DayofPal– Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing a “live-streamed genocide” in Gaza, saying that Israeli forces are violating international law with the specific intent of wiping out Palestinians.
In its annual report released on Monday, the human rights organization said Israel’s actions breach the United Nations Genocide Convention, citing acts such as “causing serious bodily or mental harm to civilians” and “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.”
Amnesty reported that Israel has consistently “denied, obstructed and failed to allow and facilitate” humanitarian access to Gaza and pressed forward with its invasion of Rafah, despite international warnings, including those from the International Court of Justice, about the “devastating effect it would have on the civilian population.”
The group further added that Israeli air strikes often targeted civilians following evacuation orders and accused Israeli forces of continuing to “arbitrarily detain and, in some cases, forcibly disappear Palestinians.”
“Since 7 October 2023, the world has been made audience to a live-streamed genocide,” Amnesty’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said in the introduction to the report.
“States watched on as if powerless, as Israel killed thousands upon thousands of Palestinians, wiping out entire multigenerational families, destroying homes, livelihoods, hospitals and schools.”
Callamard also criticized the role of Israel’s international supporters, particularly the United States. “Israel and its powerful allies, first among them the USA, claimed that or acted as if international law did not apply to them,” she stated.
Israel has rejected the allegations, maintaining that its military actions are acts of self-defense against Hamas and that it makes extraordinary efforts to protect civilians.
According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 51,300 people, including at least 17,400 children, have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Beyond the Gaza war, Amnesty’s report also raised alarms over broader global threats to human rights, highlighting actions by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“A multiplicity of assaults – against human rights accountability, against international law, and against the UN – have been but some of the hallmarks of the first 100 days of US President Donald Trump’s ‘reign’ in 2025,” Callamard said.
“But those reckless and punishing offensives, against efforts to end global poverty and undo long standing racial and gender-based discrimination and violence, did not start this year. Red lines don’t turn green overnight.”
The report also criticized Russia for alleged human rights abuses during its invasion of Ukraine and condemned increasing gender discrimination in Afghanistan and Iran.
“The Taliban government criminalized the public existence of women and girls, passing so-called vice and virtue laws, denying their rights to work and education. Dozens of women protesters were forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained,” Callamard noted.
“In Iran, new compulsory veiling laws intensified oppression of women and girls, imposing flogging, exorbitant fines and harsh prison sentences, while officials and vigilantes who violently attack women and girls for defying the law continued with impunity,” she added.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=62469
