Our Genecide (B'Tselem)

"[T]he Ministry of Health in Gaza.... [fatalities] breakdown released in July 2025 shows 15%... women, 29%... minors and 7% are elderly."

"A study... estimated that during the first 12 months of the Israeli assault, the life expectancy of men in Gaza dropped by 51.6%, to 40.5 years, a loss of 34.9 years compared to prewar... For women... 38.6%, to... 47.5 years, a loss of 29.9 years."

"Several studies... suggest... casualties... much higher. The duration... the... scale of infrastructure destruction, and... restriction of humanitarian and rescue organizations' access... are... some... factors..."

"Israel's... open-fire policy... systematically violates fundamental principles of international law, such as distinction and proportionality. Israel... policy... permits unprecedented levels of harm to uninvolved civilians when striking at what it considers military targets. ...These practices enable... increase... frequency of strikes and [to] reduce risk to soldiers at the expense of precautions... to reduce injury to innocents."

"[A]fter ordering residents to leave their homes, Israel repeatedly bombed... "safe corridors" that... s (IDPs) were to use to travel to "humanitarian zones"."

""[H]umanitarian zones"... meant to provide IDPs safety, offered unlivable conditions and were... systematically bombed."

"After breaking the ceasefire in March 2025, Israel resumed... aggressive... indiscriminate attacks... including... designated humanitarian zones and other areas densely populated by tens of thousands of destitute IDPs. As of 14 July 2025, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported more than 7,450 people killed and over 26,000 wounded since the ceasefire was violated."

"The mass killing of civilians in Gaza has been carried out... through permissive... at times deliberate, live fire by Israeli soldiers... Soldiers' testimonies reveal that... Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip defined "kill zones"... with arbitrary boundaries, sometimes unclear even to the soldiers... where permission was given to open fire at anyone... within them."

"Soldiers and officers... reported... absence of... , or... rules... at the discretion of commanders... or based on arbitrary criteria. Isolated incidents such as the killing of 15 paramedics in April 2025, or the December 2023 shooting of three Israeli hostages who had escaped captivity and were waving a white flag, illustrate that the open-fire regulations were... discarded. These practices were reinforced by statements from commanders... and by... volunteer doctors... including visual evidence of deliberate sniper shootings of children."

"Until 14 July 2025... 138,520 people were injured... Approximately 25%... life-altering injuries that require... rehabilitative care, including limb amputations, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and severe burns. ...[R]ecords ...refer only to ...treatment at an official medical facility. ... As with the death toll, it appears... official figures... understate... the... number."

"According to data provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza to (PHRI), more than 4,700... have undergone amputations since October 2023, including over 940 children and... 370 women. ...[W]here basic medications ...as s were unavailable, doctors were forced to amputate ...though under normal circumstances ... not ...necessary. ...Tens of thousands of wounded ...and amputees were left without adequate care."

"[T]he UN warned that people with disabilities... are "at higher risks of dying, becoming injured and acquiring further impairments" as a result of the ongoing Israeli offensive."

"[E]stimates range from thousands to tens of thousands of deaths, in addition to the direct fatalities caused by the Israeli assault. ...[R]esearchers broadly agree that... figures released by the Ministry of Health in Gaza significantly understate... victims."

"[C]auses of indirect deaths are injuries, infectious diseases, , maternal and neonatal mortality, and complications from untreated chronic illnesses. All... a... result of... destruction of living conditions... restrictions on the entry of , and... assault on the healthcare system that has rendered it unable to cope with... casualties. Experts warn... along with the starvation... indirect deaths will rise further."

"In... October 2024... 100 American medical professionals who had volunteered in the Gaza Strip published a letter stating that almost every person they encountered... was ... sick or wounded, and... nearly every child under... five was suffering from ing and . ...[M]any of the surgeries ...resulted in s due to ..., poor sanitary conditions, and ...lack of . They ...stated that malnutrition and ...shortage of clean ...led to widespread ...low and post-partum women unable to breastfeed, often resulting in the infants' deaths. ...[P]regnant women and fetuses ...had died as a result of the decimation of the healthcare system."

"Gaza's residents have endured countless traumatic events... with... psychological consequences... [W]ithin a reality of omnipresent death, relentless displacement, and ongoing hunger and disease, many are suffering psychological distress after witnessing horrific events, including the violent deaths of... loved ones."

"[I]ncidence of mental health problems has increased significantly, particularly trauma-related disorders, depression, and anxiety, in a population already exhibiting high rates of mental illness due to prolonged exposure to occupation, blockade, and recurring military violence."

"[N]early all of Gaza's 1.2 million children were in need of mental health and support due to symptoms of depression, anxiety, , and more."

"6% of children in Gaza felt... death was imminent, and nearly half expressed a desire to die as a result of... trauma..."

