Human Rights Watch stated on Thursday that Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clear water which it says legally quantities to acts of genocide and extermination.
“This coverage, inflicted as a part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have dedicated the crime in opposition to humanity of extermination, which is ongoing. This coverage additionally quantities to an ‘act of genocide’ beneath the Genocide Convention of 1948,” Human Rights Watch stated in its report.
Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has revered worldwide legislation and has a proper to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas-led assault from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that precipitated the struggle.
Although the report described the deprivation of water as an act of genocide, it famous that proving the crime of genocide in opposition to Israeli officers would additionally require establishing their intent. It cited statements by some senior Israeli officers which it stated advised they “want to destroy Palestinians” which implies the deprivation of water “might quantity to the crime of genocide.”
‘Israel is deliberately killing Palestinians by denying them water’
“What we now have discovered is that the Israeli authorities is deliberately killing Palestinians in Gaza by denying them the water that they should survive,” Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch Middle East director instructed a press convention.
Human Rights Watch is the second main rights group in a month to make use of the phrase genocide to explain the actions of Israel in Gaza, after Amnesty International issued a report that concluded Israel was committing genocide.
Both experiences got here simply weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former protection chief for alleged struggle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity. They deny the allegations.
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted within the wake of the mass homicide of Jews within the Nazi Holocaust, defines the crime of genocide as “acts dedicated with intent to destroy, in entire or partially, a nationwide, ethnical, racial or spiritual group.”
The 184-page Human Rights Watch report stated the Israeli authorities stopped water being piped into Gaza and reduce off electrical energy and restricted gas which meant Gaza’s personal water and sanitation services couldn’t be used.
As a consequence, Palestinians in Gaza had entry to just a few liters of water a day in lots of areas, far beneath the 15-liter-threshold for survival, the group stated.
