For the record, we absolutely condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel a despicable display of violence against civilians. At the same time, it is no exaggeration to describe Gaza as a "concentration camp" run by Israel, meaning what occurred on Oct. 7th was more of a "prison break" than nation-on-nation violence, especially given that neither the United Nations nor Israel recognizes Palestine as a nation itself. When Israel says it "has a right to self-defense," that is true when you are talking about being attacked by other nations. The situation is far different, however, when Israel is the occupying force, having displaced millions of Palestinians and forced them into a tightly-controlled concentration camp known as the Gaza Strip, over which Israel exerts near-total police state control.
Oct. 7th was not the beginning of history between Israel and Palestine. In fact, it was the culmination of generations of extreme racism, violence, ethnic cleansing and genocidal actions carried out against the Palestinian people by Israel. Here's a summary timeline of that history. Each entry is credited to the appropriate source, and most of the links here refer to Amnesty International published documents.
Dec. 11, 1948 – UN Addresses Palestinian Displacement
Over the course of the Arab-Israeli war, at least 700,000 Palestinian refugees flee their homes in an exodus known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe. Israel wins the war, retaining the territory provided to it by the United Nations and capturing some of the areas designated for the Palestinian state. Israel gains control of West Jerusalem, Egypt gains the Gaza Strip, and Jordan gains the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its historic Jewish quarter.
In 1948, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) passes Resolution 194, which calls for the repatriation of Palestinian refugees. Palestinians will later point to Resolution 194 as having established a “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The specific parameters of this return are debated in the decades that follow, including among the large number of descendants from the 1948 refugees and the three hundred thousand Palestinians who will flee their homes during the June 1967 war.
June 5, 1967 – The Six-Day War
Israel and several of its Arab neighbors fight the Six-Day War. Israel wins a decisive victory: it suffers seven hundred casualties; its adversaries suffer nearly twenty thousand. Israel emerges with control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—areas inhabited primarily by Palestinians—as well as all of East Jerusalem. Israel also takes control of Syria’s Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula, which is part of Egypt. Israel will stay in the Sinai Peninsula until April 1982.
Dec. 1, 1987 – First Palestinian Intifada
An Israeli driver kills four Palestinians in a car accident that sparks the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. The image of Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli tanks becomes the enduring image of the intifada. Over the next six years, roughly 200 Israelis and 1,300 Palestinians are killed.
A Palestinian cleric named Sheikh Ahmed Yassin establishes the militant group Hamas as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas endorses jihad as a way to regain territory for Muslims; the United States designates Hamas a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
Dec. 21, 1992 – Over 400 deported Palestinians fear for their safety
Amnesty International (AI) expressed serious concern about over 400 Palestinians deported from Israel and the Occupied Territories, who were currently stranded in an area between the “security” zone controlled by Israel with the South Lebanon Army and the rest of Lebanon. The Israeli authorities suspect most of the detainees of being members of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement.
Hamas has claimed responsibility for the killing of an Israeli border Policeman whom it had abducted. AI condemned the killing of Senior Sgt. Nissim Toledano, but also called on the Israeli authorities not to retaliate for this killing by summarily deporting hundreds of Palestinians.
Feb. 1, 1994 – Oral statement to the UNCHR on the Israeli Occupied Territories
This oral statement summarizes AI’s human rights concerns in the Israeli Occupied Territories. AI drew attention to the detention of some 10,000 Palestinians on security grounds, including up to 140 who are held in administrative detention and urged the Israeli Government promptly to review their situation. Over 200 detainees are held in the Khiam detention center in south Lebanon outside any legal framework and without access to relatives or the ICRC.
At least 20 Lebanese nationals taken prisoner in Lebanon between 1986 and 1989 appear to be held to use in exchanges for missing Israeli soldiers and South Lebanon Army members, who are possibly being held to obtain the release of detainees from Israel or Khiam. AI is concerned about shootings of Palestinians, including children, by Israeli security forces and by abuses committed by Palestinian armed groups.
Aug. 15, 1995 – Amnesty International calls for an end to torture and for medical examinations of past detainees
Members of the Ministerial Committee for the General Security Service held a meeting to decide whether to extend the exceptional dispensation for the use of increased physical pressure during the interrogation of suspected supporters or members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. A "moderate" measure of physical and psychological pressure is permitted under the secret guidelines for interrogation used by the General Security Service.
Amnesty International believes that either the guidelines for interrogation permit the use of torture or ill-treatment of detainees, or that they are also frequently violated with impunity.
Palestinian detainees in Israel have been systematically subjected to methods of torture including hooding, shaking, beating, sleep deprivation while standing or sitting in painful positions and prolonged confinement in closet-sized cells.
Aug. 13, 1996 – “Under constant medical supervision”: Torture, ill-treatment and the health professionals in Israel and the Occupied Territories
This report examines the role of health professionals working with the Israeli General Security Service, the security branch most involved in the interrogation of Palestinian detainees. It gives case details of the role of health professionals in a system in which detainees are tortured, ill-treated and humiliated in ways which place current prison medical practice in conflict with medical ethics. Although there is no evidence of health professionals actively assisting in torture and ill-treatment, they act as silent witnesses.
Amnesty International believes that health professionals have a vital role in documenting and exposing human rights violations, and is calling on the government and the Israeli Medical Association to ensure that torture and ill-treatment are stopped.
Dec. 8, 1999 – Demolition and dispossession: The destruction of Palestinian homes
This report investigates the pretexts and implications of the Israeli policy of house demolitions, focusing particularly on the period after the beginning of the peace process in 1993. It describes the problems for Palestinians of getting permits and the related Israeli policies on land including zoning, land confiscations and Israeli settlement-building of the occupied territories.
May 3, 2001 – House Destruction – Palestinian civilians
In the past month Israel has intensified its policy of destroying Palestinian homes, apparently as a collective punishment for attacks on Israeli forces. Hundreds of people have been made homeless and had their possessions destroyed. The demolitions are set to continue
Oct. 22, 2001 – Amnesty International urges Israel to stop attacks on Palestinian areas: News Flash
Amnesty International is gravely concerned at recent reports of random shelling and shootings by the Israeli Defence Force in Palestinian residential areas, among them Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarm, Bethlehem and Beit Jala, which has left at least 25 Palestinians killed, among them several children, and scores of others injured, in retaliation for the killing of the Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Zeevi on Oct. 17.
The organization calls on the Israeli government to urgently abide by international human rights standards which state that law enforcement officers may not use firearms except in self-defense or defense of others against death or serious injury.
Amnesty International also calls on Palestinian groups not to fire at Israeli civilians and renews its call on the international community to take immediate steps to introduce international observers with a strong human rights component.
Nov. 23, 2001 – Committee Against Torture says Israel’s policy of closures and demolitions of Palestinian homes may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
Amnesty International welcomed today the landmark conclusion by the Committee Against Torture stating that Israel's policy of closures and its demolitions of Palestinian homes "may, in certain instances, amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" in breach of Article 16 of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Israel ratified in 1991.
April 7, 2002 – Fear for Safety of Palestinians in Jenin Refugee Camp
The Israeli armed forces have reportedly killed scores of Palestinian civilians, and injured hundreds more, in a sustained assault on the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin on the West Bank. Many more will die unless the Israeli forces stop the attack and withdraw immediately.
May 17, 2004 – House demolition: Palestinian civilians in Rafah refugee camp
The Israeli army has accelerated its demolition of houses in the Rafah refugee camp in the past few days, making over 1,000 people homeless. The army intends to demolish more houses in the camp.
Oct. 4, 2004 – Excessive use of force
Amnesty International is concerned about the deterioration of the human rights and humanitarian situation as a result of the Israeli army incursion in the Jabaliya refugee camp and surrounding areas in the northern Gaza Strip (including sectors in the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya).
In the past week (since the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 28) more than 70 Palestinians have been killed, more than a third of whom were unarmed and including some 20 children. Hundreds of others have been injured.
The Israeli army has repeatedly used excessive force, including heavy shelling from tanks and helicopter gunships. Experience has shown that the use of such weapons and the manner in which they have been deployed by the army in densely populated residential areas (the Jabaliya refugee camp is one of the most densely populated places in the world, with more than 100,000 Palestinians living in less than two square kilometres), invariably results in a high rate of death and injury of bystanders and people who are not involved in armed confrontation. These tactics betray a lack of respect for fundamental human rights principles, including the right to life.
Aug. 17, 2005 – Amnesty International condemns killing of Palestinians by Israeli settler, calls for urgent measures to end settlers’ impunity
Four Palestinians were shot dead and two others were injured by an Israeli settler yesterday evening as they were returning home from their work at a factory in the Israeli settlement of Shilo, in the West Bank. The settler, a driver from the Israeli settlement of Shvut Rahel, was transporting Palestinians who work in a factory in the Shilo settlement to nearby Palestinian villages. He shot dead three Palestinian workers at the gate of the settlement and then went back to the industrial area, where he shot at other Palestinian workers, killing one of them and injuring two others.
Sept. 28, 2005 – House Demolition
The Israeli army is intending to destroy 41 homes in the small Palestinian village of Sawia, in the West Bank. Almost 250 people are at risk of being left destitute if the destruction goes ahead. In most of the West Bank, Palestinians must obtain a building permit from the Israeli army if they want to build on their own land, but it is almost impossible for them to obtain these permits.
March 14, 2006 – Palestinian prisoners at risk of being killed by Israeli forces
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the safety of Palestinian detainees in Jericho Prison. The prison is currently surrounded by Israeli forces who have threatened to kill detainees who refuse to surrender to them.
The detainees most at risk are Ahmad Saadat, leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and four other Palestinians who have been detained at Jericho Prison since 2002 despite a court decision ordering their release. While detained under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Ahmad Saadat and his four co-detainees have been held under the supervision of guards provided by the UK and US in accordance with an agreement reached between these states and Israel and the PA. They, together with a sixth Palestinian detainee, Fuad Shubaki, wanted by Israel on charges of smuggling weapons, are the principal targets of today's Israeli military action and are particularly at risk of being killed by Israeli forces.
April 10, 2006 – Israel must halt attacks on Gaza residential areas – children killed
Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli army to end immediately its air bombardments and shelling of civilian residential areas in the Gaza Strip. At least two Palestinian children have been killed and tens of other civilian bystanders injured in recent days during the course of such attacks; at least 15 other Palestinians, most of them reported to be members of armed groups, were killed.
June 11, 2006 – Israel must end unlawful killings of Palestinians and stop reckless shelling
Amnesty International is calling on Israel to end immediately its reckless shelling and air strikes against the Gaza Strip, which have killed and injured scores of unarmed Palestinians, including several women and children, in recent months.In the latest such attack on the afternoon of June 9, 2006, seven members of the same Palestinian family were killed and ten of other civilians were injured when Israeli forces fired several artillery shells at a beach in the North of the Gaza Strip. The beach was crowded with Palestinian families enjoying the first week-end of the school holidays.
