'Doctors Without Borders' Accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza

(Patria) - The international organization "Doctors Without Borders" has accused Israel of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, in a report published today titled "Gaza: Life in a Death Trap".

The Secretary General of that organization, Christopher Lockyear, stated that "clear signs of ethnic cleansing have been observed as Palestinians are forcibly displaced, bombed, and trapped," reports RFE/RL.

- What medical teams are witnessing on the ground during this conflict is consistent with the descriptions of a growing number of legal experts and organizations concluding that genocide is being committed in Gaza - Lockyear said.

The report also states that the Israeli siege of that Palestinian territory has drastically reduced the delivery of humanitarian aid. Since October, only 37 trucks per day have been authorized to deliver aid, compared to 500 trucks before the war, the report notes.

The report also states that medical teams from "Doctors Without Borders" examined 27,500 patients and performed 7,500 surgical operations in the Gaza Strip over the past year, and that diseases are spreading rapidly among the population, given that 90 percent of the 2.3 million people are displaced and living in very difficult conditions.

"Doctors Without Borders" condemned the blocking of medical evacuations, stating that Israel approved only 1.6 percent of such requests from May to September of this year.

The report also notes that 41 attacks on employees of that organization were documented, including airstrikes on healthcare facilities and gunfire on humanitarian convoys.

"Doctors Without Borders" also states that its members were forced to evacuate from hospitals and health centers 17 times.

In the report, the organization calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the siege of the Gaza Strip to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid, and appeals to Israel's closest allies "to end unconditional support for Israel and fulfill the obligation to prevent genocide in Gaza."

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) also stated in a report today that Israel killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them water, which, it says, "legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination."

Previously, the organization Amnesty International also published a report concluding that Israel committed genocide.

Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusations of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has the right to defend itself after the cross-border attack by Hamas from Gaza on October 7, 2023.

The reports come just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. They deny the allegations.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, adopted after the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines the crime of genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."