Human rights group Amnesty International today accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinians since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip in a report it is releasing and wants to be a “wake-up call to the international community”.

The NGO says it reached this conclusion by examining “genocidal” positions and the “dehumanization” of Palestinians by the Israeli government, primarily satellite footage documenting the extent of the destruction in the Palestinian enclave, as well as field research and interviews that taken from residents of the Gaza Strip between October 7, 2023 and July 2024.

“One month after another, Israel treats the Palestinians of Gaza as a set of subhumans, unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intention to destroy them,” said Amnesty International’s secretary general, Anies Kalamar.

“Our damning findings should be a wake-up call to the international community: genocide is being committed. It must end now,” he adds, according to an NGO press release accompanying the report.

After the unprecedented attack on its soil by the military arm of Hamas, the trigger on October 7, 2023 of the 426th day of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel is defending its large-scale military operations saying it wants to eliminate the Palestinian Islamist movement .

“But let’s be clear: military purposes can coincide with the intention to commit genocide,” insisted Ms Calamar during a press conference in The Hague.

The 300-page report, for example, refers to 15 aerial bombardments from October 7 to April 20, 2024, which resulted in the deaths of 334 civilians, including 141 children. Amnesty underlines that it found “no evidence that they were carried out against military targets”.

Since the war broke out, at least 44,532 people have died in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, according to figures from Hamas’ ministry in the enclave, which is considered reliable by the UN.

Amnesty International also highlights the living conditions of Palestinians in the enclave: they suffer from “malnutrition, famine and disease”, they are exposed to “a slow, calculated death”.

The US, which sends weapons to Israel in violation of its obligation to prevent the commission of genocide, risks becoming complicit,” added Anies Kalamar.

The NGO has announced that it is also preparing to release a report on crimes committed by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023.

That attack killed 1,208 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data, which includes hostages who died in captivity or were already dead when taken to the Gaza Strip.