JERUSALEM – Another day, another international non-governmental organization (NGO) throws out a wild accusation of Israel’s committing “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza. This time it is Human Rights Watch, whose report follows closely on a recent Amnesty International document that accused Israel of committing “genocide due to starvation.” That report was so egregious the Israel branch of Amnesty completely disowned its own parent organization’s so-called findings.
A taste of the kind of nonsense @HRW is pedaling in their new sham report:
“Human Rights Watch has not been able to independently verify allegations of aid diversion in Gaza. The United Nations has stated that “looting” and “attacks on aid convoys” have hindered humanitarian… https://t.co/NLsX8zwSh1 pic.twitter.com/hjAF41sMEa
— NGO Monitor (@NGOmonitor) December 19, 2024
Israel’s Foreign Ministry came out strongly against the HRW report and baldly accused it of a “blood libel” for propagating a claim for which there is no evidence. Indeed, COGAT, the body which administers activities in Judea and Samaria and deals with humanitarian aid in Gaza, put figures to its disclaimer of the report. Calling it an “egregious” lie, it showed it had disbursed more water – approximately 20 liters per person per day – rather than the “international standard 15 liters” to the people of Gaza. In addition, Israel facilitated hundreds of water infrastructure repairs, both in northern and southern Gaza. It also fixed water lines leading to Gaza on the Israeli side that were damaged by Hamas. And some of these repairs were done under fire. It should also be recalled that Hamas uses water pipes as firing tubes for rockets aimed at Israeli population centers. Israel also facilitated the repair of the “Kela” electricity line (which Hamas damaged on Oct. 7), so the desalination plant in Khan Yunis can work at full capacity.
A recent report claims Israel deliberately used water as a “weapon” in Gaza.
This libelous claim is an egregious lie.
This is why:
3 water lines FROM ISRAEL are active, supplying an average of 107 liters per person in northern Gaza, 34 liter per person in central Gaza,…
— COGAT (@cogatonline) December 19, 2024
Arsen Ostrovsky from the International Legal Forum, which centralizes efforts of lawyers, organizations and activists worldwide in their fight to promote justice, peace and equality in Israel and the Middle East, blasted the HRW report. “Human Rights Watch may as well change its name to Hamas Rights Watch, ” he wrote in a statement.
The @HRW report accusing Israel of committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza by depriving water, is just like Amnesty report that preceded it: another blood libel, full of malicious lies & whitewashing of Hamas.
HRW may as well change its name to Hamas Rights Watch!
Our full statement: pic.twitter.com/G5Moqdc90i
— Arsen Ostrovsky ️ (@Ostrov_A) December 19, 2024
On being asked why the report had come out now, Ostrovsky responded the situation was two-pronged. “Like the Amnesty report, it is being used to bolster South Africa’s upcoming case in the International Court of Justice. However, in addition, the genocide charge has been fully exposed for what it is: a perversion of justice, without any legal basis or merit. Therefore, groups like Amnesty and HRW, as well as now Ireland and others, are seeking to redefine the very meaning of the term ‘genocide,’ to fit their warped agenda of vilifying Israel and denying the Jewish state its inalienable right to self-defense.”
There seems to be some kind of game being played with all the accusations leveled against Israel; the more outrageous the claims against it the more international aid organizations among others double down on their rhetoric, accusing it of the most ghastly crimes, and ensuring enormous amounts of time, energy, and money are absorbed by these claims.
And Ostrovsky says it is deliberate and coordinated. “The vast majority of these civil society groups have long abandoned their pursuit of human rights. It is essentially an anti-Israel cabal weaponizing the language of human rights and international law, in a relentless lawfare pursuit and hounding of Israel.” Added to the Amnesty/HRW mix is Medicine Sans Frontier, which as if by magic, released an equally damning report about Israel, claiming it has seen “signs of ethnic cleansing.
With regard to the reanimation of ancient blood libels, he points out it is the “oldest hatred, but manifesting for the modern times, as a pursuit of Israel as the Jew amongst the nations. It also only underscores and exposes how baseless these allegations are and how much they are motivated by sheer anti-Semitism, than any pursuit of justice or international law.”
This @HRW genocide report against Israel, just like the Amnesty one that preceded it, is another blood libel that belongs in the dustbin of antisemitic history! #HRWAmnestyLies https://t.co/EWn3U4hCK8 pic.twitter.com/Qfr7wpAp3r
— Arsen Ostrovsky ️ (@Ostrov_A) December 19, 2024
