UPDATE – Through deliberately cutting off water, Israel seeks to destroy Palestinians: Human Rights Watch

UPDATES WITH ISRAELI REACTION

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – A new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report confirms that Israel is pursuing extermination and genocide in its war on Gaza, specifically zeroing in on the critical issue of access to water, which Israel has worked to deliberately deny.

Titled "Extermination and Acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water," the report, issued Thursday, said: "Israeli authorities have intentionally deprived Palestinians in Gaza of access to safe water for drinking and sanitation needed for basic human survival."

It added that in its war, now in its second deadly year, the Israeli army has "deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials; and blocked the entry of critical water supplies" to Palestinians in war-torn Gaza.

“Water is essential for human life, yet for over a year the Israeli government has deliberately denied Palestinians in Gaza the bare minimum they need to survive,” said Tirana Hassan, an HRW executive director.

The international watchdog's report concluded that "Israeli authorities have intentionally created conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza in whole or in part."

It said Israel’s actions in Gaza "coupled with statements suggesting some Israeli officials wished to destroy Palestinians in Gaza" reflect a policy that "may amount to the crime of genocide."

The rights group cited how last Oct. 9, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, stating: “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the HRW report “full of lies.”

"Human Rights Watch is once more spreading its blood libels in order to promote its anti-Israel propaganda," it claimed.

Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, launched a genocidal war on Gaza that has so far killed over 45,000 people, most of them women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

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