Islamabad: In yet another blow to Israeli aggression in Gaza, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday said Israel has so far killed thousands of Palestinians by depriving them of water.
The New York-based rights body said, “This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing.”
This policy also amounts to an ‘act of genocide’ under the Genocide Convention of 1948,” the HRW said.
However, Israel has rejected such allegations in the past saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself.
“What we have found is that the Israeli government is intentionally killing Palestinians in Gaza by denying them the water that they need to survive,” Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch Middle East director told a press conference.
https://x.com/hrw/status/1869609986222968873
In its response, Israel said it had ensured water infrastructure remained operational.
Contrary to Israel’s claims, Al Jazeera and several other Arab media outlets have reported Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) deliberately shooting at and killing Palestinians lined up for water.
“Words matter”
According to Reuters, HRW is the second major rights group in a month to use the word genocide to describe the actions of Israel in Gaza, after Amnesty International issued a report that concluded Israel was committing genocide.
Amnesty International’s new landmark report concludes that Israeli authorities have committed – and still are committing – genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.
Full report, out now.#EndGazaGenocide https://t.co/IwKzHPXqXU
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) December 5, 2024
Both reports came just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. They deny the allegations.
Genocide Convention
The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines the crime of genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
