In its latest report, Amnesty International affirmed on the basis of a documented investigation that Israel “has committed and continues to commit genocide against the population of Gaza.” The report was preceded by the publication by American and British media of numerous chilling confessions from Israeli soldiers about war crimes committed in Gaza.
Under the title: “You feel subhuman: the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza”, the latest report from Amnesty International, an international human rights NGO, documented the behavior of Israeli army in Ghaza and highlighted how Israel “unleashed hell and destruction on the Palestinian population, brazenly, continuously and with complete impunity”, in reaction to the attacks of October 7, 2023. The NGO demonstrated, further, “that Israel committed acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention, with the specific aim of destroying the Palestinians of Gaza.
These acts include killings, serious physical or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting living conditions on Palestinians in Gaza calculated to bring about their physical destruction.” In a statement to the press, its secretary general, Agnes Callamard, said: “Month after month, Israel treats the Palestinians of Ghaza as a subhuman group, unworthy of human rights and dignity, thus demonstrating its intention to destroy them. physically.”
The official warned: “Our damning findings must serve as a warning to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop immediately.” In this regard, she urged States to no longer export weapons to Israel before warning “States which continue to transfer weapons to Israel must know that they are violating their obligation to prevent genocide and risk becoming complicit. of genocide.
For her, “all states that have influence on Israel, in particular the main arms suppliers like the United States and Germany, but also other EU member states, the United Kingdom and others “Others must act now to put an immediate end to the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinians of Gaza.” Amnesty's investigation was based on numerous videos of Israeli soldiers in Gaza, over more than a year, showing the soldiers' actions taking into account “their recurrence and simultaneity, as well as their immediate impact and cumulative and mutually reinforcing consequences”, to lift the veil on “revenge, fire and destruction”, wrote Amnesty.
“As their unit withdrew from northern Ghaza late last year, Israeli reservists from the Negev Brigade's Battalion 9208 bombarded what was once a residential area with tank shells and machine gun fire. .” A soldier in the unit posted a video of the four-minute bombardment on Facebook. “A farewell dam,” read the Facebook message, accompanied by four fire emojis.
“From now on, anyone who wants to attack us will understand that this will be the result,” warns a voice in the communications system in the video before giving the order to shoot,” the organization wrote, explaining that since the Israeli army began its invasion of Gaza 14 months ago, “videos and photos have repeatedly shown its forces demolishing entire buildings, including homes and schools , as well as pillaging and set fire.
Other images show Israeli soldiers posing next to corpses and calling for the extermination and expulsion of Palestinians. In many of these images, we find the theme of revenge exacted on Ghaza” for the attack of October 7, 2023.
For the Secretary General of Amnesty, over the last two months, “the crisis has particularly worsened” in northern Gaza, “where a besieged population faces famine, displacement and annihilation in a context of incessant bombing and stifling restrictions on vital humanitarian aid. Our research reveals that Israel has persisted for months with genocidal acts, fully aware of the irreparable harm it is inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza.
It continues to do so in defiance of countless warnings about the dire humanitarian situation and legally binding decisions by the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to take immediate steps to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. The NGO estimated that “genocidal intent can coexist with military objectives and does not necessarily have to be Israel's sole intention.”
Chilling testimonies from Israeli soldiers
In its report, the organization “took into account the scale and severity of loss of life and destruction over time, analyzed public statements by officials, and found that prohibited acts were often announced or requested in the first place by senior officials responsible for war efforts.
Given the pre-existing context of dispossession, apartheid and illegal military occupation in which these acts were committed, we can find only one reasonable conclusion: Israel's intention is the physical destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza. , whether in parallel or as a means of achieving its military objective of destroying Hamas,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general.
Revelations which only reinforce the terrifying revelations made, the same day, by the American newspaper Washington Post, based on the verification of “120 photos and videos of the war in Gaza published between October 2023 and October 2024”, but also on the statements of seven soldiers about their experience in Gaza and the public comments of their commanders.
In the videos, the Washington Post said, “soldiers are seen blowing up or burning buildings – and often celebrating the destruction – occupying destroyed buildings, mocking Palestinians and calling for Israeli resettlement of Gaza.”
“These videos raise concerns”
For the newspaper, “the images and testimonies collected as a whole suggest that certain soldiers committed excesses on the battlefield. In some cases, such as burning houses, soldiers said they followed direct orders.
Quoted by the media, Asa Kasher, a professor who contributed to the drafting of the Israeli army's code of ethics, declared after viewing the videos, “that this is not only a breakdown of discipline military, but also a break in the understanding of what it takes to represent the IDF and Israel. The newspaper also indicated that the Israeli army “attempted to delete the controversial videos, fearing that they could contribute to the investigations” underway against Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). .
Some soldiers interviewed by the newspaper said that “the actions of their comrades made them uncomfortable”, others said they had “encountered soldiers driven by a sense of religious fanaticism or a desire for revenge”. Other testimonies are chilling. “We feel a very strong feeling of revenge from everyone,” said a soldier assigned to the Netzarim crossing in central Gaza, who added that “the system of discipline supposed to hold soldiers accountable is simply not working. “.
This soldier and others told the newspaper “they would not return to military service in Gaza after the behavior they witnessed as soldiers.” Legal experts called upon by the newspaper said that “in the most egregious cases, soldiers actually record evidence of possible violations of international humanitarian law.” Chantal Meloni, a law professor at the University of Milan and advisor on international crimes at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, noted that “these videos raise concerns, particularly regarding the disproportionate destruction of civilian infrastructure “.
The newspaper claimed that “Shimon Zuckerman, who was among the soldiers who posted videos showing the detonation of at least two dozen buildings in Gaza last year, said the army had asked him to stop published online earlier this year. The experts contacted by the American media indicated that “the videos showing the mistreatment inflicted on detainees and corpses also raise concerns under international law”.
Citing numerous photos and videos showing arrests of Palestinians, including one where more than a hundred Palestinians are kneeling on the side of the road, hands behind their heads, in the winter cold and an Israeli soldier can be heard throwing on the microphone to the men that the Israeli army is “destroying Ghaza” and is trying to occupy the entire city.
For international criminal law expert and executive director of the International Bar Association, Marck Ellis, the video is “particularly scandalous”, arguing that “under the laws of war, detainees must be protected against acts of violence and degrading treatment, including exposure to insults and 'public curiosity,'” the media outlet noted.
The newspaper said messages from soldiers continued to pour in in recent weeks, as the army “launched a new operation in the north and ordered the evacuation of parts of the region.” The findings of this lengthy investigation have, in fact, revealed what the ICC, the ICJ, many countries and human rights organizations have revealed. For 14 months, Israel has been waging a genocidal war and ethnic cleansing against the population of Ghaza.
Related News :