Amnesty accuses Israel of committing apartheid against Palestinians
Jerusalem, Feb 1 (EFE).- An international rights group on Tuesday accused Israel of pursuing policies of oppression and domination against Palestinians that amount to crimes of apartheid.
Amnesty International published a comprehensive 182-page report which documents crimes committed against the Palestinian people since 2017 from unlawful killing and massive seizures of their land and property to forcible transfer and drastic movement restrictions.
“Our report reveals the true extent of Israel’s apartheid regime,” Amnesty International secretary-general, Agnes Callamard, said.
“Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, or Israel itself, Palestinians are treated as an inferior racial group and systematically deprived of their rights.
“We found that Israel’s cruel policies of segregation, dispossession and exclusion across all territories under its control clearly amount to apartheid. The international community has an obligation to act.”
In its report, Amnesty said that Israel has intentionally denied Palestinians their fundamental rights and freedoms.
It pointed to administrative detention, torture, and unlawful killings, in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Some 214 Palestinians, including 46 children, were shot dead by Israeli forces along the Gaza border fence during the weekly marches demanding the right to return to their ancestors’ homes between 2018 and 2019.
Amnesty also urged the United Nations Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, which “should cover all weapons and munitions as well as law enforcement equipment.”
Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid rejected the report as “anti-semitic” and “false,” while the Israeli government called to withdraw it on Monday, a day before its release.EFE
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