The release of the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict puts to the test the stated commitment of the European Union and its 27 member states to promote an international order where no state is above the law. The report presents overwhelming evidence that both Israel and Hamas committed violations of the laws of war - some amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity - and that neither side has taken serious steps to hold perpetrators to account.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) announcement, as reported by news media, that it will issue new procedures to improve the warnings given to civilians before attacks. 

We call on you and your colleagues from European Union member states to press for a comprehensive and impartial international inquiry into allegations of serious violations of international law.

Letter to General Mandelblit requesting an official investigation into the deaths of Akram al-Ghoul and Mahmoud Salah Ahmad al-Ghoul

Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned about the widespread recourse that Palestinian courts have recently had to the death penalty. So far in 2008, Palestinian Authority courts have sentenced 11 people to death, including a defendant who was a child at the time of the alleged offense.