July 13, 2006 – Civilian population at risk in Gaza
Amnesty International today urged the Israeli government to immediately cease attacks against Palestinian civilians and civilian property and infrastructure, and to take action to address the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
The organization condemned attacks such as those carried out by Israeli forces on the night of 11-12 July 2006, when an entire family – Nabil and Salwa Abu Salmiya and their seven children aged between seven and 17 – were killed when the Israeli Air Force targeted their home in a densely populated residential district in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City. More than 30 other residents were injured in the attack.
Nov. 8, 2006 – Amnesty International delegate visits scene of Gaza Strip killings
The killing of 18 civilians in the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, victims of Israeli shelling, was an appalling act, Amnesty International said today. The organization called for an immediate, independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. It said previous Israeli investigations, such as that carried out into the killings of a Palestinian family on a beach in the Gaza Strip last June, had been seriously inadequate and failed to meet international standards for such investigations, which must be independent, impartial and thorough.
Those killed, most of whom were asleep in their beds when their homes were struck by shells fired by Israeli forces, included eight children. An Amnesty International delegate who visited the scene of the killings shortly after the attack was told that 15 of the victims were killed in the first strike and that three others were killed by a second shell as they raced to help the dead and injured.
March 21, 2007 – Right to family life denied: Foreign spouses of Palestinians barred
Tens of thousands of foreign nationals who are married to residents of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967 are not allowed to live with their husband or wife by the Israeli authorities. Israel controls the borders of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and forbids foreign spouses from entering. The husbands and wives who are denied entry are not seeking admittance to Israel but simply want to live with their spouse in the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
April 27, 2007 – House Demolition/forced eviction
In April, the Israeli army served demolition orders on all the residents of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Hadidiya, in the Jordan Valley in the east of the occupied West Bank. The inhabitants of the village expect the tents and shacks where they live to be demolished any time. After previous demolitions they have pitched tents again in the village but now they face being forcibly removed from the land where they have lived for decades.
July 11, 2007 – Health Concern
Several thousand Palestinians are stranded in northern Egypt, unable to return to their homes in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been closed by the Israeli authorities since 9 June. Hundreds of those stranded are camped out close to the border crossing. Many have inadequate food, water and shelter although they are in the desert at the hottest time of the year. Their health and safety remain at risk while they continue to be prevented from crossing the border and returning home.
July 30, 2007 – Palestinian villagers’ homes under threat
The Israeli army is threatening to destroy their homes of Palestinian villagers in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank. The villagers are facing increasing pressures as the army restricts their movement and their access to water.
Aug. 3, 2007 – Further information on house demolition / forced eviction
The Israeli army increased their pressure on the Palestinian villagers of Hadidiya and Humsa on 28 July by confiscating a tractor (one of only two in the village) and water tank from a villager living in Humsa, worsening the already dire water shortage in the village.
Aug. 14, 2007 – Further information on house demolition / forced eviction
Several homes were destroyed by the Israeli army on the morning of Aug. 13 in the Palestinian village of Humsa, in the Jordan Valley area of the Occupied West Bank. The destroyed properties were home to the families of Abdallah Hsein Bisharat (more than 30 people) and Ahmad Abdallah Bani Odeh (some 10 people).
Sept. 5, 2007 – Cutting vital supplies to Gaza would amount to collective punishment
Israeli government ministers are reported to have stated that they are considering cutting off water and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip in response to the launching of home-made "qassam" rockets by Palestinian armed groups from Gaza into Israel.
Deputy Prime Minister Chaim Ramon told Israeli army radio: "We will set a price tag for every qassam, in terms of cutting off infrastructures... We will not continue to supply 'oxygen' in the form of electricity, fuel, and water while they are trying to murder our kids.
"Cutting off the supply of basic necessities such as water and electricity – which Gazans cannot obtain from elsewhere because of the blockades imposed by Israel – would constitute collective punishment of Gaza's population in violation international humanitarian law, which prohibits all forms of collective punishment.
Sept. 21, 2007 – Fear for Safety
Amnesty International is concerned that the implementation of the Israeli government decision of Sept. 19, 2007 that “Additional sanctions will be placed on the Hamas regime in order to restrict the passage of various goods to the Gaza Strip and reduce the supply of fuel and electricity. Restrictions will also be placed on the movement of people to and from the Gaza Strip” would cause a further deterioration of the already dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and adversely affect the 1.5 million Palestinians who live there.
Nov. 1, 2007 – “No more construction permits for Palestinians”: The fight to build a West Bank village school
International attention is focusing on the West Bank village of Fasayil, as the Israeli army is soon due to decide whether to demolish a primary school, currently being built in the village. Activists around the world are uniting to protect the school from demolition. A military meeting at which the future of the school may be decided has been postponed to the end of December 2007.
Jan. 21, 2008 – Israel cuts electricity and food supplies to Gaza
Israel has cut off the supply of electricity, fuel and humanitarian assistance to the population of Gaza, a move Amnesty International has condemned as collective punishment.
With the blockade likely to lead to a public health emergency, Amnesty International called for an immediate lifting of the blockade on fuel, humanitarian aid and basic necessities, as well as other restrictions that have effectively prevented entry or exit of people and goods from the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized control in the territory in June 2007.
Feb. 14, 2008 – Israeli army destroys Palestinian homes
Every single home in the West Bank villages of Humsa and Hadidiya is slated for destruction. The Israeli army has declared most of the Jordan Valley, where the villages are situated, as a “closed military area” from which the local Palestinian population is barred.
The local Palestinian population –which has been there since long before Israeli forces occupied the area four decades ago –is being put under increasing pressure to leave the area. On the morning of 6 February, Israeli army bulldozers destroyed the homes and livelihoods of four Palestinian families in Hadidiya, in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank.
Feb. 18, 2008 – Punitive restrictions: Families of Palestinian detainees denied visits
Only children aged under 16 can visit their imprisoned relatives in Israel without a permit. Some 8,500 Palestinians from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are detained in Israeli prisons (all but one of which is inside Israel). Thousands of their spouses, parents, children and siblings are not allowed to visit them because the Israeli authorities refuse to grant them permits to travel to the prisons inside Israel. This document urges the Israeli authorities to ensure that all Palestinian detainees are held in the OPT and are allowed family visit.
March 2, 2008 – Killings of civilians must cease
Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip are being carried out with reckless disregard for civilian life, Amnesty International said today. “Israeli military attacks over the past few days have killed more than 75 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 10 children, and other unarmed civilian bystanders not involved in the confrontations” said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program. “Israel has a legal obligation to protect the civilian population of Gaza. Such attacks are disproportionate and go beyond lawful measures which Israeli forces may take in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups."
March 3, 2008 – Children and civilian bystanders in Gaza death toll
Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip during the last few days have killed over 100 Palestinians, including dozens of children and other civilian bystanders. Three Israelis –a civilian killed by a rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group on 27 February and two soldiers –were also killed.
Many of the Palestinians killed were militants involved in attacks on Israel, but others were unarmed civilians taking no part in the hostilities, including some 25 children. The precise number of civilians killed is unclear and difficult to establish.
The Israeli chief of staff is reported to have claimed that 90 percent of those killed were militants, but the UN and other sources, including those in Gaza, suggest that as many as half of the dead were civilians. More than 250 other people, including scores of unarmed civilians, have been injured.
March 11, 2008 – Palestinian homes demolished without warning
The Israeli army demolished more homes in Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning. The homes and property of Palestinian families in the villages of Hadidiya, Jiftlik and Furush Beit Dajan, in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank, were demolished.
Amnesty International’s researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories witnessed the demolitions.
Donatella Rovera described the scene: "In all the places, most of the people are children. These homes mostly have three generations – the grandparents, parents and children. In Hadidiya, there were four families, in Furush Beit Dajan, five families."
"All of the people have had homes demolished before, but this time they had no warning. The people were very, very upset. They were running to get their things out of their homes, but the bulldozer just went on demolishing."
March 13, 2008 – Deterioration of health care situation in Gaza
Amnesty International continues to be concerned about the worsening conditions of hospitals and other medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Recent Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on Gaza have caused further damage to Palestinian medical facilities and exacerbated the effects of the blockade imposed by the Israeli authorities.Scores of Palestinians have been injured as a result of the recent escalation of fighting.
March 31, 2008 – Unlawful homes for Israeli settlers, demolitions for Palestinians
Mobile homes for an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) got the go-ahead within a week of Israeli bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes and property in the area. It emerged last Wednesday (26 March) that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has approved the transfer of five mobile homes to the Israeli settlement of Teneh Omarim in the region.
Only the week before, Israeli army bulldozers demolished nine homes and two livestock enclosures in several Palestinian villages in the southern occupied West Bank. The demolitions were carried out on 19 March in the hamlets of Qawawis, Imneizil, al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa in the South Hebron Hills.
April 17, 2008 – Full investigation needed into Israeli army killing of civilians
The Israeli government should immediately order a full and independent investigation into yesterday’s killings of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International said today. “Yesterday’s strikes, which the Israeli army launched after the killing of its soldiers in combat, appear to have been carried out with disregard for civilian life,” said Amnesty International. “There seems to be a culture of impunity within the Israeli forces which is contributing to routine use of reckless and disproportionate force.”
At least 18 Palestinians, including children and other unarmed civilians, were killed. More than 30 others were injured in attacks by Israeli planes and by ground forces using tanks in the Gaza Strip yesterday. Three Israeli soldiers were killed in confrontation with Palestinian militants during an Israeli army attack within the Gaza Strip.
April 29, 2008 – Amnesty International calls for independent investigation into killings by Israeli Forces
Amnesty International is again calling on the Israeli government to end reckless attacks by its forces on populated areas and to order an immediate, independent investigation into yesterday's strikes in Gaza which killed six Palestinians, including four children under five and their mother. An investigation by the Israeli army, as offered by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, will not meet international standards as a thorough, independent and impartial investigation.
The attack on April 28 appears to have been carried out with reckless disregard for the lives of local residents, including children, uninvolved in hostilities between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces. It was the latest in a pattern of such attacks, which are unacceptable. So far this year, some 335 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli forces. Most were killed in Gaza and more than half of them were unarmed civilians taking no part in hostilities and offering no threat to Israelis. In the same period, 23 Israelis, including 14 civilians, were killed in attacks by Palestinian armed groups.
Aug. 12, 2008 – Trapped – collective punishment in Gaza
“The Israeli siege has turned Gaza into a big prison. We cannot leave, not even for medical care or to study abroad, and most of what we need is not available in Gaza. We are not living really; we are barely surviving and the outlook for the future is bleak.” –Fathi, a Gaza resident.
