Human Rights Watch: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing "genocide and acts of genocide" in its war on Gaza because of its restrictions on the access of the Strip's residents to water, calling for sanctions to be imposed on the Israeli occupation state.

In a 184-page report released Thursday, titled “Genocide and Genocidal Acts: Israel’s Deliberate Denial of Water to Palestinians in Gaza,” the organization asserted that Israeli authorities deliberately created living conditions aimed at destroying part of the population in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinians there of adequate access to water, which likely led to thousands of deaths.

In its report, Human Rights Watch relied on a number of sources and approaches in its investigation, including interviews with 66 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, four employees of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in the Strip, 31 medical staff, and 15 people working with UN agencies and international relief organizations in Gaza, in addition to analyzing satellite imagery, photographs, videos, and data collected by doctors, epidemiologists, relief organizations, and experts in various fields, including water and sanitation.

"By doing so, the Israeli authorities bear responsibility for the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide. This pattern of conduct, coupled with statements suggesting that some Israeli officials wanted to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza, may amount to the crime of genocide," the report added.

Human Rights Watch confirmed that the Israeli authorities “deliberately deprived Palestinians in Gaza of safe drinking water and sanitation necessary for basic human survival. The Israeli authorities and forces stopped and later restricted the pumping of water to Gaza; disabled most of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure by cutting off electricity and restricting fuel; deliberately destroyed and damaged water, sanitation, and water treatment infrastructure; and prevented the entry of essential water supplies.”

The organization also concluded that “the Israeli authorities deliberately created living conditions designed to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza in whole or in part. This policy, imposed as part of the mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means that the Israeli authorities committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is still ongoing.” The organization also notes that this policy “amounts to the five ‘acts of genocide’ under the 1948 Genocide Convention.”

The report confirms that the Israeli authorities have prevented “almost all water-related aid from entering Gaza, including water purification systems, water tanks, and materials needed to repair water infrastructure.” The organization points to reports from the United Nations and other organizations that people in parts of the Gaza Strip have not been able to obtain the minimum amount of water needed to survive in a protracted emergency. In northern Gaza, the United Nations reported that people were unable to obtain drinking water for more than five months, between November 2023 and April 2024. The United Nations confirmed that the rest do not have enough water for drinking and cooking.

The organization stated that Israeli forces deliberately attacked, damaged or destroyed many key water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, noting that there is evidence, in many cases, that Israeli ground forces were in control of the areas at the time, indicating that the destruction was deliberate.

The report suggests that thousands of Palestinians have likely died as a result of these and other deliberate policies, including the destruction of Gaza’s health care system, based on interviews with health care professionals and epidemiologists. Doctors and nurses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that “many of their patients died from preventable diseases and infections, and from treatable wounds, due to dehydration and lack of water.” One emergency room nurse said she had to make the decision “not to resuscitate children who were severely malnourished and dehydrated,” the report said.

The report notes that “the ongoing blockade and closure imposed by the Israeli government on Gaza for over 17 years also amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, a war crime.” The closure also forms part of the ongoing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution committed by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians. The report noted that “many governments have undermined accountability efforts and continued to supply arms to the Israeli government despite the clear risk of complicity in serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

The rights organization called on Israel to take several measures, including "ensuring the immediate provision of adequate water, fuel, and electricity to the Gaza Strip." Human Rights Watch called on the international community to "take all feasible steps to prevent further harm." It added, "Governments arming Israel should end the risk of complicity in the atrocity crimes in Gaza and take immediate steps to protect civilians through an arms embargo, targeted sanctions, and support for justice."

“Water is essential for human life, yet for more than a year, the Israeli government has deliberately deprived Palestinians in Gaza of the bare minimum they need to survive,” said Tirana Hassan, Executive Director of the international organization, on the occasion of the report’s release. “This is not just negligence, it is a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the deaths of thousands from dehydration and disease, which is nothing less than the crime against humanity of extermination and an act of genocide.”

For its part, the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Thursday described a Human Rights Watch report accusing it of carrying out “acts of genocide” in the Gaza Strip by restricting access to water as “slander.” The ministry said in a statement, “Once again, Human Rights Watch is spreading its bloody lies in order to bolster its anti-Israel propaganda... This report is full of appalling lies even when compared to Human Rights Watch’s already inaccurate standards.”

New Arab