By Oliver Towfigh Nia
BERLIN (AA) – A Berlin-based human rights group on Monday accused Israel of committing acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
“In recent months, ECCHR (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights) has been conducting independent research and analysis on the topic of genocide and analyzing this against the available information and evidence relating to Israel’s actions in Gaza,” the organization said in a statement that was posted on its website.
“This process has led us to the conclusion that there is a legally sound argument that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza,” ECCHR added.
It pointed out that “a large number of reports, commentary, and judgments support a conclusion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
“For example, many United Nations experts, Committees and Special Rapporteurs have warned of the risk of genocide by Israel, with increasing urgency over the last year. The Heads of State, state officials and representatives of many countries have publicly referred to genocide in Gaza, or the risk thereof.
“Additionally, reports have been published by international, Palestinian, and Israeli individuals and organisations, which posit that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, or at least is at risk of doing so.”
Furthermore, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had “already determined that the Palestinians are a protected group under the Genocide Convention, and that Palestinians in Gaza are a substantial part of that group,” according to ECCHR.
It said there is “also evidence indicating that several of the prohibited genocidal acts have been, and continue to be, committed in Gaza.”
The ECCHR statement follows a damning Amnesty International report that said it had “found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.”
Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 45,000 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and the blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.