Reports

A Threshold Crossed

Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution

The 213-page report, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution,” examines Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. It presents the present-day reality of a single authority, the Israeli government, ruling primarily over the area between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, populated by two groups of roughly equal size, and methodologically privileging Jewish Israelis while repressing Palestinians, most severely in the occupied territory.

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  • Indiscriminate Fire

    Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel and Israeli Artillery Shelling in the Gaza Strip

    This 146-page report finds that both Palestinian armed groups and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have shown insufficient regard for civilian life.

  • Ghost Prisoner

    Two Years in Secret CIA Detention

    This 50-page report contains a detailed description of a secret CIA prison from a Palestinian former detainee who was released from custody. The report provides the most comprehensive account to date of life in a secret CIA prison, as well as information regarding 38 possible detainees.

  • The “Hoax” That Wasn’t

    The July 23 Qana Ambulance Attack

    During the Israel-Hezbollah war, Israel was accused by Human Rights Watch and numerous local and international media outlets of attacking two Lebanese Red Cross ambulances in Qana on July 23, 2006.

  • A Question of Security

    Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls

    This 101-page report, based on field research conducted in the West Bank and Gaza in November 2005 and early 2006, documents dozens of cases of violence ranging from spousal and child abuse to rape, incest and murders committed under the guise of family “honor.” There is increasing recognition of the problem, and some PA of

  • Nowhere to Flee

    The Perilous Situation of Palestinians in Iraq

    This 42-page report documents the drastic deterioration in the security of the estimated 34,000 Palestinian refugees in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003.

  • Fatal Strikes

    Israel's Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon

    This report documents serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war) by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Lebanon between July 12 and July 27, 2006, as well as the July 30 attack in Qana.

  • Promoting Impunity

    The Israeli Military’s Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing

    This 126-page report documents how Israel has failed in its legal obligation to investigate civilian deaths and injuries that result from the use of lethal force in policing and law enforcement contexts, such as controlling demonstrations or enforcing curfews, and in combat situations when there is prima

  • Razing Rafah

    Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip

    This 135-page report focuses on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where more than 10 percent of the population has lost their homes.

  • Child Soldier Use 2003

    A Briefing for the 4th UN Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict

    Throughout 2003 thousands of children were deployed as combatants, to commit abuses against civilians, as sex slaves, forced labourers, messengers, informants and servants in continuing and newly erupting conflicts.

  • The "Roadmap": Repeating Oslo's Human Rights Mistakes

    This briefing paper analyzes the new peace plan in the light of previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements – all of which fatally ignored basic human rights and international humanitarian law protections. Instead, the plans let abuses proliferate to the point where they undermined the entire negotiating process.

  • Erased In A Moment

    Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians

    The people responsible for planning and carrying out suicide bombings that deliberately target civilians are guilty of crimes against humanity and should be brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today.

  • Jenin

    IDF Military Operations

    On April 3, 2002, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major military operation in the Jenin refugee camp, home to some fourteen thousand Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of them civilians.

  • In a Dark Hour

    The Use Of Civilians During IDF Arrest Operations

    This report documents the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) practice of coercing civilians to assist military personnel and operations, a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).

  • Justice Undermined:

    Balancing Security and Human Rights in the Palestinian Justice System

    People detained by the Palestinian Authority are frequently subjected to torture and denied access to fair trials, Human Rights Watch said in this new report.