The United States has said it disagrees with Human Rights Watch’s accusation that Israel was carrying out “acts of genocide” in the Gaza Strip by damaging water infrastructure, AFP reports.

“When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

“That does not take away from the fact that there is a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “