The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has reached a breaking point, as Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of committing acts tantamount to genocide. The organisation highlighted the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, the ongoing blockade that has choked off essential supplies for over two months, and the mass displacement of Palestinians forced into overcrowded, uninhabitable zones.

The rights group called on the international community to halt all military and diplomatic support for Israel and to impose meaningful sanctions against those responsible. It reiterated that states bound by the Genocide Convention must act, including by suspending bilateral agreements and arms sales. Human Rights Watch also expressed full support for international prosecutions, including pending ICC arrest warrants.

As the Strip faces another night of fire and fear, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Beit Lahia and Jabalia. With communications down and entire neighbourhoods flattened, the full scale of suffering remains unknown. But what is clear, from Gaza’s battered streets, is a growing sense that the world’s silence is enabling what Palestinians now describe as the deliberate erasure of a people.