II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To All Parties
Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the leaders of armed Palestinian groups to declare unequivocally that they will respect and abide by the principles and provisions of international humanitarian law (IHL). This includes upholding the principle of civilian immunity, acting to protect civilians, discriminating between military and civilian targets, and ensuring access to medical treatment for the wounded.

In addition, Human Rights Watch makes the following recommendations:

To the Government of Israel

· Cease immediately the coerced use of civilians to assist IDF military operations.

· Order all IDF personnel to halt these practices and disseminate this order throughout the IDF chain of command.

· Instruct all military and security personnel that under no circumstances should they request or compel children under eighteen years of age to assist in military operations.

· Inform all military and security personnel that the perpetrators of such violations will bear individual responsibility and will be held to account.

· Investigate the violations of IHL by IDF personnel documented in this report. This investigation should include the coerced use of civilians, including children, to assist military operations; the taking of Ahmad al-Yas `Aysh as a hostage, and the ill-treatment of individuals in the custody of armed personnel. Discipline or punish any individuals found responsible for wrongdoing.

· Cease immediately acts of collective punishment, including in particular the policy of punitive house demolitions.

· Facilitate the immediate deployment of independent international monitors in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with a mandate to monitor, verify, and report publicly on the compliance by all parties with international human rights and humanitarian law standards.

To the Palestinian Authority

· Ensure that the Palestinian security forces act to the fullest extent possible under the law to prevent armed Palestinians from opening fire on IDF positions in situations where unarmed civilians are at risk of drawing return IDF fire.

· Ensure that members of the Palestinian security forces do not participate in such attacks, and investigate and bring to justice those who disobey such orders.

To the International Community

· Publicly condemn the IDF's coerced use of civilians to assist military operations as a serious violation of IHL, and urge the government of Israel to end this practice immediately.

· Reiterate to the Israeli government that ill-treatment, collective punishments, and hostage-taking are prohibited under IHL, and that such actions should immediately cease.

· High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 should take immediate action, individually and jointly, to ensure respect for the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, including prohibitions against ill-treatment, coercion, and collective punishments.

· Call upon the PA to ensure that its security forces act to the fullest extent possible under the law to prevent armed Palestinians from opening fire on IDF positions in situations where unarmed civilians are at risk of drawing return IDF fire, and to ensure that Palestinian security force members do not participate in such attacks.

· Promote efforts to address human rights and IHL violations by all parties, including the establishment of a permanent international presence to monitor, verify, and report publicly on the compliance by all parties with international human rights and humanitarian law standards.