Human Rights

B’Tselem reminds the Attorney General and the defense establishment that international law categorically prohibits the forced transfer of residents of the Occupied Territories.

The Knesset will vote today on the second and third readings of the proposed law to deny innocent Palestinians compensation for injuries they suffered as a result of acts committed by Israeli security forces.

B’Tselem strongly condemns the ‘liquidation’ carried out by Israel in Gaza tonight. At least 14 civilians, 9 of them minors, were killed and dozens injured, when F-16 fighter jets bombed a residential building.

Early this morning Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have arrested 21 male relatives of Palestinians suspected of having been involved in recent attacks against Israelis. The IDF threatens to transfer them from the West Bank to Gaza. “The forcible transfer of these people under these circumstances is collective punishment,” Amnesty International said. “We call on the Israeli government not to carry out such measures.”

One month after Israel reoccupied villages and towns in the West Bank more than 800,000 Palestinians still suffer the effects of prolonged curfews and closures. Israeli soldiers continue to carry out unlawful killings of Palestinians with impunity. Hundreds of Palestinians remain in detention, including in administrative detention without charge or trial, and destruction or damage to homes and property continues.

Human Rights Watch today strongly criticized the Israeli Knesset’s discriminatory allocation of national child allowances. The latest economic plan, passed Wednesday night, cuts by 24 percent allowances for children whose parents have not served in the army.

Today’s Israel Defense Forces air strike on a crowded Gaza apartment building demonstrated a clear failure to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch condemned the attack as a violation of international humanitarian law.