With Gaza locked down and cut off from the outside world by a stifling Israeli blockade, 46 peace activists from the world over set sail for Gaza on 22 August to, in their words, “break the siege that Israel has imposed on the civilian population of Gaza..., to express our solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza, and to create a free and regular channel between Gaza and the outside world.”
Aug. 29, 2008 – Health Professional Action: Patients from Gaza are still denied access to medical treatment in Israel
The Israeli authorities are still denying scores of critically ill patients the authorization they need to leave Gaza for medical treatment that is unavailable in Gaza. Even those patients who are given permission to leave Gaza for treatment are often suffering as a result of delays in receiving exit permits, which contribute to a decline in patients' health and emotional well-being.
Nov. 7, 2008 – Further information on medical concern
The children named in this action suffer from congenital heart diseases. They need urgent surgery that cannot be provided in Gaza but which is available in East Jerusalem. Five of the children have so far not been able to leave Gaza because the Israeli authorities have refused to grant permission for the children’s mothers or grandmothers to accompany them. Fifteen other children suffering from similar conditions were allowed to travel from Gaza to the hospital in East Jerusalem in the first days of November 2008.
Nov. 14, 2008 – Israeli army blocks deliveries to Gaza
The Israeli army has completely blocked the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip for more than a week. Very little fuel has been allowed in. Amnesty International urged the Israeli authorities on Friday to allow their immediate passage.
“This latest tightening of the Israeli blockade has made an already dire humanitarian situation markedly worse. It is nothing short of collective punishment on Gaza’s civilian population and it must stop immediately,” said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Eighty per cent of the population of Gaza has been dependent on the trickle of humanitarian aid previously allowed into Gaza until Wednesday, Nov. 5. Industrial fuel, which is donated by the European Union and needed to power Gaza’s power plant, has also been blocked, causing a blackout in large parts of Gaza.
Dec. 29, 2008 – End unlawful attacks and meet Gaza’s emergency needs
Palestinian civilians remain at risk of being killed or injured in the Israeli air strikes and are increasingly lacking adequate medical care, food, medicines, electricity, water and other necessities, Amnesty International said on Monday after three days of the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip in which more than 300 Palestinians have been killed.
“The horrific death toll risks growing due to the unavailability of adequate medical care for the hundreds of injured. The health sector in Gaza lacks equipment, medicine and expertise at the best of times and has been further depleted due to the prolonged Israeli blockade. It is now completely overwhelmed and unable to cope with the large number of casualties,” said Amnesty International.
Jan. 8, 2009 – Health Professional Action: Health services in Gaza –a worsening situation
On Dec. 27, 2008, Israeli forces began a series of airstrikes on Gaza. The stated purpose of these attacks, according to the Israeli government, was “to crush terror”. The attacks have led to a large number of deaths and civilian causalities and serious damage to Palestinian infrastructure. They have also severely impeded the ability of the Palestinian health services to treat the large number of Palestinians in need of medical assistance.
The exact number of injured patients is unknown, but as of Jan. 7, 2009 the World Health Organization reported around 2,950, of which 1,134 are children and women. They have also put the number of fatalities at 680, among them 218 children and 85 women.
Amnesty International calls on the Israeli authorities, the Hamas de-facto administration and all other Palestinian armed groups to stop all unlawful attacks that are putting civilian lives in danger.
Jan. 15, 2009 – Immediate investigation needed into Israeli shelling of UN compound in Gaza
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate and independent investigation into the Israeli army's shelling of a United Nations compound in Gaza City, disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid to Gaza's beleaguered civilians and injuring three UN workers.
The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) has reported that shells -apparently containing white phosphorous -struck their compound in Gaza City, injuring three people and setting on fire one building which contained emergency humanitarian assistance. UNRWA said that it had repeatedly asked the Israeli army not to fire in the vicinity of the compound.
Jan. 23, 2009 – Israeli soldiers leave Gaza homes in devastated condition
Despite the ceasefire declared on Sunday, each morning since Israeli gunboats have fired towards Gaza’s coastline. Nine people were injured as a result of such shelling from an Israeli gunboat, Amnesty International’s fact-finding team in Gaza was told on Wednesday.
In its fifth post on Amnesty International’s Livewire blog, the team described how on Thursday, it had visited families whose homes had been forcibly taken over and used as military positions by Israeli soldiers during the recent three week long conflict.
Jan. 27, 2009 – Israeli army used flechettes against Gaza civilians
Apart from white phosphorus, the Israeli army used a variety of other weapons in densely populated civilian areas of Gaza in the three-week conflict that began on Dec. 27.
Flechettes are 4cm long metal darts that are sharply pointed at the front, with four fins at the rear. Between 5,000 and 8,000 are packed into 120mm shells which are generally fired from tanks. The shells explode in the air and scatter the flechettes in a conical pattern over an area about 300m wide and 100m long.
Jan. 28, 2009 – Attacks on ambulance workers in Gaza
Emergency medical rescue workers, including doctors, paramedics and ambulance drivers, have repeatedly come under fire from Israeli forces in the Gaza conflict while carrying out their duties.
At least seven of them have been killed and more than 20 injured while transporting or attempting to collect the wounded and the dead.
Feb. 23, 2009 – Evidence of misuse of US-weapons reinforces need for arms embargo
Both Israel and Hamas used weapons supplied from abroad to carry out attacks on civilians, Amnesty International said today as it released fresh evidence on the munitions used during the three-week conflict in Gaza and southern Israel and called on the UN to impose a comprehensive arms embargo.
June 5, 2009 – House demolition/Forced Eviction/Access to Water
On June 4, 2009, the Israeli army destroyed the homes of 18 Palestinian families and their animal pens in the hamlet of Ras al-Ahmar in the OPT. The Israeli army confiscated the water storage tank that the villagers rely on as well as the tractor and trailer that they use to bring water to the village. The villagers are now without shelter or source of water during a season of high temperatures.
July 2, 2009 – Impunity for war crimes in Gaza and southern Israel recipe for further civilian suffering
Israeli forces killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians and destroyed thousands of homes in Gaza in attacks which breached the laws of war, Amnesty International concluded in a new 117-page report published today –the first comprehensive report to be published on the 22-day conflict earlier this year.
Oct. 27, 2009 – Demand Dignity: Troubled waters –Palestinians denied fair access to water
Lack of access to adequate, safe and clean water has been a longstanding problem for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), principally as a result of discriminatory Israeli policies and practices. Some 180,000 to 200,000 Palestinians in rural communities in the West Bank have no access to running water. The water shortage has hindered social and economic development for Palestinians in the OPT and has resulted in violations of their right to an adequate standard of living, including the rights to water, food, health, work and adequate housing
Jan. 8, 2010 – Israeli detention of Palestinian activists must end
The Israeli authorities must immediately release, or bring before a fair trial, three Palestinian human rights activists detained in Israel following their protests against the construction of the West Bank fence/wall, Amnesty International said today.
Jan. 18, 2010 – Israel’s Gaza blockade continues to suffocate daily life
Israel must end its suffocating blockade of the Gaza Strip, which leaves more than 1.4 million Palestinians cut off from the outside world and struggling with desperate poverty, Amnesty International said one year on from the end of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
Amnesty International’s briefing paper "Suffocating: The Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade" gathers testimony from people still struggling to rebuild their lives following Operation “Cast Lead”, which killed around 1,400 Palestinians and injured thousands more.
April 28, 2010 – New Israeli military order could increase expulsions of West Bank Palestinians
Amnesty International has said it is concerned that a new Israeli military order could facilitate the expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.
Military Order No. 1650, which came into force in the West Bank on 13 April, broadens the definition of the term “infiltrator” to include anyone present in the West Bank without a permit issued by the Israeli authorities.Those considered “infiltrators” can be deported to other states or forcibly transferred to the Gaza Strip, and face criminal charges.
May 31, 2010 – Israeli killings of Gaza ship activists must be investigate
Amnesty International has called for Israel to launch an immediate, credible and independent investigation into the killing by its armed forces of at least 10 activists on boats protesting the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“Israeli forces appear clearly to have used excessive force,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Israel says its forces acted in self-defence, alleging that they were attacked by protestors, but it begs credibility that the level of lethal force used by Israeli troops could have been justified. It appears to have been out of all proportion to any threat posed.”
June 1, 2010 – Suffocating Gaza –the Israeli blockade’s effects on Palestinians
Israel’s military blockade of Gaza has left more than 1.4 million Palestinian men, women and children trapped in the Gaza Strip, an area of land just 40 kilometres long and 9.5 kilometres wide.
Mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food price rises caused by shortages have left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law.
June 16, 2010 – As safe as Houses? Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes
Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank face such tight restrictions on what they can build that their rights to adequate housing is being violated.
The Israeli authorities condemn as “illegal” homes and other structures built without permits that they control and rarely allow to Palestinian residents, and then order their destruction. Demolition crews, accompanied by security officials, may arrive at any time, giving families little notice or opportunity to remove their possessions.
July 1, 2010 – Israel steps up forced evictions of West Bank Palestinians
Amnesty Internationalhas urged the Israeli authorities to halt forced evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank after a recent spate of military eviction orders were served on Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley.
Seventeen families in the Jordan Valley area are at imminent risk of forced eviction after being issued with eviction orders last week.
On June 24, Israeli military officials, accompanied by soldiers, served eviction orders to two families living in the village of ‘Ein al-Hilwe. On June 27, military authorities delivered eviction orders for 15 more families in the nearby area of al-Farisiya. In both cases, residents were told they had 24 hours to leave the area. In total, 83 people face forced eviction in the area.
July 21, 2010 – Family homes destroyed
The Israeli authorities destroyed 74 structures, of which 26 were family homes, in the al-Farisiyaarea of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank on 19 July. The structures belonged to 21 Palestinian families and housed 107 people, including 52 children. Agricultural buildings supporting the villagers’ livelihood were also demolished.
Aug. 6, 2010 – Families at risk from Israeli demolition: Further information
Ninety-two people from the Palestinian village of Hmayyir, in the al-Farisiya area of the occupied West Bank, have had their homes demolished as the Israeli authorities continue with large-scale destruction there.
On Aug. 5, 27 tents that people were living in and 10 other properties used for agricultural purposes were demolished. People are at risk across the West Bank.
Aug. 18, 2010 – Further information: Families facing new demolition threat
Three families in the Palestinian community of Hmayyir, in the al-Farisiya area of the West Bank, are at imminent risk of forced eviction from their homes and the destruction of their property.
The authorities have not consulted with the 19 people affected, and have not compensated them for damage to their property during previous evictions.
These fresh eviction orders were delivered on 15 and 16 August to three families living in Hmayyir whose homes were already destroyed in earlier spates of demolitions in July and August.
Oct. 15, 2010 – Illegal Israeli settlement plans threaten Palestinian human rights
Amnesty International today urged the Israeli authorities to abandon plans to construct 238 new housing units in Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
“The Israeli authorities must immediately halt expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Not only does the building contravene international law, it also compounds the litany of abuses of the human rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including their rights to adequate housing and water.”
