By Preggie Moodley
Copyright sabcnews
Israeli residents rejected on Tuesday the conclusion by a United Nations commission of inquiry that said Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had incited these acts.
“What’s happening in Gaza currently isn’t a genocide, nobody is trying to get rid of the Palestinians, we’re actually trying to get rid of Hamas” said Meytav Levy, 19, an Israeli resident.
“We’ve seen the genocide of the Jews in the Holocaust,” she added.
Israel’s foreign ministry blasted the report, responding that it relied “entirely on debunked Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others.
In stark contrast to the lies in the report, Hamas attempted genocide in Israel, murdering 1 200 people, raping women and burning families alive.”
Eden Bar Tal, the foreign ministry’s director general said the inquiry report was “an echo of the jihadist propaganda.” He added that “the report is what Hamas wants you to think, and it is a complete lie.”
The 72-page legal analysis cites examples of the scale of the killings, aid blockages, forced displacement and the destruction of a fertility clinic to back up its genocide finding, adding its voice to rights groups and others which have reached the same conclusion.
The Commission also concluded that statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former defense minister, Yoav Gallant are “direct evidence of genocidal intent.”
Israel is fighting a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague. It rejects such accusations, citing its right to self-defence following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed 1 200 people and resulted in 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 64 000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while a global hunger monitor says part of it is suffering from famine.
