Amnesty International has said Israel is \u201cstill committing genocide\u201d against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire agreed last month.<\/p>\n
The fragile, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 10 October<\/a>, after two years of war.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ceasefire risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal,\u201d said Amnesty\u2019s secretary general, Agn\u00e8s Callamard. \u201cBut while Israeli authorities and forces have reduced the scale of their attacks and allowed limited amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the world must not be fooled. Israel\u2019s genocide is not over.\u201d<\/p>\n Contacted by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli foreign ministry did not immediately respond to the allegations. When faced with such allegations previously<\/a>, the ministry has vehemently rejected them as \u201centirely false\u201d, \u201cfabricated\u201d and \u201cbased on lies\u201d.<\/p>\n The 1948 UN genocide convention defines genocide as any of five \u201cacts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group\u201d.<\/p>\n In December 2024, Amnesty concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza<\/a> by three of those acts <\/a>\u2013 including deliberately inflicting on Palestinians conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.<\/p>\n A makeshift tent amid widespread devastation in Gaza City. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi\/AP<\/p>\n In an update on Thursday, Amnesty said: \u201cIsrael continues to severely restrict the entry of supplies and the restoration of services essential for the survival of the civilian population.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite a reduction in scale of attacks, and some limited improvements, there has been no meaningful change in the conditions Israel is inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza<\/a> and no evidence to indicate that Israel\u2019s intent has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Amnesty\u2019s findings in December, Israel\u2019s foreign ministry called the London-based group a \u201cdeplorable and fanatical organisation\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael is defending itself … acting fully in accordance with international law,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Gaza has been devastated by the war triggered by Hamas\u2019s unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n Callamard said: \u201cIsrael\u2019s pattern of conduct in Gaza, including the deliberate, unlawful denial of lifesaving aid to Palestinians, many of whom are injured, malnourished and at risk of serious disease, continues to threaten their survival.\u201d<\/p>\n