WASHINGTON: The United States said Thursday it disagreed with New York-based Human Rights Watch’s accusation that Israel was carrying out “acts of genocide” in the Gaza Strip by damaging water infrastructure.
“When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
“That does not take away from the fact that there is a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
The report released Thursday by the Human Rights Watch follows a similar accusation by London-based Amnesty International.
In a separate report on Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in its 14-month war in Gaza launched after a massive Hamas attack.
The medical group said it documented 41 attacks on MSF staff including air strikes on health facilities and direct fire on humanitarian convoys.
Patel distanced the United States from the finding but, in contrast to Israel, stressed the value of non-governmental organizations.
“Even within their report, they make pretty clear that they don’t have the legal authority to determine intentionality” in the strikes on MSF, Patel said.
“But we continue to appreciate the important role that’s played by civil society organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, and we’re deeply concerned about the scale of civilian harm in this conflict,” he said.
US disagrees with HRW ‘genocide’ accusation against Israel
https://arab.news/c674n
US disagrees with HRW ‘genocide’ accusation against Israel
- US official: ‘When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with’
French police raid home of culture minister in graft probe
- Raid comes as Rachida Dati, who heads the town hall in the seventh district of Paris, is campaigning to be elected mayor of the French capital next year.
- Dati held a seat in the European parliament from 2009 to 2019 on behalf of France’s main right-wing party, and has been repeatedly accused of influence peddling
PARIS: French police on Thursday searched the homes of Culture Minister Rachida Dati, as well as the ministry and the Paris town hall she presides over, as part of a corruption probe, prosecutors said.
The police raid comes as Dati, who heads the town hall in the seventh district of Paris, is campaigning to be elected mayor of the French capital next year.
Dati, 60, has been accused of accepting nearly 300,000 euros ($343,000) in undeclared payments from major energy group GDF Suez while a member of the European parliament between 2010 and 2011. She has denied any wrongdoing.
The national financial prosecutor’s office on Thursday said the raids came after it had opened an investigation on October 14 into Dati over possible corruption, influence peddling and embezzlement of public funds.
Dati held a seat in the European parliament from 2009 to 2019 on behalf of France’s main right-wing party, and has been repeatedly accused of influence peddling.
Accusations that she was lobbying on behalf of GDF Suez first emerged in French media reports in 2013 and the European parliament’s ethics committee questioned her.
French investigative television show “Complement d’Enquete” and the Nouvel Observateur magazine renewed the allegations in June.
Dati wants to become the French capital’s second woman mayor in a row in the March 2026 municipal vote.
She hopes to replace Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, 66, who is to step down after two terms in the post.