Nov. 30, 2010 – NGOs: Gaza civilians continue to suffer
Israel’s measures to “ease” the illegal blockade of Gaza in the face of significant international pressure have done little to change the plight of Gaza’s civilians, said Amnesty International UK and 21 other human rights and aid groups in a report published today.
In the report, "Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade," the organizations have called for renewed international action to ensure an immediate, unconditional and complete lifting of the blockade.
March 24, 2011 – Jerusalem bombing condemned, Israel urged to halt use of mortars in residential areas
Amnesty International has condemned yesterday’s bombing in Jerusalem, which clearly targeted Israeli civilians, and urged Israel to stop firing mortars on residential areas, following an Israeli attack which killed four Palestinian civilians in Gaza City earlier this week.
Amnesty International is seriously concerned that in at least one recent attack on Gaza, the Israeli military failed to distinguish between fighters and civilians.
On March 22, Israeli forces fired four “Keshet” mortar shells into the densely populated al-Shuja’iya neighbourhood in Gaza City. The third shell landed next to the home of the al-Hilu family, on a group of children and youth playing football, killing two of them, while the fourth shell killed a man and his grandson who were trying to evacuatethe wounded. Another 11 civilians were wounded by shrapnel, at least three of them seriously; most of those wounded were members of the al-Hilu family and eight were children.
Aug. 19, 2011 – Civilians at risk amid new attacks in Israel and Gaza
Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups must refrain from indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks harming civilians, Amnesty International said today, following several attacks in southern Israel and a series of Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. Palestinian armed groups reportedly fired at least 10 indiscriminate rockets into southern Israel today, injuring at least six people –one seriously –in the Israeli town of Ashdod.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued air strikes on multiple locations in Gaza, following a series of strikes on Thursday and overnight that killed at least seven people, including two children and four members of the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.
Sept. 15, 2011 – Palestinians left homeless as Israel demolishes West Bank houses
Israeli military bulldozers demolished three homes and water cisterns in ‘Aqaba village in the northern West Bank on Thursday morning, leaving 22people, including 12 children, homeless.
Since the beginning of the year, over 750 Palestinians in the West Bank have been displaced after their homes were demolished by the Israeli military, nearly five times more than in the same period last year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Oct. 5, 2011 – Palestinian properties at risk of demolition
On 18 September, the Israeli military served three “stop work” orders against four domestic structures belonging to three Palestinian Bedouin families in the Tubas district in the occupied West Bank.
These orders precede demolition orders, so the properties could be destroyed at any time. The villages are in “Area C” where the Israeli authorities effectively prohibit any Palestinian construction.
Oct. 7, 2011 – Further information: Palestinian properties demolished
Yesterday morning, without warning, the Israeli army destroyed four domestic structures in al-Farisiya and Tell al-Himma, in the Tubas district in the occupied West Bank. This has affected three Palestinian Bedouin families of at least 19 people, including at least 11 children.
Oct. 10, 2011 – Palestinian school at risk of demolition
A primary school for Palestinian Bedouin children in the Jerusalem area is to be destroyed after Israeli settlers pushed the military to carry out the demolition. It could be destroyed at any time. Seventy pupils from the Arab Jahalin tribe will be left without a school. Demolitions of Bedouin homes in the area are also scheduled to take place soon.
Dec. 22, 2011 – Palestinian families face renewed demolitions
The Israeli army has ordered the demolition of a further 21 homes and other properties in the Bedouin hamlet of Hadidiya in the Jordan Valley. Many of the structures at risk have been rebuilt following demolitions in June. Fifty people, including at least 25 children, are at risk of permanent displacement.
Jan. 13, 2012 – Israeli Supreme Court ruling continues to tear families apart
Like a thief in the night, a Supreme Court decision breaks into thousands of Palestinian households in Israel and snatches the right to family life.
This week, the court ruled to reject a petition by Palestinian families and human rights organizations to annul a 2003 law that prohibits Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens from enjoying the right to family life in Israel.
The law means families with Palestinian spouses cannot enjoy the same citizenship and may no longer be able to live together in Israel.
Feb. 8, 2012 – Israel about to expel Bedouin to expand settlements
The Israeli army plans to forcibly evict and transfer 20 Palestinian communities from their homes in the area of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement bloc in the occupied West Bank.
The plan aims to relocate the communities, a majority of which are Jahalin Bedouin, to a site about 300m away from the Jerusalem municipal garbage dump. Israeli authorities have not consulted with the communities, and the residents oppose the move. If carried out, this forced transfer would violate Israel’s obligations under international law and uproot some of the poorest communities in the West Bank.
April 27, 2012 – Hunger strikers denied independent doctors
Six Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in protest at being detained without charge or trial are now so ill that they have been moved to Ramleh prison hospital. They have all been denied access to independent doctors.
June 6, 2012 – The injustice and secrecy surrounding administrative detention
‘Starved of justice: Palestinians detained without trial by Israel’ documents human rights violations associated with administrative detention – a relic of British control of the area that permits detention without charge or trial on indefinitely renewable military orders.
The report also calls on Israel to stop using these measures to suppress the legitimate and peaceful activities of activists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.It urges the immediate and unconditional release prisoners of conscience held just for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
Administrative detainees – like many other Palestinian prisoners – have been subjected to violations such as the use of torture and other ill-treatment during interrogation, as well as cruel and degrading treatment during their detention, sometimes as punishment for hunger strikes or other protests. In addition, administrative detainees and their families must live with the uncertainty of not knowing how long they will be deprived of their liberty and the injustice of not knowing exactly why they are being detained.
Sept. 21, 2012 – Quartet action needed to keep Palestinian villages on the map
Demolitions have tripled in three years, with villages in Hebron Hills now under threat.
The government of Israel’s eviction and demolition plans for 13 Palestinian villages in the Hebron Hills come as demolition and displacement rates have hit a three-year high, adding to the uncertainty about the future for Palestinians living in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, a group of 30 aid, development, and human rights organizations warned today.
The communities are targeted for demolition or expulsion from the area as the government of Israel plans to use the land for the expansion of an Israeli settlement and to create a closed military zone.
Dec. 11, 2012 – Israel must stop attacks on Palestinian NGOs and human rights defenders
Early on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raided three Palestinian NGOs in Ramallah, seizing computers, work files and equipment and ransacking their offices in what Amnesty International says is part of a “pattern of harassment” against campaigners in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Israeli authorities frequently restrict the movement of human rights defenders and other activists in the West Bank based on secret information, and prevent travel between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. NGOs in Gaza were also directly affected by the recent Israeli military operation there.
March 21, 2013 – West Bank wall and settlements an affront to Palestinian rights
Israel’s fence/wall through the occupied West Bank cutting off Palestinians from their farmland, and the settlements that take over even more lands, are ongoing violations of international law, Amnesty International said today as US President Barack Obama continued his first presidential trip to the region.
The organization has learnt that, in the last few days, Palestinian farmers in the northern West Bank village of Jayyus, who for years have had trouble accessing their land through the military fence/wall (which in this area takes the form of an electrified and heavily guarded fence), are now faced with Israeli settlers setting up additional obstacles.
The settlers have installed a caravan outpost to the north of the Israeli settlement Tsufim on the farmers’ land in an apparent reaction to the military finally starting to act on a 2009 Israeli High Court of Justice ruling that the fence should be re-routed in order to return some of the land to the farmers.
April 4, 2013 – Stop use of excessive force against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank
Israel’s military response to protests in the West Bank is failing to respect the human rights of Palestinians, Amnesty International said today as the number of Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli fire in the area since the beginning of 2013 reached eight.
Ongoing Palestinian protests against the Israeli occupation have further escalated this week following renewed anger over detention conditions of Palestinian political detainees and prisoners, including the death in custody of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, a Palestinian prisoner with cancer held by Israel since 2002.
The protests look set to continue following the deaths of two Palestinian teenagers who were killed by Israeli forces at a military post near the settlement of Enav in the northern West Bank on Wednesday.
July 3, 2013 – Army plans forced evictions of Palestinians
Some 1,000 Palestinians living in the southern West Bank, nearly half of them children, are facing forced eviction; some of their buildings are already being demolished, and their movement is restricted.
July 8, 2013 – Further information: Israeli army destroys homes for sixth time
On July 8 2013 just after 6 a.m., the Israeli army demolished three homes and a number of animal pens belonging to shepherds in Hadidiya in the Jordan Valley. Twenty-two people were made homeless, of which six were children, including a four-year-old suffering from cerebral palsy. This took place in summer heats exceeding 40 C.
July 31, 2013 – Protect citizens’ rights to protest peacefully against forced evictions
The Israeli authorities must not use excessive force on demonstrators planning to protest against a plan to forcibly evict tens of thousands of Arab Bedouins from their homes in southern Israel, said Amnesty International.
Citizens across Israel are organizing demonstrations for a “Day of Rage” on Thursday, Aug. 1, to oppose the Prawer-Begin plan. The plan enables the forced eviction of more than 30,000 residents in the Negev desert. Peaceful protests against the proposal on 15 July were met with excessive force by Israeli riot police and border police forces. Amnesty International is calling on the government of Israel to scrap the proposal.
Aug. 27, 2013 – Accountability needed for killings in Israeli raid on West Bank refugee camp
Evidence strongly suggests that three men who were shot dead with live ammunition during an arrest raid on a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday were unlawfully killed by Israeli forces, Amnesty International said today.
Another 19 people, including six children, were injured by live ammunition fired during the raid on Qalandia refugee camp, the highest number of casualties in a single Israeli operation in the West Bank this year. Five of those wounded, including three children, had injuries to the upper body.
Nov. 14, 2013 – A year on from deadly Israel/Gaza conflict, the nightmare continues
In the blink of an eye, ‘Attiyeh’s worst nightmare came true.
On Nov. 21, 2012, his 13-year-old son Mahmoud was killed when he was struck by a missile fired by an Israeli drone as he walked to a shop down the road from his home in the al-Manara area of Gaza City. He was carrying nothing but a coin in his hand to buy a pen for his little sister.
Israeli violations in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank continue on a daily basis, including regular use of lethal force against Palestinian civilians posing no threat to Israeli forces. Since late February, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have sporadically fired rockets and mortars toward civilian communities in Israel.
Dec. 1, 2013 – Gaza power crisis has compounded blockade’s assault on human dignity
Israel must immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, including by allowing the delivery of fuel and other essential supplies into the territory without restrictions, said Amnesty International today.
For the last month, all of Gaza’s 1.7 million residents have been living without power for most of the time and in the shadow of a public health catastrophe, after their sole power plant was forced to shut down, causing the failure of several sewerage and water plants.
