Two Israeli human rights groups have accused their own government of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
It is the first time major domestic organizations have sided with international human rights groups that began levelling the same charges in the weeks following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent military campaign.
What We Know
The groups, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), alleged this week that Israeli officials are consciously committing genocide.
B’Tselem first made the accusation in a report released on Monday, July 28.
“Since October 2023, Israel has shifted its policy toward the Palestinians. Its military onslaught on Gaza, underway for more than 21 months, has included mass killing, both directly and through creating unlivable conditions, serious bodily or mental harm to an entire population, decimation of basic infrastructure throughout the Strip, and forcible displacement on a huge scale, with ethnic cleansing added to the list of official war objectives,” the report reads.
Researchers from the group claim that they came to their “unequivocal conclusion” after analyzing statements by senior Israeli officials and observing actions on the ground.
Following the announcement, PHRI joined B’Tselem in calling for Israel to end its military campaign in Gaza.
The group published its own legal and medical analysis that accused Israel of the “deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza.”
B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak said that their own report was one the group “never imagined” they would need to write.
“The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights,” Novak said.
Are the Claims True?
The accusations have generated headlines, but also criticism from Israeli officials and some Western analysts who accuse the two groups of political bias.
Israel’s foreign ministry called the report “politically motivated” and described the arguments within it as “obscene” and “baseless.”
David Mencer, a spokesman for the Israeli government, dismissed the claims and insisted that Israel is permitting aid to enter Gaza.
“We have free speech in this country but we strongly reject this claim,” Mencer told reporters this week.
The Israeli Defense Forces also rebuffed the allegations, describing how humanitarian aid is regularly permitted to enter Gaza “in line with the government’s directives.”
Analysts have long argued that starvation in Gaza is primarily the result of bottlenecks inside Gaza, and not at the border. On December 1, 2024, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that aid collections would be paused through the main cargo crossing because “the road out of this crossing has not been safe for months,” citing armed looting of convoys within Gaza.
“We are pausing the delivery of aid through Kerem Shalom, the main crossing point for humanitarian aid into Gaza. The road out of this crossing has not been safe for months,” a breaking update explained.
“On 16 November, a large convoy of aid trucks was stolen by armed gangs. Yesterday, we tried to bring in a few food trucks on the same route. They were all taken,” the update continued.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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July 30, 2025 at 9:01 am
Israel has long committed grievous atrocities against Palestinian citizens, even their own politicians are aware of it.
But, but, but it is in the west, especially in countries like USA, Germany and Poland, that outright denial and objection against the accusations remain extremely strong, even now.
As a result, the UN can’t take action against Israel. Yet, the west is actively supporting the ongoing genocide.
Gaza residents are starving every day, and they run the risk of getting killed or maimed when trying to obtain food aid.
The Israelis are the ones doing the genocide, but who enables it. The west. The west that once loudly lectured others about human rights and human civil rights.