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JERUSALEM: Rights groups ��’T������� and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Monday that they had concluded the war in Gaza amounts to “genocide” against Palestinians, a first for Israeli NGOs.
Both organizations are frequent critics of Israeli government policies, but the language in their reports issued on Monday was their most stark yet.
“Nothing prepares you for the realization that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us,” ��’T������� executive director Yuli Novak told a news conference unveiling the two reports.
“As Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness the reality every day, we have a duty to speak the truth as clearly as possible,” she said.
“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.”
Israel’s war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry has killed at least 59,821 people, most of them civilians.
All Gazans have been driven from their homes at least once since the start of the war, and UN agencies warn that residents face a growing threat of famine and malnutrition.
The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it “plausible” that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention.
The Israeli government, backed by the United States, fiercely denies the charge and says it is fighting to defeat Hamas and to bring back Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
The reports from ��’T������� — one of Israel’s best-known rights groups — and Physicians for Human Rights Israel argue that the war’s objectives go further.
��’T�������’s report cites statements from senior politicians to illustrate that Israel “is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip.”
Physicians for Human Rights Israel’s report documents what the group says is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of Gaza’s health care system.”

TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday that its military capabilities were not up for negotiations, after France called for a “comprehensive deal” with Tehran that covers its missile program and regional influence.
“Regarding matters related to our defense capabilities, there will absolutely be no discussion,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a regular press briefing.
Iran generally refers to all military activities, including its ballistic missile program, as defensive.
On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told CBS News show “Face The Nation” that Western governments were seeking a “comprehensive agreement” with Iran, in part to avert the “risk” that it could covertly pursue a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
Barrot said such agreement would include “the nuclear dimension” as well as the “ballistic component” and “the regional destabilization activities that Iran has been conducting,” referring to armed groups backed by Tehran across the Middle East.
His remarks followed a meeting on Friday between Iranian diplomats and counterparts from France, Germany, and Britain — the first nuclear talks since Israeli strikes targeting the Islamic republic’s atomic activities last month spiralled into a 12-day war.
Friday’s talks in Istanbul came as the three European powers, known as the E3, have in recent weeks threatened to trigger a so-called “snapback mechanism” under a moribund 2015 nuclear deal which would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran.
“Unless a new and robust and durable and verifiable agreement is reached by the end of the summer, France, Germany and the UK will have no other choice but to reapply the global embargo that were lifted 10 years ago,” said Barrot.
Iran has previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if sanctions were reimposed.
Baqaei on Monday said: “One cannot expect a country to remain in the treaty while being deprived of its stated rights, particularly the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
Israel’s attacks on Iran last month hit key nuclear and military sites but also residential areas, and killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds others. The United States briefly joined the war, striking key nuclear sites.
The fighting had derailed US-Iran nuclear negotiations that began in April, and prompted Iran to limit cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
Baqaei said the Istanbul meeting with the European powers focused solely on “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”
Raising any other “unrelated topics... is merely a sign of confusion on the part of the other side,” the spokesman said.
He added that Iranian had emerged from the war with its staunch rival Israel “even more determined... to safeguard all their assets, including their means of defense against foreign aggression and hostility.”