'Genocide Is Not Over,' Amnesty Leader Says as Israel Keeps Bombing Gaza

Underscoring the conclusion of a new Amnesty International briefing, Middle East Eye reported Thursday that "Israeli aircraft launched a series of raids on the al-Tuffah and al-Shuja'iyya neighborhoods, east of Gaza City," and conducted strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that took effect on October 10.

Gaza medical sources said that as of Wednesday, at least 69,799 Palestinians had been killed and another 170,972 injured since Israel launched a genocidal assault after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack—though global researchers have warned the actual toll is likely far higher. Since the ceasefire began last month, Israeli forces have killed at least 352 people and injured 896.

"The ceasefire risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general, in a Thursday statement. "But while Israeli authorities and forces have reduced the scale of their attacks and allowed limited amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the world must not be fooled. Israel's genocide is not over."

"Israel has inflicted devastating harm on Palestinians in Gaza through its genocide, including two years of relentless bombardment and deliberate systematic starvation," she continued. "So far, there is no indication that Israel is taking serious measures to reverse the deadly impact of its crimes and no evidence that its intent has changed. In fact, Israeli authorities are continuing their ruthless policies, restricting access to vital humanitarian aid and essential services, and deliberately imposing conditions calculated to physically destroy Palestinians in Gaza."

“The ceasefire must not become a smokescreen for Israel's ongoing genocide."

Amnesty's new briefing similarly states that "Israeli authorities are still committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction."

"Israel severely restricts the entry of supplies and the restoration of services essential for the survival of the civilian population—including nutritious food, medical supplies, and electricity—as well as stringently limiting medical evacuations," said the human rights group, which first declared the assault a genocide in December 2024, joining scholars and observers around the world.

The briefing details:

Israeli authorities continue to prohibit the entry of equipment and material necessary to repair life-sustaining infrastructure and required to remove unexploded ordnance, contaminated rubble, and sewage, all of which pose serious and potentially irreversible public health and environmental damage.

The systemic expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and what was once the most arable land continues, with Israeli military deployed across 58% of the Gaza Strip. This expulsion risks becoming permanent.

As Common Dreams reported on Wednesday, a new Trump administration plan to temporarily house Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied parts of Gaza in "residential compounds" that they may not be allowed to leave is being condemned as "concentration camps within a mass concentration camp."

Callamard noted that "Palestinians remain held within less than half of the territory of Gaza, in the areas least capable of supporting life," and pointed to decisions from the United Nations' top tribunal, the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"Still today, even after repeated warnings by international bodies, three sets of legally binding orders by the ICJ, and two ICJ advisory opinions, and despite Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, both as an occupying power and as a party to an armed conflict, Israel deliberately continues not to provide or allow necessary supplies to reach the civilian population in Gaza," she said.

Although Israel faces a genocide case at the ICJ, there have been "no prosecutions or investigations of acts of genocide by the Israeli authorities, at least none that has been publicly disclosed or acknowledged," the briefing highlights. "On the contrary, atrocity crimes committed against Palestinians, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and other ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees, continue to receive high-level political support in Israel and within the military ranks."

"Not only has the level of dehumanization of Palestinians seen no decline post-ceasefire and the return of the hostages, but new death penalty legislation has been proposed which in its current wording means that it would be primarily applied against Palestinians," the publication states. Israel's parliament, the Knesset, gave the bill its first green light earlier this month.

"Israel also continues to prevent access to the Gaza Strip to international forensic experts and investigators, including international justice and UN-mandated mechanisms, as well as international human rights organizations, and international media," the document adds. "This effectively prevents the collection of time-sensitive evidence that would be essential to pursue accountability and provide redress to victims and survivors."

Callamard called on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a fugitive of the International Criminal Court—to "lift its inhumane blockade and ensure unfettered access to food, medicine, fuel, reconstruction, and repair materials," as well as "make concerted efforts to repair critical infrastructure, restore essential services, provide adequate shelter for the displaced, and ensure they can return to their homes."

She also urged international pressure targeting the Netanyahu government, arguing that "world leaders must demonstrate that they truly are committed to upholding their duty to prevent genocide and to ending the impunity that has fuelled decades of Israeli crimes across the occupied Palestinian territory. They must halt all arms transfers to Israel until Israel's crimes under international law cease. They must press Israeli authorities to grant human rights monitors and journalists access to Gaza to ensure transparent reporting on the impact of Israel's actions on conditions in Gaza."

“The ceasefire must not become a smokescreen for Israel's ongoing genocide," Callamard stressed, also calling on companies worldwide to "immediately suspend any operations that contribute or are directly linked to Israel's genocide."

"Israeli officials responsible for orchestrating, overseeing, and materially committing genocide remain in power," she added. "Failing to demonstrate that they or their government will be held accountable effectively gives them free rein to continue the genocide and commit further human rights violations in Gaza and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem."

In addition to the airstrikes in Gaza on Thursday, Israel's troops and police continued for a second day what they called "a broad counterterrorism operation" in Tubas, a governorate in the northern West Bank. Across the illegally occupied territory, Israeli forces and settler-colonists also destroyed Palestinians' olive trees, and some settlers set fire to a mosque in Biddya.

Roland Friedrich, West Bank director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Affairs (UNWRA), said Thursday that "more than 10 months into operation 'Iron Wall,' destruction has been relentless. Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps have been completely emptied by Israeli forces, with some 32,000 residents remaining forcibly displaced."

"And yet, even in these ghost towns that were once vibrant camps, Israeli forces still see the need to order demolitions for the sake of so-called 'military purposes,'" Friedrich continued, pointing to demolitions in Jenin planned for Friday. "This systematic destruction goes against the basic principles of international law, and only serves to tighten the control of Israeli forces over the camps in the long term. The camps need to be rebuilt—not further destroyed—and their residents allowed to return and restore their lives. They must not be trapped in interminable displacement."