Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing “acts of genocide” in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinian civilians there of adequate access to water.
It says Israel’s actions include intentionally damaging water and sanitation infrastructure.
The campaign group says this has probably caused thousands of deaths, which it says is also tantamount to “committing the crime against humanity of extermination”.
Israel rejected HRW’s report as “propaganda”.
“This report is full of lies that are appalling even when compared to HRW’s already low standards,” he added.
The HRW report is the latest in a series of accusations by rights groups and others that Israel is committing genocide in its campaign in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s top court – is also currently examining a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
The Genocide Convention of 1948, passed in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust of European Jewry, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
Israel has vehemently denied such allegations as “wholly unfounded” and driven by antisemitism. It says it has not intentionally harmed civilians in Gaza, and that it is fighting only against Hamas.
