DaysoPal- The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has warned of a silent genocide unfolding in the Gaza Strip, saying Israeli actions now extend beyond bombardment to include dangerous structural changes aimed at reshaping life in the territory.
In remarks to Palestine Online, the group’s chairman, Ramy Abdu, said that while a ceasefire agreement formally exists, it has little effect on the ground.
“In practice, the ceasefire does not exist,” Abdu said, adding, “There may be a reduction in the intensity of airstrikes and the scale of killings, but both continue at a significant pace.”
He explained that despite a relative decline in aerial bombardment, daily killings through artillery shelling and gunfire persist, alongside a more dangerous emerging reality, one involving the deliberate reshaping of Gaza and the use of humanitarian aid as a weapon, within plans he said are backed by the United States.
Abdu noted that reports of hundreds of deaths since the ceasefire reflect the systematic pattern of unlawful killings, describing them as part of ongoing war crimes and an extension of acts of genocide.
He added that the ceasefire has effectively been used as cover to continue military operations at a different pace, amid declining global attention and shifting media focus to other regional crises.
The rights group also warned that continued targeting of individuals, displacement tents, and civilian locations, including police personnel and civilian workers, constitutes deliberate killings or extrajudicial executions, particularly in the absence of immediate military necessity.
According to Abdu, the rising death toll since the ceasefire, reaching hundreds, highlights the failure of the international community to enforce oversight or accountability mechanisms, leaving Gaza as an open environment for daily violations of the right to life.
He further accused the Israeli occupation of failing to meet its obligations under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, noting that it continues to maintain direct military control over more than 50% of Gaza’s territory.
“Israel is acting as if the agreement does not exist,” he said.
“It is imposing a reality that makes life in Gaza, now and in the future, impossible; this is the essence of genocide.” He added.
Abdu also pointed to what is known as the yellow line, along which Israel has expanded its direct military control by moving boundary markers deeper into Gaza, now isolating roughly 55% of the territory under direct control.
He said this expansion reflects a broader policy aimed at imposing a permanent reality that could lead to the de facto annexation of large parts of Palestinian land, further fragmenting its geographic continuity and deepening the unlawful presence.
Such control, he warned, effectively entrenches forced displacement, prevents hundreds of thousands of civilians from returning to their homes, and imposes severe movement restrictions, turning Gaza into isolated zones while using land as a tool of political and military pressure.
On the humanitarian front, Abdu described Israeli tightening of the blockade and restrictions on the entry of aid, medical supplies, and goods as a “fully constituted collective punishment crime.”
He said ongoing restrictions on food, medicine, and fuel, combined with the collapse of the healthcare system and thousands of untreated patients, demonstrate the use of starvation and deprivation as methods of warfare.
Field data, he added, indicates a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis, with hospitals unable to meet basic needs and thousands of patients awaiting treatment.
Abdu stressed that the Israeli occupation is legally obligated to ensure unimpeded humanitarian access, protect medical facilities and personnel, and refrain from using blockade measures to pressure civilians.
He warned that intensifying the blockade alongside continued military attacks reflects a comprehensive policy aimed at exhausting the civilian population and undermining their ability to survive, which may amount to persecution or crimes against humanity within a broader context of genocide.
“The situation in Gaza reveals a complete pattern of violations, including ongoing killings, failure to meet obligations, tightening siege conditions, and starvation policies. These cannot be separated from a broader framework of systematic policies directly targeting civilians,” Abdu said.
He called for urgent international action to halt the violations and ensure accountability.
Separately, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that Israeli forces have committed 2,400 violations of the ceasefire agreement, including killings, arrests, blockade measures, and starvation policies.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, these violations have resulted in 809 deaths and 2,235 injuries since the agreement took effect.
The violations have continued despite the ceasefire, following nearly two years of war that began on October 8, 2023.
The conflict has since resulted in more than 72,000 deaths, approximately 172,000 injuries, and widespread destruction affecting about 90% of civilian infrastructure.
With Israeli occupation maintaining control over more than half of Gaza’s territory, hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians continue to live in tents, schools, shelters, and open areas after their homes were destroyed, facing severe humanitarian conditions.
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