Amnesty International’s finding of Genocide against Palestinians in Gaza

December 16, 2024

On December 4, 2024, Amnesty International released a new groundbreaking research report, which concluded that Israel committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.  Genocide is a crime under international law, whether it is committed in times of peace or armed conflict.  

The new research report was published after review and analysis by Amnesty International researchers as well as legal and forensic experts.  Amnesty International demanded that governments around the world, including the Canadian government, do everything to stop the genocide.  If governments fail to act, they may risk being found complicit in genocide under international law.  The almost 300 page report is extensive and outlines evidence and legal analysis of how Israeli authorities have treated Palestinians as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and clearly demonstrate its intent to physically destroy Palestinians in Gaza.     

Specifically, Amnesty International concluded that Israel committed prohibited acts under the Genocide Convention.  The report was based on Amnesty’s extensive research of violations perpetrated by Israel in Gaza from October 7, 2023 to July 2024 and includes data from October 2024 and important developments until November 2024.  Under Article 2 of the Genocide Convention (which Israel ratified in 1950), five acts constitute the underlying criminal conduct of the crime of genocide.  Amnesty International’s research report covers three of the five, which are as follows: 

a.     killing members of the group;

b.     causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and

c.     deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. 

According to international law on genocide, to constitute the act of “killing members of the group,” the killings must be intentional. Mens rea is a crucial element.  In the context of war, killings may include direct attacks on civilians and civilian objectives as well as indiscriminate attacks.  The act of “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction” refers to destruction that do not have to immediately kill, but which ultimately are able to lead, over time, to their physical or biological destruction.  In other words, a slow death inflicted on Palestinians due to Israel’s denial and obstruction of essential services and life-saving supplies as well as the total siege preventing humanitarian organizations to deliver life-saving services and supplies.  One humanitarian worker interviewed by Amnesty International said they chose not to notify the Israeli government of their movements because, as Palestinian staff, they feared it would put them at a higher risk of being a target. 

In order to constitute the crime of genocide, these acts must be committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”  As such, there are three parts of concern here: “intent to destroy,” “in whole or in part,” and “a designated group.”  Regarding intent, a state’s actions can have two goals, for instance, achieving military objective and also destroying a group.  

As part of their comprehensive research, Amnesty International gathered public media statements including by Israeli officials, reviewed court documents, and interviewed over 200 people.  They analyzed visual and digital evidence, including satellite imagery, videos and photos uploaded to social media or obtained via its researchers.  Amnesty International authenticated and, if possible, geolocated videos and photos. 

Amnesty International concluded that Israel conducted over 10,000 airstrikes in Gaza since October 7, 2023 which resulted in the highest death tolls among children, health care workers, humanitarian workers, and journalists compared to any other recent conflict in the world.  Amnesty International found that approximately 60% of the people killed were children and women.  As a result of their in depth investigation of 15 airstrikes, Amnesty International found a large pattern of repeated direct and indiscriminate attacks by the Israeli military.  These airstrikes killed 334 civilians, including 141 children, with no military targets.  Five of the attacks occurred between 11 pm and 4 am when the victims were sleeping.  11 of the 15 attacks occurred in overcrowded residential homes where families had relocated after an evacuation order.  Amnesty International found that these attacks were conducted in such a manner as to cause the highest number of fatalities among the civilian population.  

Only after two months of the offensive, hunger in Gaza was estimated to be at a crisis point.  Israel also displaced 90% of Gaza’s population and destroyed 84% of health facilities and 57% of water infrastructure.  Mass evacuation orders even applied to hospitals which had patients in the ICU and neonatal care units.  The repeated raids on hospitals also resulted in the killing and injury of medical staff.  

Amnesty International noted that the organization shared its findings with Israeli authorities, but received no response.  Amnesty International has now joined a growing list of experts and organizations who have found Israel to be committing genocide against Palestinians such as the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security and the UN Special Rapporteurs. 

