Human Rights Defenders Decry 'Unspeakable Suffering' in Gaza as Genocide Enters Third Year
"This must end now," said Amnesty International. "Humanity cannot bear this any more."
As Israel's genocide in Gaza enters its third year, human rights defenders around the world on Tuesday condemned what one United Nations official called the "unspeakable suffering" of the Palestinian people and the complicity of the United States and other countries, while urging an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages held by both sides.
"Today marks two years since the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, during which at least 1,200 Israelis and other nationals—mostly civilians—were killed and 251 people were taken hostage, 20 are still alive and held in Gaza," Amnesty International said on social media.
"Today marks two years since Israel began its brutal onslaught against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip," Amnesty continued. "Over 67,000 Palestinians—mostly civilians—have been killed. 90% of homes have been destroyed or damaged. Most of the population has been forcibly displaced, starved and subjected deliberately to conditions of life calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. This is genocide."
"Stop the genocide. Now."
"This horror has been made possible with the support of the US and other allies and the tightening of Israel’s 18-year-long illegal blockade that has inflicted unimaginable suffering," the group added. "This must end now. Humanity cannot bear this any more."
Numerous United Nations agencies and officials also marked the second anniversary of the start of the Gaza genocide with calls for less cruelty and more relief.
"In Gaza, for two long years people have known nothing but destruction, displacement, bombardment, fear, death, and hunger," Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said on social media. At least 370 UNRWA personnel have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023.
Lazzarini called for the "release of all hostages and Palestinian detainees," an "immediate ceasefire," as well as "the unfettered delivery of basic humanitarian supplies at scale to Gaza" and "accountability and justice to hold all those accountable for atrocities committed on and after October 7."
"There is no other way out of this abyss and mayhem," he added.
Israel’s war on #Gaza has dragged on far too long. Over the past two years, Israeli forces have killed over 66,000 people, including 15 of our staff. We call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, an end to the siege and access for independent humanitarian aid at scale.
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— Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (@msf.ca) October 6, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Ricardo Pires, the communications manager and deputy spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), asserted that Israel’s “disproportionate response” to the Hamas attack has left children suffering “in their bodies and minds for way too long."
Pires lamented that at least 61,000 Palestinian children have been killed or maimed in Gaza, which UNICEF has called "the world's most dangerous place to be a child," condemning that toll as an "unacceptable, staggering figure."
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said in a statement: "Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands endure starvation and displacement. So we renew the call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for all civilians to be protected, and for humanitarian aid to flow freely at the scale needed."
Fletcher also said that he's "seen and heard from... the survivors and the families" of Israelis and others abducted by Hamas-led resistance fighters on October 7, 2023.
"The pain is indescribable," he said. "Today, I renew my call for the unconditional, immediate release of all the hostages—and until then, they must be treated humanely."
As US President Donald Trump leads efforts to end the war by forcing both Israel and Hamas into major concessions, Human Rights Watch Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir said Tuesday that "the two years since October 7, 2023 have brought a seemingly endless stream of atrocities against civilians."
"Governments should not wait for the adoption of Trump's 20-part plan or any other peace plan to take action to prevent further harm," he added.
Peace plans cannot solely be relied on to address grave abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 30+ years of escalating repression of Palestinians as "peace processes" played out made that clear.Trump's plan is no substitute for urgent action in Gaza.
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— Human Rights Watch (@hrw.org) October 6, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Although Trump told Israel to "immediately stop" bombing Gaza after Hamas conditionally agreed last week to his plan, Israeli forces have continued bombing and invading the strip with the goal of conquering, occupying, and ethnically cleansing the Palestinian exclave. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in over 130 Israeli strikes since Trump's Friday exhortation, according to Gaza officials.
"The killing in Gaza continues," the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said ahead of Tuesday's anniversary, slamming Israel's use of the October 2023 attack as a "trigger for genocide" and "an escalation rooted in decades of apartheid and occupation."
B'Tselem had a simple message as the Gaza slaughter entered its third year: "Stop the genocide. Now."
