Amnesty International accused Israel on Tuesday of committing "genocide in direct" in the Gaza Strip. The organization cited the war and the blockade of aid as creating a humanitarian catastrophe. Israeli authorities dismissed the accusations as "baseless lies."
Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, stated that "the world has witnessed a genocide in direct on its screens." This statement was made in the preface to the organization's annual report on human rights. The report details accusations of "homicides," "serious attacks on the physical or mental integrity of civilians," and "deliberate imposition of living conditions aimed at the physical destruction of these people."
Israel refuted the accusations, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson calling them "baseless lies." The spokesperson accused Hamas of deliberately attacking Israeli civilians and hiding behind Palestinian civilians. The Palestinian Red Crescent announced the release of a paramedic detained since Israeli troops attacked ambulances in southern Gaza on March 23.