For over a year the government of Israel has waged a brutal and relentless military offensive in the occupied Gaza Strip in retaliation to Hamas' horrific attacks of October 7, 2023. For over a year Israel has convinced its allies, and much of the world, that its efforts to annihilate Gaza are a legitimate act of self-defense.
The actions of Hamas and other armed groups on October 7 were heinous atrocities that have no justification under any circumstances. My organization, Amnesty International, has denounced those crimes and continues to call for the unconditional release of all civilian hostages. Israelis, like Palestinians, have the right to live in safety.
But the assertion that Israel's war in Gaza aims solely to dismantle Hamas, and not physically destroy Palestinians as a national and ethnic group, even in part, simply does not stand up to scrutiny. Amnesty International just published conclusive evidence that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and continues to do so.
Genocide is a crime. It is not a political, personal, or public opinion, nor a judgment about Israel's actions. It is a crime, defined under international law by the Genocide Convention.
The finding that Israel has perpetrated genocide is a conclusion based on painstaking research and rigorous legal analysis. Our research shows that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention against Palestinians in Gaza, including killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.
The Israel Defense Forces has wrought destruction on Gaza at a speed and on a scale unseen in any other conflict this century. It has leveled entire cities and pulverized vital infrastructure, agricultural land, and cultural and religious sites. The direct killing of more than 42,000 Palestinians in a year—not including the toll of starvation and disease—is a tragedy of utterly staggering proportion. However, what makes this a genocide under international law is the intent behind Israel's actions.
The evidence presented in our report clearly shows that the deliberate goal of Israel's military campaign is the destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza.
From the outset of this war, public statements by high-level Israeli officials have dehumanized Palestinians and called for genocidal acts, contributing to an overall pattern of conduct that reveals Israel's true intentions.
Time and again, Israel has carried out unlawful, deadly attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in places and under circumstances with no presence of Hamas nor any military necessity.
Time and time again, Israel has deployed large explosive weapons in densely populated residential neighborhoods, knowingly inflicting a wide radius of destruction at times when such weapons would result in the highest civilian casualties.
Time and again, Israel issued waves of arbitrary and confusing mass "evacuation" orders, forcibly displacing civilians into ever smaller and more inhospitable areas, all the while carrying out attacks on vital life-sustaining infrastructure.
Time and again, Israel deliberately obstructed or denied humanitarian aid to Gaza, ignoring pleas from the international community, humanitarian organizations, and even legally binding orders from the International Court of Justice to take immediate steps to avoid genocide. Israel's repeated refusal to take necessary actions within its power allowed a deadly mix of hunger and disease to take hold, further endangering the survival of Palestinians in Gaza. The effects on young children and on pregnant and breastfeeding women have been particularly severe.
Identification of genocidal intent in armed conflict is complex and challenging, not least because of the multiple military objectives often in play. It's complex, but not impossible. Moreover, it is essential that genocide in the context of armed conflict be recognized for what it is, that war not be allowed to excuse it, and that the "heat of battle" not cloud the facts on the ground.
The evidence laid out in our 300-page report clearly shows that the destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza was and remains a goal for Israel, either in addition to or as a means to achieve its other military goals. Only one reasonable inference can be drawn from the evidence: genocidal intent has been part and parcel of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
Millions of people will bear the scars of this genocide for decades to come. People like Hussein Abdelal, who lost 20 family members across three generations to an Israeli airstrike on April 20, 2024.
"I keep looking in the rubble for whatever I can find from my mother and my children," Hussein told us. "Their bodies were torn to shreds. I found shreds, body parts of my children. I found them without heads."
However uncomfortable our findings may be, inaction in the face of such cruelty is indefensible. The evidence we have published means there is no room to hide; Israel's allies must stop pretending that international crimes have not been committed.
It's time to stand up for humanity and against inhumanity. States must challenge Israel and push for an immediate ceasefire. They must finally address Israel's longstanding policies and practices of apartheid and unlawful occupation, which have continued with impunity for decades, laying the ground for the genocide we witness today.
The international community's inertia has shielded Israel from accountability under international law, thereby also eroding what remains of the rules-based order.
States must push for an immediate end to Israel's unlawful and inhumane blockade of Gaza, and those that continue to send weapons to Israel must suspend arms transfers now or know they risk complicity in genocide.
Instead of undermining institutions like the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, states must restore faith in international law and justice by ensuring implementation of the courts' decisions.
For the last 13 months, millions of people across the globe have marched, week after week, to call for an end to Israel's crimes in Gaza. States cannot continue to turn their backs on those demands. They have a legal and moral duty to bring an immediate and conclusive end to this genocide and take all measures under the law to bring those responsible to justice.
Agnès Callamard is Secretary General of Amnesty International.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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