The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has released a comprehensive report marking one year since Israel launched its genocidal campaign against civilians in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. During this period, Israel has committed serious war crimes, with the explicit complicity of the international community.
Titled De-Gaza: A year of Israeli genocide and collapse of the world order (A Year of Israel’s Genocide and the Collapse of World Order) the report details the most notable crimes committed over the last 12 months, carefully documented by Euro-Med teams on the ground. It traces the clear elements of the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli army, explores the legal frameworks defining the crime of genocide, and carefully examines the current context and circumstances. The report also addresses the response of the international justice system and, above all, the complicit role of the international community in the continuation of the genocide.
The report highlights the appalling conditions and systematic atrocities that Israel has inflicted on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and specifically the Gaza Strip. These long-standing crimes include the illegal blockade, the deliberate isolation of Gaza from the rest of the Palestinian territory and the world, the systematic deprivation of basic human rights of the residents of the Gaza Strip, and the deliberate destruction of essential services.
Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army, including around 42,000 recorded by the Gaza Ministry of Health, the majority being women and children. In addition, around 100,000 people were injured, and thousands of bodies still lie under the rubble and in the streets, inaccessible to rescue and medical teams.
An estimated 10% of Gaza’s population has been killed, injured, missing or detained as a result of Israeli military attacks. Of the 50,292 Palestinians killed – including those still buried under debris – 33% were children and 21% women. Thousands more have been forcibly detained, with 3,600 still languishing in various Israeli prisons and detention centers.
Around 3,500 families have suffered multiple losses since October 2023. Among them, 365 families have lost more than ten members, while more than 2,750 families have lost three or more members.
The report details systematic acts of genocide committed in Gaza, such as the targeted killing of civilians in homes, shelters, IDP camps and areas declared humanitarian. Civilians have also been killed by military vehicles and tanks, in field executions, by drone strikes, in crowded markets and even while waiting for help in relief trucks.
The report documents the Israeli army’s starvation tactics, the deliberate killing of prisoners and detainees, and the assassination of aid workers, skilled professionals and Palestinian elites.
The Israeli army uses explicit methods intended to inflict serious physical and psychological trauma on the population. In particular, it launches thousands of systematic military attacks against civilians, significantly increases the number of deaths among people of childbearing age, separates families, attacks the health system and imposes brutal living conditions marked by famine and malnutrition.
The obstruction of humanitarian aid only exacerbates these atrocities, putting the lives of thousands at risk.
The root cause of this persecution – the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967 – has created the conditions for the ongoing genocide, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its July 19, 2024 advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are internationally recognized as Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.
Until 2005, the Israeli occupying army maintained internal and external control over Gaza by stationing military forces inside and outside the Strip and establishing settlements on its territory, a situation that still found today in the West Bank.
In 2005, Israel declared a unilateral “disengagement,” evacuating its settlers from Gaza and withdrawing its military forces. However, despite this declaration, Israel continued to exercise control over Gaza, retaining real authority over critical aspects of governance. The ICJ confirmed this position in a recent advisory opinion, reflecting the near-universal international consensus on the continuation of the Israeli occupation.
Even after its military withdrawal, Israel retained control of essential elements of Gaza’s governance, including the population registry, borders (land, sea and air), and the regulation of the movement of people and goods. Israel also continued to collect taxes on imports and exports and to control the buffer zone.
Following the attack on October 7, 2023, Israel declared a state of war, with its president, prime minister and other political and military leaders on the front lines. The stated goal is to eliminate Hamas, secure the release of hostages and restore security. Thus began Operation Iron Swords, a brutal military offensive that intensified the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Euro-Med Monitor concluded with a series of recommendations after a year of genocide in Gaza, emphasizing that all states, both individually and collectively, are still obliged to work towards stopping the ongoing genocide by all means available . Preventing and punishing this crime is an international legal obligation incumbent on all States without exception, and it is an obligation of absolute authority towards all.
Euro-Med Monitor calls for the imposition of a total arms embargo on Israel, termination of all licenses and agreements related to imports and exports of weapons (including dual-use materials and technologies which could be used against the Palestinians), and an end to all military and intelligence cooperation.
In addition to imposing travel restrictions and freezing Israeli government assets, Euro-Med Monitor calls for political and economic sanctions against Israel and its complicit states. These measures aim to put pressure on responsible parties to respect international law, ensure the non-repetition of crimes against Palestinians and compensate the victims of these atrocities.
The organization further calls for an end to all forms of support for Israel in connection with its genocide and other crimes against Palestinians. These include withholding investments, canceling or suspending political, diplomatic, economic, trade and academic ties, and reducing support from the media, legal sector and other sectors that could contribute to the continuation of these crimes.
Key measures include the full withdrawal of the Israeli occupying army from Gaza, the dismantling of all military installations, barricades and checkpoints, the end of the imposed military and geographical divisions, the restoration of the geographical unity of the Gaza Strip and ensuring the rapid and safe return of forcibly displaced people to their homes. Additionally, the recommendations call for the protection of freedom of movement, travel and access for all citizens of Gaza.
Translation: AFPS
