Conte Says ‘Genocide’ in Gaza Outrage Against Humanity
Rome: Leftwing populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader and two-time former premier Giuseppe Conte said Thursday that the “genocide” being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza was an “outrage against humanity”. In Gaza, he said, there is “a genocide and those who today do not look it in the face, say that the demonstration (by the opposition in Rome on June 7) cannot be held, take on a historical responsibility. “We are beyond the violation of the law, we are facing an outrage against humanity”. Conte was speaking at the European States General on the culture of sustainability, underway in Rome.
According to Ansa News Agency, as of 4 June 2025, almost 57,000 people (55,223 Palestinians and 1,706 Israelis) have been reported killed in the Gaza war according to the official figures of the Gaza Health Ministry, as well as 180 journalists and media workers, 120 academics, and over 224 humanitarian aid workers, a number that includes 179 employees of the UNRWA aid agency. Scholars have reportedly estimated 80% of Palestinians killed are civilians, with the remainder being members of Hamas Islamist militia that rule the enclave.
A study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (OHCHR), which reportedly verified fatalities from three independent sources, found that 70% of the Palestinians killed in residential buildings or similar housing were women and children. On October 7, 2023, Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in attacks on southern Israel, widely condemned as horrific.
Israel’s relentless retaliation has been widely condemned as being disproportionate and indiscriminate. Tel Aviv says it takes all care to avert collateral damage but stresses it is very hard to do that given how deeply the Islamist militants are bedded down into the civilian fabric of Gaza. Hamas also routinely uses civilians as human shields, it says. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A ceasefire in Gaza, brokered by the US and others, lasted from January 19 to March 18, during which many hostages and prisoners were exchanged. Many countries have condemned the resumption of hostilities and a subsequent aid blockade, which has just been lifted to allow a trickle of aid to arrive amid a desperate scrabble for food and UN fears of mass starvation.