The Canadian government has expressed a commitment to upholding decisions by the international courts, including ICC arrest warrants, which were recently issued.  The Canadian government also expressed their opposition in the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory, and any engagement of siege or blockade.  As Canadians, we must call on the government of Canada to stop the genocide, end of the occupation, and the apartheid.   The secretary general of Amnesty International, Dr. Agnes Callamard, stated that “states must do everything to stop the genocide.  They must halt arms transfer and military aid to Israel or risk becoming complicit in genocide.”  The Canadian government must leverage its current ongoing relationship with Israel and utilize all diplomatic, political, and economic means to stop the perpetrators.  The people of Gaza simply cannot wait years for a ruling by the International Court of Justice to end the ongoing genocide.  

Paul O’Brian, the executive director of Amnesty International, said there is a “clear pattern of causing intergenerational harm by dropping bombs on residential areas at night where children, infants, parents and grandparents are sleeping,” and to be subjected to the “constant forced movements of populations that are already traumatized by having been displaced and then attacking them once they have been moved.”  He concluded that it is “absolutely not the case” that Israel’s violence can be “understood exclusively as an attempt to defeat Hamas.”  Amnesty International found that claims by Israel were not credible and reiterates that the presence of Hamas does not absolve Israel from the obligation to avoid indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.  

Amnesty International has unequivocally condemned the atrocities committed by Hamas and other armed groups and plans to release another report surrounding the circumstances of October 7.  However, Amnesty International reiterates that the crimes of Hamas on October 7 do not absolve Israel of its obligations to protect civilians and respect international law.  There is no military or other justification for genocide.  Nothing can justify genocide. 

On December 10, 2024, Daniil Brodsky published an article explaining why he resigned as the chairman of Amnesty Israel.  After Amnesty International released their research paper concluding genocide in Gaza, Amnesty Israel issued a statement to say that most of its members do not believe genocide has occurred in Gaza.  However, one week before the report on genocide was released, Brodsky resigned from his position as the chair of the board of Amnesty Israel.   Brodsky stated that “I resigned because I could no longer chair a branch that did not treat Palestinians as equal partners, and I could not sign off on a critique of Amnesty International’s report that pretends to be an expert minority opinion, but is instead little more than the expression of an Israeli-Jewish worldview, to the exclusion of Palestinian voices.”  

Brodsky argues that Amnesty International’s recent research report on genocide in Gaza “was written by a diverse set of legal experts, and was revised multiple times to adhere to stricter standards of proof.  It is far from the first report prepared by legal experts to reach the conclusion that genocide occurred, but is by far the most in-depth legal analysis on the issue.  Whether one agrees or disagrees with the report’s conclusions, the critique of it ought to be the kind that is commanded by serious scholarship.”  On the contrary, Amnesty Israel’s position of the genocide report was simply prepared by two Israeli Jewish staff members that were not considered legal experts. Also, no Palestinian staff or Palestinian board members were asked to contribute to Amnesty Israel’s analysis of the genocide report.  Brodsky argues there were skilled Palestinians present in Amnesty Israel’s office, but they were not asked to contribute their perspectives because Palestinians are not viewed as “equal partners, who get to do the analysis side by side and set the agenda together.” 

When Brodsky became the chairman of Amnesty Israel in January 2024, there were no Palestinians on the board of managers or in high level staff positions.  He advocated for more Palestinian involvement and representation in managerial roles, but saw reluctance to make necessary changes.  Two Palestinian board members joined Amnesty Israel during Brodsky’s tenure, but left shortly after as one of them was told her opinions were evidence of a lack of experience and she was not fit to be a member of the board.  Also, Amnesty Israel staff members repeatedly ignored her demands to be included in official decisions. 

Brodsky concluded by stating that “the desire among some Israelis to express positions on human rights that are unburdened by the analysis and worldview of those who actually experience those human rights violations replicates the outside Israeli system inside the world of human rights activists…If you are advocating on behalf of Palestinians, but exclude them as equals at the table, find another cause.” 

Amnesty International is one of only two international human rights organizations on the ground in Gaza working to expose violations of international humanitarian law.  Amnesty International hopes that their most recent research report concluding genocide in Gaza will serve as a wakeup call to governments around the world and compel them to stop the ongoing genocide.  In the last year, the U.S. has provided approximately $17.9 billion on military assistance to Israel and recently approved another $20 billion for weapons to Israel, despite expressing concern over the loss of civilian life in Gaza.  As the U.S. is providing the most weapons to Israel, it can potentially have the most impactful role in saving civilian lives and stopping the genocide if there is a weapons suspension. 

Written by Katrina Sriranpong