Feb. 27, 2014 – Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank
Israeli forces have repeatedly violated their obligations under international human rights law by using excessive force to stifle dissent and freedom of expression, resulting in a pattern of unlawful killings and injuries to civilians. They do so with virtual impunity due to the authorities’ failure to conduct thorough investigations.
This report focuses on the use of excessive force in the West Bank since the beginning of 2011. It includes cases of killings and injuries of Palestinian civilians in the context of protests against Israel’s continuing military occupation of the Palestinian territories, illegal Israeli settlements and the fence/wall.
May 15, 2014 – Israeli forces display recklessness in killing of two protesters in West Bank
Israeli forces have displayed continuing recklessness in their use of force against Palestinian protesters when they killed two teenagers and injured others, during a crackdown on demonstrations to commemorate the Nakba in the occupied West Bank today, said Amnesty International.
The killings occurred in a demonstration outside Ofer military camp. As well as commemorating the Nakba (the dispossession of Palestinians in 1948), the demonstrators were expressing solidarity with around 125 Palestinian detainees who are being held by Israel without charge and have been on hunger strike for 22 days to protest their detention conditions.
The Israeli army and border police used excessive, including lethal, force in response to rock-throwing protesters who could not have posed a threat to the lives of the soldiers and policemen in or near the fortified military camp.
May 21, 2014 – Footage appears to show deliberate killing of Palestinian children –Spokespeople available
Amnesty International’s experts are available for comment on the routine use of excessive force and pattern of unlawful killings by the Israeli forces in the West Bank after footage emerged of two Palestinian teenagers being shot dead by Israeli forces in the area.
The CCTV footage appears to show Nadeem Nawara, 17, and Mohammad Abu Daher, 16, being deliberately shot and killed outside Ofer military base in the West Bank on 15 May. They were not posing any threat to the life of members of the Israeli forces or anyone else.
July 11, 2014 – UN must impose arms embargo and mandate an international investigation as civilian death toll rises
Amnesty International is calling for a UN-mandated international investigation into violations committed on all sides amidst ongoing Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip and continuing volleys of indiscriminate rocket fire from Palestinian armed groups into Israel.
Since Israel launched Operation “Protective Edge” in the early morning of July 8, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians who were not directly participating in hostilities. This includes at least 24 children and 16 women as of Friday morning. More than 600 people have been wounded, many of them seriously. More than 340 homes in Gaza have been completely destroyed or left uninhabitable and at least five health facilities and three ambulances have been damaged. In Israel, at least 20 people have been wounded by rocket attacks and property has been damaged.
July 21, 2014 – Attacks on medical facilities and civilians add to war crime allegations
The continuing bombardment of civilian homes in several areas of the Gaza Strip, as well as the Israeli shelling of a hospital, add to the list of possible war crimes that demand an urgent independent international investigation, said Amnesty International.
The third floor of the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah was struck by Israeli shelling, killing four people and wounding dozens, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson.
July 30, 2014 – Attack on UN school in Gaza a potential war crime that must be investigated
An attack overnight on the Jabaliya elementary school in Gaza, where more than 3,000 displaced civilians had sought refuge, is a possible war crime and should be independently investigated, said Amnesty International today. The attack killed at least 20 people and injured dozens more at the school, which is located inside the very densely populated Jabaliya Refugee Camp.
An initial assessment by UNRWA –the UN relief agency for displaced Palestinians and refugees –who analysed fragments and damage at the site, indicates the school was hit by Israeli artillery despite the fact that UNRWA shared its coordinates with the Israeli army 17 times. The strike is the sixth attack on a UN-run school in Gaza since Operation “Protective Edge” began on July 8.
July 31, 2014 – ‘The bombing only stopped when the sun came out’ – Gaza under fire
Last Monday into Tuesday were the scariest day and night since the current conflict began. The violence finally reached the area where I live; where I, my children and neighbors had thought it was safe.
Bombs lighting up the sky. I got up and and found the sky was lit by loud explosions nearby, in Al-Abbas, Ansar, the Shifa hospital area, and Gaza port. Soon afterwards, intense shelling from the Israeli ships and aerial bombings started. The sounds of explosions, glass breaking, and walls falling down was overwhelming. I told the kids and family to run downstairs and hide in the stairwell and try to keep to the eastern side because the naval shelling was coming from the sea in the west. The windows of my house did not break because I had put duct tape in the shape of a cross all over them to reinforce the glass.
It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying. The bombing went on until six in the morning. It only stopped when the sun came out
Aug. 4, 2014 – Doctors, patients and hospitals under attack
Throughout Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, which began on July 8, and especially since Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on 17 July, ambulances and medical facilities across the Gaza Strip have been attacked. Scores of critically wounded patients will die unless they are urgently transferred to hospitals outside Gaza for specialized treatment.
Aug. 19, 2014 – Human rights access to Gaza imperative amid renewed exchange of fire
The resumption of Israeli air strikes and rocket fire from Gaza underscores the imperative need to grant human rights groups immediate access to monitor the situation, said Amnesty International today.
Since the beginning of Israel’s military operation on July 8, 2014 in Gaza, Israeli authorities have denied repeated requests by Amnesty International to enter Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing. The organization also requested access from Egyptian authorities, who so far have not granted it.
Nov. 5, 2014 – Israeli forces displayed ‘callous indifference’ in deadly attacks on family homes in Gaza
Israeli forces have killed scores of Palestinian civilians in attacks targeting houses full of families, which in some cases have amounted to war crimes, Amnesty International has disclosed in a new report on the latest Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.
Nov. 21, 2014 – Israel resumes punitive house demolitions
The Israeli government has ordered the demolition of the family homes of at least seven Palestinians who carried out attacks which killed Israelis. Israel claim they have to do this to deter future attacks.
The Akari, Ja’abis, Hijazi and Abu Jamal families received demolition orders between Nov. 13 and Nov. 20, and they were given 48 hours to submit an appeal. The High Court of Justice has issued an interim order preventing the demolition of the Ja’abis family home, at least until Nov. 24, when their petition against the order will be heard. According to Israeli media sources, Home Front Command officials have gone to other families’ homes to take photos and measurements in preparation for demolition.
Dec. 9, 2014 – Israel’s destruction of multistorey buildings: extensive, wanton and unjustified
Air strikes on landmark buildings at the tail end of the Israeli military’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in August 2014 were a deliberate and direct attack on civilian buildings and amount to war crimes, says Amnesty International today.
“Nothing is immune”: Israel’s destruction of landmark buildings in Gaza provides evidence that attacks on four multistorey buildings during the last four days of the conflict were in contravention of international humanitarian law and calls for them to be independently and impartially investigated.
“All the evidence we have shows this large-scale destruction was carried out deliberately and with no military justification,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
July 29, 2015 – ‘Black Friday’ Carnage in Rafah during 2014 Israel/Gaza conflict
In this report, Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture, a research team based at Goldsmiths, University of London, provide a detailed reconstruction of the events in Rafah from Aug. 1 until Aug. 4, 2014, when a ceasefire came into effect. The report examines the Israeli army’s response to the capture of Lt. Hadar Goldin and its implementation of the Hannibal Directive –a controversial command designed to deal with captures of soldiers by unleashing massive firepower on persons, vehicles and buildings in the vicinity of the attack, despite the risk to civilians and the captured soldier(s).
Oct. 9, 2015 – No justification for deliberate attacks on civilians, unlawful killings by Israeli forces, or collective punishment of Palestinians
As a significant escalation in violence since 1 October 2015 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and in Israel continues, Amnesty International condemns all deliberate attacks on civilians, including Israeli civilians in the OPT, and calls on all sides to end such attacks. Amnesty International also condemns the widespread use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian demonstrators across the occupied West Bank, and their failure to protect Palestinians from a wave of settler attacks.
The organization urges the Israeli authorities to halt the use of excessive force and unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, end punitive home demolitions and other collective punishment of Palestinians, and ensure that Israeli troops, police and civilians responsible for unlawful attacks on Palestinian civilians in the OPT are held accountable.
Oct. 27, 2015 – Israeli forces in Occupied Palestinian Territories must end pattern of unlawful killings
Israeli forces have carried out a series of unlawful killings of Palestinians using intentional lethal force without justification, said Amnesty International today, based on the findings of an ongoing research trip to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The organization has documented in depth at least four incidents in which Palestinians were deliberately shot dead by Israeli forces when they posed no imminent threat to life, in what appear to have been extrajudicial executions.
In some cases, the person shot was left bleeding to death on the ground and was not given prompt medical assistance, in violation of the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. Since Oct. 1, Israeli forces have killed more than 30 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Israel either after stabbings were carried out or the Israeli authorities allege stabbing attacks were intended.
“A clear pattern has emerged of lethal force being used unlawfully by Israeli forces following a wave of recent stabbing attacks by Palestinians against Israeli civilians and military or police forces in Israel and the occupied West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
Nov. 12, 2015 – Investigate apparent extrajudicial execution at Hebron hospital
The killing of a 28-year-old Palestinian man by Israeli forces during a raid on al-Ahli hospital in Hebron in the early hours of Thursday morning may amount to an extrajudicial execution, Amnesty International said today.
Eyewitnesses report that a large group of Israeli soldiers and police entered thehospital at 2.43am disguised as Palestinian civilians, with some wearing keffiyehs and fake beards and another being pushed in a wheelchair dressed as a pregnant woman. According to two witnesses Amnesty International spoke to, they entered a room on the third floor of the hospital where 20-year-old Azzam Azmi Shalaldah was a patient, to arrest him on suspicion of stabbing an Israeli civilian on Oct. 25.
When they entered the room where the patient was in bed, they immediately shot his cousin, Abdullah Azzam Shalaldah, at least three times, including in the head and upper body.“The fact that Abdullah Shalaldah was shot in the head and upper body suggests this was an extrajudicial execution, adding to a disturbing pattern of similar recent incidents by Israeli forces in the West Bank which warrant urgent investigation,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
“Israeli forces must immediately cease their use of intentional lethal force against people who are not posing an imminent threat to life.”
March 24, 2016 – Suspected extrajudicial execution of Palestinian caught on video
An Israeli soldier has been filmed shooting dead a Palestinian man in Hebron as he lay wounded on the ground following his alleged role in a knife attack earlier today.
The man, Abed al-Fatah al-Sharif, was one of two Palestinians believed to have been involved in the stabbing of an Israeli soldier. Footage of the shooting was released by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.
“The shooting of a wounded and incapacitated person, even if they have been involved in an attack, has absolutely no justification and must be prosecuted as a potential war crime,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
Sept. 28, 2016 – Pattern of unlawful killings reveals shocking disregard for human life
Nearly a year on from a bloody spike in violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Israeli forces continue to display an appalling disregard for human life by using reckless and unlawful lethal force against Palestinians, Amnesty International said today.