"[B]efore the... offensive... 64%... in the Gaza Strip were classified as food insecure, and... 80% relied on... humanitarian aid. Immediately after launching its assault... Israel declared a complete blockade... which quickly led to... shortages of food..."

"In September 2024, 15 aid organizations published an analysis showing that Israel had blocked 83% of food assistance to the Strip."

"Israel attacked convoys... distributing humanitarian aid, as well as the Palestinian police officers tasked... with securing them. The [food] shortage... led to sharp price hikes... further limiting access... for most of the population."

"[W]e have witnessed relentless human suffering and loss of life on a scale unimaginable..."

"Entire cities bombed and razed, with scarcely a house left standing; hundreds of thousands torn from their lives... with what little they could take on their backs, searching for temporary shelter; adults and children... in endless lines for... little food, risking life and limb... to feed their starving families; and... death looming everywhere."

"Genocide... is an assault on humanity... on the fundamental belief that every life is precious, and the core principle that every human being is entitled to basic rights affording protection from arbitrary violence. ...[A]ttempting to eradicate a group of human beings is a crime... that every person has the duty to oppose and act to stop immediately. This is a moral, legal, and human imperative: to acknowledge the facts... stand with the victims, and demand an end to destruction and extermination..."

"[S]ince October 2023, the Israeli regime has been responsible for carrying out genocide..."

"Killing tens of thousands... causing bodily or mental harm to hundreds of thousands more; destroying homes and civilian infrastructure on a massive scale; starvation, displacement, and denying humanitarian aid... perpetrated systematically... aimed at annihilating... life in the Gaza Strip."

"Israel's decision to continue.... despite countless warnings and... evidence of its deadly consequences... with repeated public clarifications by... policymakers that the target is the entire population of Gaza, demonstrate the intent of... leadership to... destroy Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip."

"[T]he Israeli regime is leading an assault on the Palestinian population in the West Bank and a policy of egregious rights violations against Palestinian citizens of Israel. The form and extent of these actions... are rooted in the... denial of Palestinian humanity. ...[T]he lives and dignity of Palestinians have come to be regarded as disposable... and violence against them normalized."

"The routine killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip and the forced displacement of tens of thousands in the would not have been possible without international inaction in the face of the unfathomable scale and severity of these crimes."

"[M]any state leaders, particularly in Europe and the United States, have not only refrained from effective action to stop the genocide but enabled it — through statements affirming Israel's "right to self-defense" or active support, including the shipment of weapons and ammunition."

"[A]fter the International Court of Justice ruled... plausible risk that Israel's actions amount to genocidal acts, and... the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Gallant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the international community failed..."

"The genocidal nature of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and the international community's failure to prevent them will... likely to reshape norms of conduct in international relations and the protection of human rights around the world."

"Trampling fundamental principles... and blatantly disregarding the moral norms that shaped the post-WWII world order, may turn... indiscriminate lethal force and deliberate targeting of civilians into... conduct of future violent conflicts."

"Confronting the... destruction and moral disintegration requires... acknowledging the crimes... [and] commitment to action and... accountability... international and domestic."

"[R]ebuilding after such devastation will be... long and arduous... [and] require a fundamental shift in the foundations of the Israeli regime."

"[T]he Israeli regime... stripped [of] every moral value and obligation of meaning, is a danger to all people under its rule. ...[E]verything must be done to prevent it from claiming more victims."

"[R]ecognition that the Israeli regime is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and the deep concern that it may expand to other areas... demand urgent... unequivocal action from both Israeli society and the international community."

"This is the time to save those who have not yet been lost forever, and use every means... under international law to stop Israel's genocide of the Palestinians."

"With the publication of these two reports, and become the first... Israeli organizations to state... based on meticulous documentation and research: Israel is committing genocide... This is another milestone in the human rights community’s efforts to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their crimes... Amid... efforts by the Israeli government to crack down on... human rights organizations, such publications demanded courage and unyielding commitment... Their findings must be heeded... and translated into action to... dismantle... apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights Israel controls. ...B’Tselem’s report builds on... work undertaken for decades to document Israel’s crimes... and demonstrate the cloak of that has sheltered Israeli authorities from accountability. The report’s findings... are... damning and illustrate the importance... to stop Israel’s genocide with... demands to end its unlawful occupation... and dismantle its system of apartheid. ...The publication... coincides with... the UN conference on Palestine in New York. Their... findings add to the... call for... states to recognize Israel’s action... for what it is: genocide. States... must take urgent and effective measures to end Israel’s impunity for its human rights violations against Palestinians and stop its genocide, apartheid and unlawful occupation. Palestinians have... suffered irreversible harm; the horrors... will require generations to recover... States must not miss yet another opportunity to change course, restore... faith in international law and enable Palestinians to begin their recovery..."