Israeli Human Rights Groups Declare: Israel is Committing Genocide in Gaza

In a landmark moment for the global human rights community, two leading Israeli organizations—B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI)—have published reports concluding that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The findings, unprecedented in scope and clarity, mark the first time Israeli human rights groups have used the term genocide to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Amnesty International: “A Milestone”

Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, welcomed the reports as a defining moment in the pursuit of accountability:

“With the publication of these two reports, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel become the first two Israeli organizations to state it loud and clear, based on meticulous documentation and research: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This is another milestone in the human rights community’s efforts to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their crimes.”

Callamard emphasized that the reports demonstrate extraordinary courage, particularly amid ongoing Israeli government efforts to silence human rights defenders. She urged the international community to translate these findings into urgent action to halt the genocide, dismantle Israel’s system of apartheid, and end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory.

B’Tselem: Our Genocide

B’Tselem’s report, titled “Our Genocide,” examines Israel’s actions in Gaza since October 7, alongside decades of systemic dehumanization and impunity. It documents:

• Mass killings of civilians

• Infliction of severe bodily and mental harm

• Deliberate creation of life-threatening conditions designed to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza

• Escalating patterns of destruction and forcible transfer in the occupied West Bank

The report warns that Israel is replicating in the West Bank, though on a smaller scale, many of the same patterns of annihilation it is enacting in Gaza.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel: Healthcare Under Siege

PHRI’s report provides a medical-legal analysis of Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, showing how health infrastructure has been deliberately targeted as part of the broader genocidal campaign. The report documents:

• Direct and indiscriminate attacks on hospitals and clinics

• Blockages of medical aid into Gaza

• Restrictions on medical evacuations for critically ill and wounded patients

• Detention, torture, and killing of healthcare workers

PHRI concludes that these actions are not collateral damage but part of a calculated policy to destroy Palestinian lives by dismantling systems essential for survival.

A Call to Action

The reports were released as the UN Conference on Palestine convened in New York, amplifying the international urgency. Callamard stressed:

“Their unequivocal findings add to the inescapable call for participating states to recognize Israel’s action against Palestinians in Gaza for what it is: genocide. States know their obligations; there is no more time for performative debates.”

Amnesty urged governments to act decisively—ending impunity, enforcing international law, and providing space for Palestinians to begin the long process of recovery.

Conclusion

The reports by B’Tselem and PHRI represent a turning point. For the first time, Israeli organizations themselves have joined Palestinian voices, international jurists, and genocide scholars in declaring that what is happening in Gaza is not war but genocide.

With mounting evidence and growing consensus, the spotlight now turns to the international community: will states uphold their obligations under the Genocide Convention, or allow Gaza to become yet another entry in the tragic record of atrocities acknowledged only after the fact?