In a memorandum sent to the Israeli authorities on Sept. 14, the organization has detailed 20 cases of apparently unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces seeking clarification about the status of investigations. In at least 15 of the cases, Palestinians were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life, in what appear to be extrajudicial executions. The Israeli authorities have not responded to Amnesty International’s concerns.
“Since the escalation of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last year, there has been a worrying rise in unlawful killings by Israeli forces, fostered by a culture of impunity,” said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The cases of unlawful killings outlined in this memorandum reveal a shocking disregard for human life and pose some serious questions to the Israeli authorities. Those responsible must be brought to justice to ensure this cycle of unlawful killings ends.”
March 30, 2017 – Land Day 2017: Israel’s relentless land grab continues
Today’s commemoration of Land Day is an emblematic reminder of the countless human rights violations that have characterized a half century of Palestinian land confiscation and dispossession.
During the first Land Day in 1976 Palestinian citizens of Israel protested against the Israeli government’s expropriation of 2,000 hectares of land surrounding Palestinian villages in the Galilee. Six Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were injured when Israeli forces crushed the protests.
Every year since, Palestinian communities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) have gathered on 30 March to commemorate these events, to highlight Israel’s ongoing seizure of Palestinian land, and to reaffirm their connection to the land.
This year’s Land Day will be marked with a march between Deir Hana and Sakhnin in northern Israel, as well as demonstrations and events across central Israel and the Negev/Naqab region, and in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The protests are often met with brutal and excessive use of force by Israel.
April 13, 2017 – Israel must end ‘unlawful and cruel’ policies towards Palestinian prisoners
Israel’s decades-long policy of detaining Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza in prisons inside Israel and depriving them of regular family visits is not only cruel but also a blatant violation of international law, said Amnesty International, ahead of a mass prisoner’s hunger strike beginning next week to mark Palestinian Prisoner’s Day on April 17.
Testimonies gathered by the organization from family members and Palestinian prisoners detained in the Israeli prison system shed light on the suffering endured by families who in some cases have been deprived from seeing their detained relatives for many years.
“Israel’s ruthless policy of holding Palestinian prisoners arrested in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in prisons inside Israel is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is unlawful and cruel and the consequences for the imprisoned person and their loved ones, who are often deprived from seeing them for months, and at times for years on end, can be devastating,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“Instead of unlawfully transferring prisoners outside the occupied territories, Israel must ensure all Palestinians arrested there are held in prisons and detention centres in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Until then, the Israeli authorities must stop imposing excessive restrictions on visitation rights as a means of punishing prisoners and their families, and ensure that conditions fully meet international standards.”
June 8, 2017 – Israel’s occupation: 50 years of Palestinian oppression
“Everyone has a right to live in his home and no one may uproot him.”
These were the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Knesset event this week marking 50 years of Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territories in which he vowed to strengthen Israel’s “settlement enterprise”.
The right elucidated in Netanyahu’s speech, it would appear, however, does not extend to Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Israel’s unlawful construction and expansion of settlements and their related infrastructure on Palestinian soil is one of the most defining features of Israel’s occupation and has bred mass violations against Palestinians over the past five decades.
July 25, 2017 – Israeli forces carry out violent hospital raids in ruthless display of force
Israeli soldiers and police stormed a Palestinian hospital twice over the past week, terrifying staff and patients and, in some cases, preventing doctors from providing emergency medical care to critically injured patients, said Amnesty International today.
The raids on al-Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem took place as tensions escalated in Jerusalem and across the West Bank in recent days following an Israeli government decision to place metal detectors and search worshipers at the entrance of Al-Aqsa mosque after the killing of two Israeli policemen at the site on July 14. At least four Palestinian civilians have been killed and more than 1,090 were injured by Israeli police and military forces over the past 10 days in the widespread Palestinian protests against the decision and ensuing clashes.
July 27, 2017 – Israeli forces attack peaceful crowds at Jerusalem holy site
Israeli forces attacked peaceful crowds of Palestinians as they gathered at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem this afternoon for the first time since Israel lifted recent security measures imposed at the site, according to Amnesty International staff at the scene.
“Israeli forces started firing stun grenades, tear gas and sponge-tipped bullets into a peaceful crowd as they stood at the entrance of the al-Aqsa mosque compound and inside. It appeared to be an entirely unprovoked attack. Some Palestinians threw empty water bottles in return. Others, began to throw stones as well,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
Aug. 7, 2017 – Plans to shut down Al Jazeera an attack on media freedom
In response to the announcement by Israel’s communications minister, Ayoub Kara, that the Israeli government has decided to close Al Jazeera’ s office in Jerusalem and take the channel off air, Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director, Magdalena Mughrabi said:
“This is a brazen attack on media freedom in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The move sends a chilling message that the Israeli authorities will not tolerate critical coverage.
“By acting to suppress Al Jazeera the Israeli government joins a host of other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, which have demanded the channel’s closure in the wake of the dispute between Gulf countries and Qatar.
“All journalists should be free to carry out their work without facing harassment or intimidation. Instead of initiating a repressive clampdown on freedom of expression the Israeli authorities must halt any attempt to silence critical media.”
Sept. 18, 2017 – French-Palestinian human rights worker detained without charge or trial
Responding to the news that an Israeli court has confirmed the six-month administrative detention order for Salah Hammouri a field researcher for the Palestinian human rights NGO Addameer, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Magdalena Mughrabi said:
"The arbitrary detention of Salah Hammouri is yet another shameful example of the Israeli authorities’ abusive use of administrative detention to detain suspects indefinitely without charge or trial. Rather than locking him up without presenting a shred of evidence against him, the Israeli authorities must either charge him with a genuine criminal offence or order his immediate release."
Feb. 13, 2018 – Joint statement: Record-low in Gaza medical permits; 54 died in 2017 awaiting Israeli permit
The record-low rate of permits issued by Israel for Palestinians seeking vital medical treatment outside Gaza underlines the urgent need for Israel to end its decade-long closure of the Gaza Strip.
April 13, 2018 – Israeli forces must end the use of excessive force in response to “Great March of Return” protests
The Israeli authorities must put an immediate end to the excessive and lethal force being used to suppress Palestinian demonstrations in Gaza, Amnesty International said as fresh protests have started today.
Following the deaths of 26 Palestinians, including three children and a photojournalist, Yasser Murtaja,and the injuring of around 3,078 others during protests on the past two Fridays, Amnesty International is renewing its call for independent and effective investigations into reports that Israeli soldiers unlawfully used firearms and other excessive force against unarmed protesters.
April 27, 2018 – Palestinians at risk of losing residency status: Muhammad Abu Teir, Ahmad Attoun, Muhammad Totah and Khaled Abu Arafeh
Four members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Muhammad Abu Teir, Ahmad Attoun, Muhammad Totah and Khaled Abu Arafeh, are at risk of losing their permanent residency status in Jerusalem after the Israeli Knesset issued a law that allows the Israeli Minister of Interior to revoke residency status for “breach of loyalty”.
May 14, 2018 – Use of excessive force in Gaza anabhorrent violation of international law
Respondingto reports that dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured by the Israeli military during protests along the fence that separates Gaza and Israel today, Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said:
“This is another horrific example of the Israeli military using excessive force and live ammunition in a totally deplorable way. This is a violation of international standards, in some instances committing what appear to be wilful killings constituting war crimes.
June 18, 2018 – African asylum-seeker deportations and “voluntary” transfers are forced and illegal
The Israeli government’s transfers of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers is cruel and illegal, Amnesty International said today, as it released a new report titled "Forced and Unlawful: Israel’s Deportations of Eritrean and Sudanese Asylum-Seekers to Uganda."
In October 2017, Israel announced that it would start deporting Eritrean and Sudanese nationals to an unnamed “third country” in Africa that had agreed to receive them, widely reported to be Uganda and Rwanda. However, the Israeli government was unable to confirm which countries had agreed to cooperate in deportation agreements and the Supreme Court ordered the suspension of all deportations of Sudanese and Eritrean nationals. However, “voluntary” transfers of these nationals, which Israel has been carrying out since 2013, have continued to Uganda.
July 29, 2018 – Ahed Tamimi releasea bittersweet moment as other Palestinian children languish in Israeli jails
The release of a Palestinian child activist jailed by Israel’s military for shoving, slapping and kicking two heavily armed soldiers wearing protective gear is welcome news but serves as a reminder of Israel’s continued human rights violations against Palestinian children, Amnesty International said.
Seventeen-year-old Ahed Tamimi was set free today, 21 days short of completing an eight-month prison sentence following her wrongful imprisonment by Ofer military court in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“This is a huge relief for Ahed Tamimi’s loved ones, but their joy will be tempered by the injustice of her imprisonment and the grim knowledge that many more Palestinian children still languish in Israeli jails, many despite not having committed any recognizable crime,” said Saleh Higazi, Head of Office in Jerusalem for Amnesty International.
Sept. 19, 2018 – Six Palestinians killed within 24 hours, some deaths may involve war crimes
The deaths of six Palestinians within just 24 hours is a horrific demonstration of the unnecessary or excessive force deployed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Amnesty International said today.
Between 10 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17 and 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18, Israeli forces killed four Palestinian men in the Gaza Strip using live ammunition . Within the same period, two more died as a result of the actions of Israeli forces in the West Bank, one after being beaten during the process of arrest and another shot dead in a busy street in East Jerusalem.
Oct. 1, 2018 – Demolition of Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar is cruel blow and war crime
Monday’s planned demolition of a West Bank village and forcible transfer of its residents to make way for illegal Jewish settlements is a war crime that lays bare the Israeli government’s callous disregard for the Palestinians, Amnesty International said today.
Some 180 residents of the Bedouin community of Khan-al Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, face being forcibly evicted and transferred by the Israeli army. The Israeli authorities have offered the villagers a choice of two possible destinations: a site near the former Jerusalem municipal garbage dump, near the village of Abu Dis, or a site in the vicinity of a sewage plant close to the city of Jericho.
Oct. 19, 2018 – Gaza: Fears of further bloodshed as Israel adopts ‘zero tolerance’ policy
Fears of escalating bloodshed are rising ahead of planned protests in Gaza later today after Israeli authorities announced a “zero tolerance” policy towards demonstrations along the Israel/Gazafence, said Amnesty International.
The organization is calling on the Israeli government to rein in its armed forces, which have routinely used unnecessary or excessive force during Gaza’s weekly “Great March of Return” demonstrations.
“Given Israeli forces’ horrific track record of using deadly force against Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza, as well as journalists, medics and others, the announcement of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy is deeply alarming,” said Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
The exact details of what “zero tolerance” means have not been disclosed, but there are fears it will lead to more Palestinian deaths along the Gaza/Israel border.
March 25, 2019 – Rocket assault on family home must not lead to further ‘unlawful attacks’
Responding to reports that at least seven people were injured after a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East andNorth Africa, said:
“Amnesty International condemns the rocket attack from Gaza that hit a home in central Israel wounding Israeli civilians.
