Amnesty International has said that despite a ceasefire agreed last month, Israel is “still carrying out genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
After two years of war, a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10.
Amnesty Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said, “The ceasefire risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal.” “But while Israeli authorities and forces have reduced the scale of their attacks and allowed a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the world should not be fooled. Israel’s genocide is not over.”
Contacted by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to the allegations. When faced with similar allegations earlier, the ministry had rejected them as “completely false”, “concoction” and “based on lies”.
The 1948 UN Genocide Convention defines genocide as any of five acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
In December 2024, Amnesty concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza through three acts – including deliberately inflicting on Palestinians living conditions designed to lead to their physical destruction.
In an update on Thursday, Amnesty said: “Israel continues to severely restrict the entry of supplies and the restoration of services essential for the survival of the civilian population.
“Despite a reduction in the scale of attacks and some limited improvements, there has been no meaningful change in the conditions Israel imposes on Palestinians in Gaza and there is no evidence that Israel’s intentions have changed.”
Following Amnesty’s findings in December, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the London-based group a “reprehensible and fanatical organization.”
“Israel is defending itself… acting fully in accordance with international law,” it said.
Gaza has been devastated by a war that began after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Callamard said: “Israel’s pattern of conduct in Gaza, including the deliberate, unlawful denial of life-saving aid to Palestinians, many of whom are injured, malnourished and at risk of serious disease, continues to threaten their survival.”
In September 2025, an independent international commission of inquiry set up by the United Nations concluded that “genocide is taking place in Gaza” – which Israel denied. The investigation concluded that Israeli authorities and forces have committed “four of the five genocidal acts” listed in the Genocide Convention of 1948 since October 2023.
These five acts include killing group members, causing serious physical or mental harm to them, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group.
The International Court of Justice last year ordered Israel to “stop and punish direct and public incitement to genocide” in Gaza.
The Gaza War was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, resulting in 1,221 deaths. At least 69,799 people have been killed in Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable. The ministry says 352 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect.
<a href