Human Lives Human Rights: Nearly a year has elapsed since the October 7 operation, referred to as Al-Aqsa Storm, which marked the onset of the Gaza war. Given the relatively brief period that has gone by, this war is being regarded as one of the most severe human rights tragedies in the history of humanity.
The Israeli regime, along with its top officials, including Minister of Defense Yoav Galant and Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, have been identified as key figures in the perpetration of these crimes.
Over the past year, nearly 42,000 innocent civilians in Gaza have lost their lives through various means at the hands of the Israeli army, acting under the explicit orders of Galant and Halevi. The events that have unfolded in Gaza over the last year are unequivocally seen as a profound example of a crime against humanity, extending far beyond the scope of traditional war crimes.
In the context of a war crime, there are instances where individual soldiers from one of the warring parties act arbitrarily, targeting opposing forces and civilians—who may have been captured in the course of conflict—without any prior orders or notifications from their superiors. It is clear that the scale and implications of war crimes are significantly narrower compared to those of crimes against humanity.
Crimes against humanity typically involve systematic and widespread attacks against a civilian population, carried out with substantial planning and organization, often under the direction of senior political and military leaders. In these cases, entire communities may be targeted through extensive military operations conducted by land, air, and sea, or through coordinated assaults by infantry forces. The deaths and suffering inflicted upon civilians are a result of deliberate actions taken by the regime, rather than random or isolated incidents. This planned and coordinated nature of the attacks is what distinguishes crimes against humanity from war crimes.
