Complete coverage of Israel/Gaza


Fred Abrahams reports from the Israel-Gaza border, January 10, 2009.

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The Israel Defense Forces began aerial bombardments on Gaza December 27, 2008, with the stated aim of suppressing Hamas rocket fire against Israel, and launched a ground offensive eight days later. In light of reports of heavy civilian casualties and alleged laws of war violations, Human Rights Watch responded by sending a senior researcher and senior military analyst to join staff already in Jerusalem to investigate. Israeli authorities prevented the team from entering Gaza during the fighting, and have continued to deny entry since the unofficial ceasefire on January 18.

Human Rights Watch researchers entered Gaza via Egypt on January 21 to investigate alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

Results of the ongoing investigation are published on this page.

Israel/Gaza Documents

  • Two months ago in this column I raised the issue of accountability for war crimes committed in the Gaza conflict. I wrote that the findings and recommendations of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, and its reception by Israel, Hamas, the United States, and others, would be the key to achieving justice.  

    November 9, 2009
    Commentary
  • Yesterday the US Congress gravely insulted hundreds of civilians who were wounded or killed in the most recent war in the Middle East.

    November 4, 2009
    Commentary
  • The United Nations (UN) General Assembly should endorse the report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict when it meets to discuss Middle East peace issues on November 4, 2009, more than a dozen groups working on human rights issues in the Middle East said today.

    November 3, 2009
    Press release
  • The United Nations Human Rights Council's resolution endorsing the report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict is a crucial step toward securing accountability for the civilian victims of the war on all sides.

    November 3, 2009
    Press release
  • A global coalition of civil society organizations from every corner of the world, ranging from Human Rights Now in Japan to the South African Council of Churches, have urged members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to support the recommendations of the Goldstone Report and work to adopt a resolution which will ensure accountability for victims of the Gaza conflict earlier this year.

    November 2, 2009
    Press release
  • Members of the US House of Representatives should oppose a resolution that calls for the Obama administration to reject scrutiny of Israel and Hamas for laws-of-war violations in the recent Gaza conflict.

    November 2, 2009
    Press release
  • Critics of Human Rights Watch's work on Israel raise three main points. First, they say we disproportionately focus on Israel, and neglect other countries in the Middle East. Second, they claim our research methodology is flawed. Third, as recently expressed by our founding chairman Robert Bernstein, they argue that we should focus on "closed" countries such as China rather than "open" societies like Israel. I reject all three claims.

    October 26, 2009
    Commentary
  • Human Rights Watch was saddened to read in The New York Times on October 20, 2009 that its founding chair, Robert L. Bernstein, feels he must "join the critics" of our work on Israel. We fundamentally disagree with Mr. Bernstein's views.

    October 20, 2009
    Fact Sheet
  • We are writing you after the United Nations Human Rights Council's resolution last week endorsing the report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.  We view the report prepared by Justice Richard Goldstone as a crucial forward step towards securing accountability for the civilian victims of the war on all sides.  A key component of the report is its call on all parties to the conflict to conduct credible domestic investigations within six months. 

    October 20, 2009
    Letter
  • Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip should promptly implement the recommendations of the Goldstone report on Gaza by conducting credible investigations into serious laws-of-war violations by Palestinian forces

    October 20, 2009
    Press release
  • President Obama and his team have another opportunity to do the right thing regarding the report of the UN Fact-Finding Commission on the Gaza Conflict when the UN Security Council meets on October 14 for an open debate on the Middle East.

    October 13, 2009
    Commentary
  • (New York) - The United Nations Security Council should demand justice for the civilian victims on both sides of the Gaza war, Human Rights Watch said today.  Breaking the climate of impunity in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a precondition for stability and lasting peace. The Security Council will meet on October 14, 2009, to discuss the Middle East.

    October 12, 2009
    Press release
  • Israeli authorities should immediately lift restrictions that have left students in Gaza's public schools without textbooks and the most basic school supplies, such as notebooks and pens.

    October 11, 2009
    Press release
  • (New York, October 9, 2009) – The award of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama should encourage him to apply his stated principles to both foreign and domestic human rights policy.

    October 9, 2009
    Press release
  • The decision at the UN Human Rights Council to defer a vote on the Goldstone Gaza report until March 2010 obliges the United States and other governments blocking action at the council to press Israel and Hamas to commence credible investigations, Human Rights Watch said today. The fact-finding mission found evidence of violations of the laws of war during the Gaza conflict that should trigger credible investigations of the conduct of both sides.

    October 2, 2009
    Press release
  • While Israel is capable of carrying out the impartial investigations called for in the Goldstone report, the record on the recent Gaza conflict and over the past decade indicates a consistent lack of political will to hold its forces accountable for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

    October 1, 2009
    Fact Sheet
  • The failure of the United States and European Union governments to endorse the report of the Gaza fact-finding mission sends a message that serious laws-of-war violations will be treated with kid gloves when committed by an ally.

    September 30, 2009
    Press release
  • The Obama administration should fully endorse the report of the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict led by Justice Richard Goldstone and demand justice for the victims of serious laws-of-war violations in the conflict.

    September 27, 2009
    Press release
  • The European Union and its member states should fully endorse the report of the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict led by South African judge Richard Goldstone and demand justice for the victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law.

    September 25, 2009
    Press release
  • 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.

    September 25, 2009
    Letter
  • Israel, Hamas, and relevant United Nations bodies should promptly implement the recommendations of the UN fact-finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone on the recent Gaza war and bring to justice those responsible for serious violations of the laws of war.

    September 16, 2009
    Press release
  • Over the past few months, international and local human rights groups have documented numerous serious violations of the laws of war, some of them amounting to war crimes, before, during, and since Israel's military offensive in Gaza last December and January.

    September 11, 2009
    Commentary
  • The Israeli military police decision to interview Palestinian witnesses to a case where an Israeli soldier allegedly shot three young girls and their grandmother holding white flags during the fighting in Gaza marks a positive development.

    September 10, 2009
    Press release
  • Human Rights Watch has come under fire recently, accused of bias, an excessive focus on one country, lacking credibility and impartiality and even promoting terrorism.

    September 9, 2009
    Commentary
  • Having worked in war zones for more than 10 years, I've done a variety of investigations of violations of laws of war for Human Rights Watch. I've inspected the killing fields of Kosovo and the displaced persons camps of Sri Lanka, examined Saddam Hussein's mass graves and researched the effects in Gaza of Operation Cast Lead.

    September 3, 2009
    Commentary