Key Points
- Human Rights Watch and Médecins Sans Frontières have separately accused Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza.
- Israel has denied the accusations, dismissing them as “lies” and “fabricated” reports.
- US and Arab mediators are working towards a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources say.
Israel has denied accusations of “acts of genocide” and exhibiting “signs of ethnic cleansing” in its military offensive in Gaza, with Israeli authorities dismissing them as “lies”.
They are the latest in a series of accusations levelled against Israel — and denied by the country — during its 14-month war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
In a report focused on water, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) detailed what it called deliberate efforts by Israeli authorities “of a systematic nature” to deprive Gazans of water, which had “likely caused thousands of deaths … and will likely continue to cause deaths”.
Israel started its air and ground assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters , killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says about 100 hostages are still being held, but it is unclear how many are alive.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian authorities, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.
The HRW report detailed what it said was the intentional damaging of water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as the blocking of fuel for generators.
The report concluded that in doing so: “Israeli authorities intentionally inflicted on the Palestinian population in Gaza ‘conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.'”
This, it said, amounted to the war crime of “extermination” and to “acts of genocide”.
In response, Israel’s foreign ministry said Human Rights Watch was “once more spreading its blood libels in order to promote its anti-Israel propaganda”.
“Since the beginning of the war, Israel has facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite operating under constant attacks” from Hamas, it said.
Palestinian children collect water in jerry cans at a camp for displaced people in Gaza earlier this month. Source: AAP, AP / Abdel Kareem Hana
Israel’s foreign ministry said that, in addition to water pipelines, it has also ensured that “water pumping and desalination facilities … remain operational”.
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, denied using water as a “weapon” and said “three water lines from Israel are active” in Gaza.
HRW stopped short of saying Israel was committing outright “genocide”.
Under international law, proving genocide requires evidence of specific intent, which experts say is very difficult.
HRW pointed to a statement by then-defence minister Yoav Gallant as suggestive of Israel’s intent. In October 2023, he declared a “complete siege” on Gaza and said: “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed.”
The United States also disagreed with the HRW findings.
“When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
Israel is facing a case , arguing the war in Gaza breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, an accusation Israel has strongly denied.
In November, the for Israeli Prime Minister , Gallant, and also for Mohammed Deif, military chief of Hamas. Israel said it killed Deif in an airstrike in July.
Israel told the court it would appeal the warrants.
Israel’s 14-month assault on Gaza has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. Source: AAP, AP / Abdel Kareem Hana
The HRW report, drawn up over nearly a year, is based on interviews with dozens of Gazans and health officials, as well as satellite imagery, photographs, videos and data analysis.
The lack of water left Gazans vulnerable to diseases and complications, such as infected wounds and the inability to heal due to dehydration, HRW said.
One emergency room nurse cited in the report said they were forced to decide “not to resuscitate children who were severely malnourished and dehydrated”.
Médecins Sans Frontières accuses Israel of ‘signs of ethnic cleansing’
In a separate report this week, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) accused Israel of causing widespread devastation in Gaza and noted “signs of ethnic cleansing” in the north of the Palestinian territory.
In early October, Israel began a , which it said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
MSF secretary general Christopher Lockyear said what the group’s medical teams “have witnessed on the ground throughout this conflict is consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organisations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza”.
“Signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation — including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment — are undeniable,” he said.
Israel’s foreign ministry criticised what it said was a “fabricated” MSF report.
“The report is entirely false and misleading. Israel does not target medical teams or individuals uninvolved in terrorist activities,” it said.
Ceasefire negotiations continue amid Israeli airstrikes
Meanwhile, US and Arab mediators are working on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, sources close to the talks say, while in the Gaza Strip, medics say recent Israeli strikes have killed 41 Palestinians.
The mediators, at talks in Egypt and Qatar, are trying to forge a deal to pause the war that would include a release of hostages seized from Israel on October 7 along with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Mediators had managed to narrow some gaps on previous sticking points, but differences remained, the sources said on Thursday.
In Gaza, medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed overnight in separate Israeli airstrikes, including on two houses in Gaza City and a central camp.
Palestinians search through the rubble of a house damaged in an Israeli airstrike. Source: AAP, SIPA USA / Khasan Alzaanin/TASS
Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed nine people near Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, while another killed four others at a housing project near Beit Lahiya in the north. There was no Israeli comment.
Later on Thursday, airstrikes killed at least 15 Palestinians in two shelters housing displaced families in the eastern Gaza City suburb of Tuffah, medics said, bringing Thursday’s death toll to 41.
The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants operating in command and control complexes in areas that were previously used as the Al-Karama and Sha’ban Schools in Tuffah. It said Hamas used the complexes to plan and execute attacks against its forces.
Sources close to the mediation efforts said Hamas had pushed for a one-package deal, but Israel wanted a phased one.
Talks are focused on a first-phase release of hostages, dead or alive, as well as a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
On Tuesday, the sides discussed the numbers and categories of those to be released, but things have yet to be finalised, said a source who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The source said one issue was Israel’s demand to retain the right to act against any possible military threat from Gaza and the stationing of Israeli forces during phases of the deal.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said Israel will have security control over Gaza with full freedom of action after defeating Hamas.
