Two Israeli rights groups said Israel was carrying out "coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip."

When two human rights groups became the first major voices in Israel to accuse the state of committing genocide in Gaza, breaking a taboo in a country founded after the Holocaust, they were prepared for a backlash.

It is the first time that Jewish-led organizations in Israel have made such accusations against the country during nearly 22 months of war.