German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer has said that the question of genocide presupposes a clear intention to eradicate an ethnic group. I still do not recognise any such clear intention and therefore I cannot share the conclusions of the report.
He said these after asked for a response to Amnesty’s report that accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in its war on Gaza, reports Al Jazeera.
“We take the accusations in the report very seriously and are currently analysing them,” he said.
“We have repeatedly urged the Israeli government to adjust its military operations in Gaza and better fulfil its obligations to protect civilians,” Fischer said.
“However it is still our opinion that Israel is acting in defence against Hamas which sparked this conflict with its terror attacks,” he said.
On Thursday the London-based human rights group published a 300-page report on Israel’s offensive in Gaza, saying its findings were based on satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from people in Gaza, as well as “dehumanising and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials”.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