“Attacks on civilians, and indiscriminate attacks, are never justified and a serious violation of internationalhumanitarian law. The threats from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to respond with further military action are also deeply worrying.
“Israel has repeatedly displayed a chilling disregard for civilian life and carried out wide-scale deadly attacks in densely-populated civilian areas of Gaza in violation of international humanitarian law.
“There must be no repeat of the unlawful attacks that killed and injured thousands of civilians in Gaza, destroyed homes and devastated infrastructure during conflicts in previous years.
“We are calling on Hamas, Israel and all parties involved in the conflict to respect international humanitarian law.”
May 15, 2019 – Israel’s refusal to grant Palestinian refugees right to return has fuelled seven decades of suffering
Israel’s failure to respect the right to return for Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes in 1948 is a flagrant violation of international law that has fuelled decades of suffering on a mass scale for Palestinian refugees across the region, said Amnesty International, marking 71 years since the Nakba (catastrophe), as it is known to Palestinians.
Amnesty International’s dedicated Nakba website 70+ Years of Suffocation showcases powerful images and testimonies that tell the heartbreaking stories of Palestinian refugees living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Jordan and Lebanon. To mark Nakba Day, Amnesty International is asking people from around the world to show solidarity with Palestinian refugees and demand that Israel respect their right to return.
July 22, 2019 – Israel continues policy of systematic forced displacement with wave of home demolitions in Sur Baher
Responding to news reports today that Israeli forces are carrying out the demolition of up to 16 residential buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al-Hummus in the village of Sur Baher in the occupied West Bank, Saleh Higazi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director for Amnesty International said:
"These demolitions are a flagrant violation of international law and part of a systematic pattern by the Israeli authorities’ to forcibly displace Palestinians in the occupied territories; such actions amount to war crimes.
"Israel has attempted to justify these demolitions under the guise of security by claiming the homes are too close to thewall/fence, but this does not stand up to scrutiny. The truth is that for decades Israel’s authorities have taken arbitrary and disproportionate measures in the name of security to expand their control over Palestinian land and push Palestinians out of areas they consider strategic, forcibly displacing entire communities and unlawfully destroying tens of thousands of homes."
Sept. 4, 2019 – Elected but restricted: Shrinking space for Palestinian parliamentarians in Israel’s Knesset
Palestinian members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, are facing increasing threats to their freedom of expression. These threats are symptomatic of the wider situation in Israel in which the space for voices critical of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians has shrunk and discrimination against Palestinian citizens has been entrenched.
Sept. 18, 2019 – Israeli forces killing of Palestinian woman at checkpoint underscores need for international justice
Responding to the news that armed Israeli guards shot dead a Palestinian woman after she allegedly pulled out a knife at the Qalandiya military checkpoint between Ramallah and East Jerusalem this morning, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Saleh Higazi said:
“Video footage of the incident shows the woman standing some distance away from the Israeli guards when they shot her dead. She did not appear to be carrying a firearm and did not pose any immediate threat to the guards or to the lives of people in the vicinity when they opened fire. This strongly suggests that her killing may have been unlawful.
“Under international law, lethal force must only be used when strictly unavoidable and in order to defend people from imminent risk of death or serious injury.
Sept. 30, 2019 – Legally-sanctioned torture of Palestinian detainee left him in critical condition
The legally-sanctioned torture of a Palestinian detainee during interrogation by officers from Shin Bet, Israel’s Security Agency, further exposes the complicity of Israel’s authorities, including its judiciary, in the systematic violation of the human right to be free from torture, said Amnesty International today.
Samir Arbeed was arrested on Sept. 25 on suspicion of being involved in the killing of a 17-year-old Israeli girl Rina Shnerb.
According to Israeli media reports and Samir’s lawyer, a “judicial body” granted Shin Bet special permission to “use exceptional ways to investigate” in his case, effectively sanctioning the use of methods amounting to torture during his interrogation.
“It is utterly outrageous that the use of torture during interrogations continues to be sanctioned by the Israeli authorities, from the Shin Bet, through the executive branch and all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director.
“Under international treaties, which legally bind Israel, the use of torture cannot be justified under any circumstances. This case exposes Israel’s claims that its judiciary upholds human rights as a complete sham.”
Nov. 5, 2019 – Supreme Court decision upholding deportation of HRW director confirms Israel’s anti-human rights agenda
Responding to the news that the Israeli Supreme Court has upheld a deportation order for Omar Shakir, Israel / Palestine Country Director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director Saleh Higazi said:
“The Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the deportation of Omar Shakir further illustrates the instrumental role of this institution in upholding the country’s anti-human rights agenda. With this ruling, the court has made it explicitly clear that those who dare to speak out about human rights violations by the Israeli authorities will be treated as enemies of the state.
Nov. 19, 2019 – Pompeo announcement on Israeli Settlements Places Occupied Palestinians At Increased Risk
Responding to an announcement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that the U.S. will not consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law, Amnesty International USA’s advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philippe Nassif, said:
“Today, the United States government announced to the rest of the world that it believes the U.S. and Israel are above the law: that Israel can continue to violate international law and Palestinians’ human rights and the U.S. will firmly support it in doing so.
July 1, 2020 – Unlawful “annexation” plan promotes ‘law of the jungle’ and must be stopped
The Israeli authorities must immediately abandon plans to further “annex” territory in the occupied West Bank which breach international laws and exacerbate decades of systematic human rights violations against Palestinians there, Amnesty International said on the day the Israelicabinet is due to begin its deliberations on the plans.
Amnesty International is also calling on the international community to take firm action against the “annexation” proposals and illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territory.
Jan. 6, 2021 – Denying COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians exposes Israel’s institutionalized discrimination
The Israeli government must stop ignoring its international obligations as an occupying power and immediately act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are equally and fairly provided to Palestinians living under its occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said Amnesty International today.
On Dec. 23, the Israeli Health Ministry began the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Having already given initial jabs to more than a 10th of its population, Israel has been hailed as the country that has to date achieved the widest vaccination coverage in proportion to its population size. However, the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plan so far covers only citizens of Israel, including Israeli settlers living inside the West Bank, and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. It excludes the nearly 5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, under Israeli military occupation.
May 17, 2021 – Pattern of Israeli attacks on residential homes in Gaza must be investigated as war crimes
Israeli forces have displayed a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians by carrying out a number of airstrikes targeting residential buildings, in some cases killing entire families – including children –and causing wanton destruction to civilian property, in attacks that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, said Amnesty International today.
The organization has documented four deadly attacks by Israel launched on residential homes without prior warning and is calling for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to urgently investigate these attacks. The death toll in Gaza continues to climb with at least 198 Palestinians killed including 58 children and more than 1,220 injured. Ten people in Israel, including two children, have been killed and at least 27 injured by Palestinian attacks.
June 24, 2021 – Israeli police targeted Palestinians with discriminatory arrests, torture and unlawful force
Israeli police have committed a catalogue of violations against Palestinians in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, carrying out a discriminatory repressive campaign including sweeping mass arrests, using unlawful force against peaceful protesters, and subjecting detainees to torture and other ill-treatment, during andafter the armed hostilities in Israel and Gaza, Amnesty International said today.
Israeli police have also failed to protect Palestinian citizens of Israel from premeditated attacks by groups of armed Jewish supremacists, even when plans were publicized in advance and police knew or should have known of them.
“The evidence gathered by Amnesty International paints a damning picture of discrimination and ruthless excessive force by Israeli police against Palestinians in Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem,” said Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
Nov. 18, 2021 – CONSTRUCTION GIANT JCB’S PRODUCTS USED FOR PALESTINIAN HOUSE DEMOLITIONS AND ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
Major new report reveals digger firm ignores use of its products for unlawful destruction of Palestinian homes and construction of Israel’s illegal settlements.
JCB wrongly says selling goods to an Israeli agent means Staffordshire company bears no responsibility for its diggers being used in acts constituting war crimes.
‘For many Palestinians, JCB’s distinctive yellow-and-black bulldozers are an ominous sign of their impending homelessness’ –Sacha Deshmukh
Amnesty International is calling on the UK construction equipment giant JCB to take measures to prevent its diggers and other machinery from being used in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories for the unlawful destruction of Palestinian homes or the construction of Israel’s vast network of illegal settlements.
Feb. 1, 2022 – Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: A cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity
Israeli authorities must be held accountable for committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians, Amnesty International said today in a damning new report. The investigation details how Israel enforces a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people wherever it has control over their rights. This includes Palestinians living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), as well as displaced refugees in other countries.
The comprehensive report, "Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity," sets out how massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to apartheid under international law. This system is maintained by violations which Amnesty International found to constitute apartheid as a crime against humanity, as defined in the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention.
Amnesty International is calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider the crime of apartheid in its current investigation in the OPT and calls on all states to exercise universal jurisdiction to bring perpetrators of apartheid crimes to justice.
May 11, 2022 – Increase in unlawful killings and other crimes highlights urgent need to end Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians
Israeli authorities must end unlawful killings, willful injury, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, persecution and collective punishment against Palestinians, including many children, Amnesty International said in a public statement published today.
In the latest incident, Palestinian journalist Shirin Abu Akleh was shot in the head on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank. Palestinians have been killed or injured as a result of the Israeli forces’ use of excessive force when policing protests or carrying out search and arrest raids. Some Palestinians appear to have been killed in acts that amount to extrajudicial executions, which constitute a crime under international law.
“The killing of veteran journalist Shirin Abu Akleh is a bloody reminder of the deadly system in which Israel locks Palestinians. Israel is killing Palestinians left and right with impunity. How many more need to be killed before the international community acts to hold Israel accountable for the continuing crimes against humanity?” said Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The violence has been escalating since Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took office on June 21, 2021, with the months of March and April seeing the highest number of Palestinians and Israelis killed outside of armed hostilities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in any two months since 2008. Between June 21, 2021 and up until May 11, 2022, Israeli forces killed at least 79 Palestinians, including 14 children in the OPT according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and Amnesty International’s records. In March, Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians, including threechildren. Another Palestinian was killed by an Israeli settler. During the month of April 2022, Israeli forces killed at least 22 Palestinians, including three children, according to Amnesty International’s records. Separate attacks by armed Palestinian individuals killed 18 people in cities across Israel since March 22.
July 19, 2022 – Immediately halt forced eviction of more than 1,000 West Bank residents and stop demolitions of Bedouin homes in the Negev/Naqab
The Israeli authorities must immediately halt the forcible eviction of more than 1,000 residents from Masafer Yatta, a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank, Amnesty International said today, following weeks in which the Israeli army has repeatedly harassed people in the area, demolished homes and placed restrictions on freedom of movement. Inside Israel, the authorities must recognize the housing rights of Palestinian Bedouin citizens in the Negev/Naqab desert, who saw their village, al-‘Araqib, demolished again this morning, Tuesday July 19.
