Germany calls Amnesty report on Israel ‘very serious’

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Friday said it was looking into the latest report by Amnesty International which accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Berlin takes the allegations in the report “very seriously and are in the process of analyzing them,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sebastian Fischer told the press in Berlin.

“We have been demanding for a long time that Israel acts within the framework of international humanitarian law in its attacks on the civilian population and the civilian infrastructure,” he added.

Fischer reiterated the need for “the Israeli government to adapt military operations in Gaza and better fulfill its obligations to protect civilians there.”

"Amnesty International’s research has found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza," the UK-based organization said in a statement released on Thursday.

Its latest report, You Feel Like You Are Subhuman: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, documents how, during its military offensive launched after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, "Israel has unleashed hell and destruction on Palestinians in Gaza brazenly, continuously and with total impunity."

“Amnesty International’s report demonstrates that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction,” said Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International.

“Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them,” she added.

The German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said: “Of course, we are also deeply concerned about the dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza and expect Israel to continue to keep its promise to flood the Gaza Strip with aid.”

Since Oct. 5, Israel has launched a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza to allegedly prevent Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Since then, no humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel, was allowed into the area, leaving most of the population there on the verge of imminent famine.

More than 2,300 people have since been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, killing nearly 44,600 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 105,700.

On Nov. 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.