Israeli war crimes

Israel ratified the Geneva Conventions on 6 July 1951,[1] and on 2 January 2015 the State of Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute, granting the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over war crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

[4][5][6][7][8] Since 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council has mandated several fact finding missions into violations of international law, including war crimes, in the OPT, and in May 2021 established a permanent, ongoing inquiry.

[108][109][110][111] In February 1983, an independent commission chaired by Irish diplomat Seán MacBride (the then-assistant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations) launched an inquiry into the violence and concluded that the IDF, as the erstwhile occupying power over Sabra and Shatila, bore responsibility for the militia's massacre.

[118][119] Human Rights Watch stated, "To the extent that civilians were the immediate targets of this military assault-to sow terror and induce behavior that would serve Israel's political goals-Israel was in grave violation of international humanitarian law.

"[123][124] On 18 April 1996, near Israeli-occupied Qana, a village Southern Lebanon, the Israeli military fired artillery shells at a UNIFIL compound, which was sheltering around 800 Lebanese civilians, killing 106 and injuring around 116.

"[138] The Jenin battle became a flashpoint for both sides, and saw fierce urban combat as Israeli infantry supported by armor and attack helicopters fought to clear the camp of Palestinian militants.

"[141] In the ensuing controversy, Israel blocked the United Nations from conducting the first-hand inquiry unanimously sought by the Security Council, but the UN nonetheless felt able to dismiss claims of a massacre in its report, which said there had been approximately 52 deaths, criticising both sides for placing Palestinian civilians at risk.

The Mission gave its opinion that ″the operations were in furtherance of an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population for its resilience and for its apparent support for Hamas, and possibly with the intent of forcing a change in such support.″[161] Israel was widely criticized by human rights groups for using heavy firepower and causing hundreds of civilian casualties.

[176] On 15 January, the field office compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at the time sheltering 600 to 700 civilians and containing a large fuel depot, was shelled with high explosives and white phosphorus munitions.

[183] In July 2009 the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence published testimony from 26 soldiers (two junior officers and the rest enlisted personnel) who took part in the Gaza assault, claiming that the IDF used Gazans as human shields, improperly fired incendiary white phosphorus shells over civilian areas and used overwhelming firepower that caused needless deaths and destruction.

A representative stated "the personal details of the soldiers quoted in the collection, and the exact location of the incidents described in the testimonies, would readily be made available to any official and independent investigation of the events, as long as the identity of the testifiers did not become public.

[189] In response to the report, a dozen English-speaking reservists who served in Gaza delivered signed, on-camera counter-testimonies via the SoldiersSpeakOut group, about Hamas' "use of Gazans as human shields and the measures the IDF took to protect Arab civilians".

"[221] Human Rights Watch concurred, finding several cases where an attack was carried out within five minutes the warning, and noted that Gaza has no bomb shelters or places for civilians to realistically flee.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that "almost every piece of critical infrastructure, from electricity to water to sewage, has been seriously compromised by either direct hits from Israeli air strikes and shelling or collateral damage.

"[279] Reporters Without Borders and Al-Haq condemned the attacks, saying "an expert committee formed by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia, to assess the NATO bombing campaign of 1999, specified that a journalist or media organization is not a legitimate target merely because it broadcasts or disseminates propaganda.

[274] In late February 2019 a United Nations Human Rights Council's independent commission found that of the 489 cases of Palestinian deaths or injuries analyzed, only two were possibly justified as responses to danger by Israeli security forces.

[309][310] Tom Dannenbaum, an expert on siege law at Tufts University, described Israel's outspoken policy of total blockade and deprivation as "an abnormally clear-cut instance of starving civilians as a means of war, an unambiguous violation of human rights".

EuroMed additionally noted Israel deliberately focused its attacks on targeting electrical generators and solar energy units, on which commercial facilities and restaurants depend, to maintain the minimum possible level of their work.

[394] On 29 February 2024, at least 118 people were killed and 760 injured after Israeli forces opened fire on civilians seeking food from aid trucks near to the Al-Nabulsi Roundabout on the coastal Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City.

[402] The United Nations Human Rights Office also called for an investigation, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".

[407][408] On 1 April 2024, an Israeli drone fired three consecutive missiles at three cars belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), killing seven aid workers who had been distributing food in the northern Gaza Strip.

On 26 December 2023, Euro-Med Monitor submitted a file to the International Criminal Court and United Nations special rapporteurs documenting dozens of cases of field executions carried out by Israeli forces and calling for an investigation.

[486] The Human Rights Watch Israel-Palestine director stated Israel had a "track record of unlawfully firing at unarmed people who pose no threat with impunity – even those waving white flags".

[505] Although he claimed that the soldiers were "under pressure" when this happened, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi also stated that "It is forbidden to shoot at someone who raises a white flag and seeks to surrender", a sentiment echoed by the former head of Mossad, Danny Yatom.

[508] In December 2023, the UN Human Rights Office said that it received numerous reports from the north of Gaza of "mass detentions, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance of possibly thousands of Palestinian men and boys, and a number of women and girls, at the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces."

[515] On 19 February 2024, a group of United Nations special rapporteurs released a report stating, "Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers.

[524] Aurel Sari, a professor at the University of Exeter, stated, "By disguising themselves as civilians and as medical personnel, the Israeli forces involved in the operation appear to have resorted to perfidy in violation of the applicable rules.

[612] The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual gives watches, cameras, tobacco pipes, and headphones as examples of such items,[610] which are prohibited to "prevent the production of large quantities of dangerous objects that can be scattered around and are likely to be attractive to civilians, especially children".

[608][613] Following the November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, both parties committed to halting hostilities and facilitating Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon within 60 days.

[618] According to the IDF, the primary objective of these strikes is to target and destroy strategic weapons depots, missile systems, and military infrastructure to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremist groups amid the ensuing power vacuum.