In recent weeks, Masafer Yatta communities have been hit by wave after wave of demolitions according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A campaign of intimidation by the Israeli authorities has sought to create unbearable living conditions that coerce residents into leaving. Roadblocks and other restrictions on movement have also prevented residents from celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha with their extended families in the nearby town of Yatta. On May 11 and June 1, the Israeli army destroyed the homes of dozens of residents, with some suffering a third home demolition in the past 12 months.
Oct. 25, 2022 – ‘They were just kids’: Evidence of war crimes during Israel’s August 2022 Gaza offensive
On Aug. 5, 2022, Israel launched a three-day offensive on occupied Gaza, visiting fresh trauma and destruction on a besieged population living under apartheid. Both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups committed apparent war crimes. In one attack, an Israeli drone killed five children at a cemetery. In another instance, seven civilians were killed in a strike likely to have been caused by a Palestinian rocket that misfired.
Oct. 28, 2022 – Latest UN recognition of apartheid comes amid soaring attacks on Palestinian homes
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing is the latest human rights expert to recognize that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians. At the UN General Assembly today, Special Rapporteur Balakrishnan Rajagopal presented a report on housing rights worldwide which states that the system of racial oppression and discrimination that has led to the destruction of Palestinian homes “is nothing short of apartheid.”
Nov. 23, 2022 – 1150 people at risk of forced displacement: Masafer Yatta
amila and Muhammad Abu Sabha and their six children are one of some 180 Palestinian families living in Masafer Yatta, in the south of the West Bank in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who are at risk of forced displacement. Around 1,150 Palestinians, half of whom are children, currently live in nine villages that are slated for complete demolition.
After 23 years of legal procedures, the Israeli Supreme Court concluded on May 4, 2022 that the eviction of Masafer Yatta’s inhabitants could go ahead. Israeli military activity in the area has increased since the court’s decision in May 2022, leading to fears that demolitions are imminent. Israel’s execution of this large-scale expulsion would amount to forcible transfer, which is a war crime and crime against humanity.
Jan. 11, 2023 – Flag restrictions are the latest attempt to silence Palestinians and reduce their visibility
An Israeli government directive which places additional restrictions on the display of Palestinian flags in public spaces in Israel is an audacious attack on the rights to nationality, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said today. The directive, which was issued on Sunday by Israel’s new Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, describes the Palestinian flag as a symbol of “terrorism” and instructs Israeli police to remove it from public places.
Israeli authorities say the directive is aimed at stopping “incitement” against Israel, but it comes amid a wave of measures designed to silence dissent and restrict protests, including those held in defence of Palestinian rights. Such measures include a growing crackdown on Palestinian civil society, and soaring numbers of arrests and administrative detention orders used to punish Palestinian activists.
Feb. 1, 2023 – Palestinian lives in peril as Israel reinforces apartheid
sraeli authorities must dismantle the system of apartheid which is causing so much suffering and bloodshed, Amnesty International said today. Since the organization launched a major campaign against apartheid one year ago, Israeli forces have killed almost 220 Palestinians*, including 35 in January 2023 alone. Unlawful killings help maintain Israel’s apartheid system and constitute crimes against humanity, as do other serious and ongoing violations by Israeli authorities such as administrative detention and forcible transfer.
Over the past few days, a series of deadly attacks has underscored the urgent need for accountability. On Jan. 26, Israeli forces carried out a raid on Jenin refugee camp and killed 10 Palestinians, including a 61-year-old woman. On Jan. 27, seven Israeli civilians were killed when a Palestinian gunman opened fire in Neve Ya’akov, an Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. In response to this attack, Israeli authorities have stepped up collective punishment against Palestinians, carrying out sweeping mass arrests and threatening punitive home demolitions.
March 3, 2023 – Impunity reigns for perpetrators of settler violence
Following the Israeli authorities’ release last night of six Israeli settlers suspected of involvement in Sunday’s attacks against Palestinians in Nablus Governorate, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“Under Israel’s apartheid system, impunity reigns. Despite the intensity and scale of Sunday’s attacks, which resulted in the killing of one Palestinian and the wounding of nearly 400 more, and despite a rare show of international condemnation of settler violence, Israeli police yesterday released six suspects who were arrested in connection with the attacks. Meanwhile two others have been issued with administrative detention orders, which violate international law. Israeli authorities have long enabled and incited settler attacks against Palestinians, and in some cases soldiers have directly participated.
April 6, 2023 – Second night of horror at al-Aqsa mosque
A second consecutive night-time attack on Palestinian worshippers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque illustrates the sheer brutality of Israel’s apartheid, Amnesty International said today. Israeli security forces stormed the mosque compound at around 10.30 pm last night, shortly after evening prayers. They fired stun grenades and used rifle butts to beat Palestinians who had gathered at the mosque for Ramadan.
During the first attack on Tuesday night, Israeli security forces arrested at least 450 Palestinians, about 50 of whom are still in detention. Many of those who were released were barefoot and visibly battered and bruised when they emerged from Atarot Detention Centre on Wednesday. A lawyer at the scene told Amnesty International that many detainees, including children, were interrogated and beaten while in detention. Amnesty International also heard from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society how, during Tuesday night’s attack, Israeli forces had prevented paramedics from accessing wounded people inside the mosque compound by firing rubber bullets at ambulances.
May 3, 2023 – Death of Khader Adnan highlights Israel’s cruel treatment of Palestinian prisoners
The death of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan is a reminder of the deadly cost that Palestinians pay for challenging Israel’s apartheid and a military justice system rigged against them, Amnesty International said today. Khader Adnan died in Israel’s Ramle prison on May 2, after spending 87 days on hunger strike in protest at the Israeli authorities’ systematic arbitrary detention of Palestinians and cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Palestinian detainees frequently use hunger strikes to challenge such policies, risking their health and lives in order to demand the rights that Israel denies them.
Khader Adnan, a baker by trade, had nine children with his wife Randa, who tirelessly campaigned for his release. Since 2004 he had been arrested 13 times by Israeli authorities, due to his affiliation with the political wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement. While PIJ’s armed wing has carried out attacks on Israeli civilians, Khader Adnan himself was never charged with any involvement in acts of violence. In total, he spent eight years in detention, including nearly six years in administrative detention without charge or trial.
June 13, 2023 – Civilian deaths and extensive destruction in latest Gaza offensive highlight human toll of apartheid
In its early May offensive on the occupied Gaza Strip, Israel unlawfully destroyed Palestinian homes, often without military necessity, in what amounts to a form of collective punishment against the civilian population, Amnesty International said today. Israel also conducted apparently disproportionate air strikes which killed and injured Palestinian civilians, including children.
Amnesty International investigated nine Israeli airstrikes that resulted in the killing of civilians and in the damage and destruction of residential buildings in the Gaza Strip. Three separate attacks on the first night of bombing on 9 May, in which precision-guided bombs targeted three senior Al-Quds Brigades commanders, killed 10 Palestinian civilians, and injured at least 20 others. They were launched into densely populated urban areas at 2am when families were sleeping at home, which suggests that those who planned and authorized the attacks anticipated –and likely disregarded –the disproportionate harm to civilians. Intentionally launching disproportionate attacks, a pattern Amnesty International has documented in previous Israeli operations, is a war crime.
July 28, 2023 – 500 Palestinians facing forcible eviction, displacement, and segregation
An Israeli court has given the go-ahead for the forced eviction of 500 Palestinian Bedouins in the Negev/Naqab region, highlighting the deep discrimination that Palestinian citizens of Israel face under apartheid, Amnesty International said today. In a judgment issued on 27 July, the Beer’sheva Magistrate’s Court said residents of the village of Ras Jrabah must leave their homes, and vacate the lands where their families have lived for decades, by March 2024. They must also pay a fine of 117,000 Israeli shekels (approximately $31,700) to cover legal expenses.
The forced evictions are part of the Israeli authorities’ plans to build a new neighbourhood for the city of Dimona, whose inhabitants are mostly Jewish Israelis. Ras Jrabah’s residents will be relocated to an impoverished and segregated Bedouin town nearby.
Oct. 7, 2023 – Civilians on both sides paying the price of unprecedented escalation in hostilities between Israel and Gaza as death toll mounts
Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups must make every effort to protect the lives of civilians in today’s outbreak of fighting in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said Amnesty International amid a mounting civilian death toll.
Today’s escalation in violence began with Hamas firing rockets into Israel and launching an unprecedented operation by its fighters into southern Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza has killed at least 232 people and injured nearly 1,700, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Oct. 12, 2023 – Israel must lift illegal and inhumane blockade on Gaza as power plant runs out of fuel
The shutdown of Gaza’s only power plant will exacerbate an already desperate humanitarian crisis for more than 2.2 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip, amid a massive bombing campaign by Israel that has killed at least 1,350 people and injured more than 6,000 people.
The airstrikes were launched in retaliation to the attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups from Gaza who fired indiscriminate rockets and sent fighters into southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and injuring more than 2,700 and taking hostages, including many civilians.
Oct. 13, 2023 – Appalling Gaza “evacuation order” must be rescinded by Israel immediately
The Israeli army’s order to people in northern Gaza and Gaza city to “evacuate” to the south of the Gaza Strip, cannot be considered an effective warning and may amount to forced displacement of the civilian population, a violation of international humanitarian law, said Amnesty International.
The initial announcement gave people 24 hours to leave northern Gaza “for their safety and protection” – an impossible demand that even the Israeli army spokesperson has admitted cannot be implemented in one day. Regardless of time frame, Israel cannot treat northern Gaza as an open-fire zone based on having issued this order. Their forces have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians wherever they are in Gaza.
Oct. 20, 2023 – Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza
As Israeli forces continue to intensify their cataclysmic assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks, including indiscriminate attacks, which caused mass civilian casualties and must be investigated as war crimes.
The organization spoke to survivors and eyewitnesses, analysed satellite imagery, and verified photos and videos to investigate air bombardments carried out by Israeli forces between 7 and 12 October, which caused horrific destruction, and in some cases wiped out entire families. Here the organization presents an in-depth analysis of its findings in five of these unlawful attacks. In each of these cases, Israeli attacks violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives,or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects.
Oct. 25, 2023 – Israeli army threats ordering residents of northern Gaza to leave may amount to war crimes
On Oct. 21 2023, the Israeli army dropped leaflets on northern Gaza ordering residents’ immediate “evacuation”. The leaflets warned residents to leave immediately, declaring their lives at risk and explicitly stating that “anyone who chooses not to leave from the north of the [Gaza] Strip to south of Wadi Gaza may be determined an accomplice in a terrorist organization”. The move came one week after the Israeli army had issued an ultimatum warning the 1.1 million residents in those areas to leave southwards.
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