Israel Destroying 4,000+ Embryos in Gaza Is Genocidal Act of Preventing Birth: Report

The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a severe humanitarian crisis marked by widespread famine, destruction, loss of life and unchecked violations of international law. In the series 'Gaza Stories: Voices Under Siege', The Wire brings you interviews and reports that showcase voices from medical professionals, lawyers, journalists, artists and survivors to reveal the on-ground realities. Gaza Stories aims to amplify censored narratives and establish a deeper understanding of the situation.

New Delhi: More than 4,000 frozen embryos, and 1,000 sperm samples and unfertilised eggs were destroyed by Israel’s military when it struck Al-Basma IVF centre in Gaza City, in two phases, according to a report released by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) on Thursday.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

The report notes that the first phase of destruction took place “within the first seven weeks of the Israeli military aggression”, and the second phase in December 2023 – which resulted in the embryo lab being completely obliterated. The United Nations (UN) Commission of Inquiry had also documented the incident in a report published in March 2025.

The report, titled ‘Voices Of The Genocide”, documents “Israel’s Ongoing Genocide on the Gaza Strip” from October 2023 to January 2025. It is based on 1,225 interviews conducted by the PCHR with Palestinians from Gaza — along with open source information and secondary source information such as official reports from local bodies in Gaza, international organisations such as the UN and human rights organisations that have been monitoring the situation.

According to the report, Dr Mohammed Joda, director of the Hala Fertility Center in Gaza, told PCHR that the centre was “bombed by tank shells, completely destroying all equipment and causing extensive damage to the building”.

He added, “During the war, five women had embryos that we were unable to transfer to their wombs, and therefore, the implantation process was not completed. For two of these women, the implantation was a last resort, as they had no chance of a subsequent implantation. Of the eight centres operating before the war, six were completely destroyed or taken out of service by the Israeli occupation army. Under the current circumstances, there is no possibility of performing implantation operations, as these operations require special materials and supplies that are unavailable due to the blockade.”

The report states that “the deliberate destruction of fertility centres”, including the loss of over 4,000 frozen embryos, represents a direct assault on the reproductive capacity of the Palestinian population, further demonstrating an intent to prevent births.

Further, in November 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls had highlighted the reproductive violence inflicted by Israel, on Palestinian women, infants, and children, stating that these acts could constitute genocide under the Genocide Convention.

Article II(d) of the Genocide Convention addresses the act of imposing measures aimed at “preventing births within a protected group, thereby targeting the group’s biological existence”.

The report points to the International Court of Justice’s demand, on January 26, 2024, that Israel – according to its obligations under the Genocide Convention – take all measures within its power to “prevent” the commission of the genocidal act of “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group”.

"In March 2024, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory also acknowledged that “[t]here are reasonable grounds to believe that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza adding that Israel has committed the genocidal act of imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group,”" the report notes.

Beyond reproductive health, the report shows a grim reality of patterns that amount to “genocide”. It notes that, as of May 28, 2025, 63,000 Palestinians have been killed or are missing, including over 18,000 children and 12,400 women, with 123,308 others injured

“The current scene in Gaza after 20 months of genocidal war is one of unimaginable devastation, unlike anything seen in modern history. According to UN estimates, by mid-July 2024, the rubble from the bombing had surpassed 42 million tons. Rafah, once a thriving city, has been reduced to a ghost town, utterly decimated following the full-scale invasion in May 2024. The majority of Khan Younis and its eastern towns have also been flattened, with their residents forced to flee to the already overcrowded Al-Mawasi area,” the report states.

Healthcare systems being systematically dismantled, which includes bombing of hospitals, killing of medical staff at their post, and patients – including premature babies in incubators – who were “left to die”, were also documented in the report.

Mass arrests and torture of thousands of civilians “including sexual violence and deaths in custody” have also been documented in the report.

Walid Anwar Yousif Al-Khalili (35), a paramedic with the Palestine Medical Relief Society (PMRS) – who was arrested and detained by Israeli forces – told PCHR that he narrowly escaped being shot by an Israeli sniper while a colleague of his was shot “in the abdomen and then in the forehead, killing him”.

The paramedic described that during his detention, the investigators would “shock me” if he “did not answer” their questions, or “if the investigator did not like my answer”.

“To be honest, I felt very strange, like I was flying in the sky and not fully conscious of being able to answer the questions. I stayed like this for days, during which I was forced to take hallucinogenic pills and receive electric shocks, imagining myself in our house and calling my family,” Al-Khalili told PCHR.

“Israel’s conduct towards Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – through its state apparatus and all individuals and entities supporting it, acting under its direction, control, or influence – constitutes genocide,” the report notes in its conclusion.

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