JERUSALEM: The Zionist entity on Thursday faced accusations of acts of genocide in Gaza, while a medical charity said the devastation caused in the Palestinian territory showed signs of ethnic cleansing. They are the latest in a series of similar accusations levelled against the Zionist entity during its 14-month war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In a new report focused specifically on water, New York-based Human Rights Watch detailed what it called deliberate efforts by Zionist authorities “of a systematic nature” to deprive Gazans of water, which had “likely caused thousands of deaths... and will likely continue to cause deaths”. The Zionist retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,129 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians.

In a separate report released on Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused the Zionist entity of causing widespread devastation in Gaza and noted “signs of ethnic cleansing” in the north of the Palestinian territory. The Zionist entity in early October began a major military operation in Gaza’s north, which it said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.

In a statement, MSF Secretary General Christopher Lockyear said what his medical teams have seen in Gaza “is consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organizations concluding that genocide is taking place”. Lockyear said “signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation — including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment — are undeniable.”

The HRW report detailed what the group said was the intentional damaging of water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as the blocking of fuel for generators. The report concluded that in doing so, “(Zionist) authorities intentionally inflicted on the Palestinian population in Gaza ‘conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.’” This, it said, amounted to the war crime of “extermination” and to “acts of genocide”.

HRW pointed to a statement by then-defense minister Yoav Gallant as suggestive of the Zionist entity’s intent. In Oct 2023, he declared a “complete siege” and said: “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed.” The Zionist entity is facing a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice last December, arguing that the war in Gaza breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.

In November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for Gallant, and also for Mohammed Deif, military chief of Hamas. The HRW report, drawn up over nearly a year, is based on interviews with dozens of Gazans, staff at water and sanitation facilities, medics and aid workers, as well as satellite imagery, photographs, videos and data analysis. The lack of water left Gazans vulnerable to water-borne diseases and complications, such as infected wounds and the inability to heal due to dehydration, HRW said. One emergency room nurse cited in the report said they were forced to decide “not to resuscitate children who were severely malnourished and dehydrated”.

In early December Amnesty International accused the Zionist entity of “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. That came after a United Nations special committee in November said the Zionist entity’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide. An HRW report at the same time said the Zionist entity’s displacement of Gazans amounts to a “crime against humanity”. – AFP