wounded. Medical staff on site were threatened at gunpoint and subjected to aggressive questioning. Patients were told to stay still or they would be shot and killed,” MSF said in a post on X.
Trump’s Middle East envoy in diplomatic push to help reach Gaza ceasefire before inauguration
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has travelled to Qatar and Israel to kickstart the US president-elect’s diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the position under Trump’s administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source said.
Witkoff’s conversations appear aimed at building on nearly 14 months of unsuccessful diplomacy by the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt aimed at a lasting ceasefire between Israel and fighter group Hamas in Gaza and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages held in the enclave.
The meetings also signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed as a key mediator after suspending its role last month, the source said.
The source added that Hamas negotiators would likely return to the Qatari capital Doha for more talks soon.
As Israeli tanks pushed into northern parts of the Khan Younis area in the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said further Israeli airstrikes killed at least 47 people in a day across the enclave, Reuters reports.
With shells crashing near residential areas, families left their homes and headed westward toward the nearby humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi.
Israeli forces also fired on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza for the fifth straight day, hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya said. Three of his medical staff had been wounded, one critically, on Tuesday night, he said.
An Israeli airstrike at a tent encampment in al-Mawasi killed at least 17 people and wounded several, medics said. The Civil Emergency Service said the attack sparked fires in several tents housing displaced families.
The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted senior Hamas fighters operating from the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
Doctors Without Borders Deputy Head of Mission for Palestine Karine Robert said that Israel’s “violent incursion” at the Turkish Hospital in the city of Tubas was “unacceptable and shocking”, Al Jazeera reports
“During this hour-long raid, five medical staff were detained and one person was wounded. Medical staff on site were threatened at gunpoint and subjected to aggressive questioning. Patients were told to stay still or they would be shot and killed,” MSF said in a post on X.
Trump’s Middle East envoy in diplomatic push to help reach Gaza ceasefire before inauguration
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has travelled to Qatar and Israel to kickstart the US president-elect’s diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the position under Trump’s administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source said.
Witkoff’s conversations appear aimed at building on nearly 14 months of unsuccessful diplomacy by the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt aimed at a lasting ceasefire between Israel and fighter group Hamas in Gaza and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages held in the enclave.
The meetings also signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed as a key mediator after suspending its role last month, the source said.
The source added that Hamas negotiators would likely return to the Qatari capital Doha for more talks soon.