Numerous charges of war crimes have been levied against Israel for its actions against civilians. These charges have come from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International,
B'tselem, and human rights groups and experts, including
UN rapporteurs.
Antony Blinken indicated the Biden administration has a "high tolerance" for whatever happens in Gaza. In October 2023, the White House stated it had no
red lines for Israeli actions.
Proportionality and distinction Israel's adherence to the principles of
discrimination and
proportionality as required by the laws of war has been questioned.
Human Rights Watch has stated that the overall civilian death toll, and Israel's use of powerful weapons in Gaza's densely populated neighbourhoods, raised "serious questions" about the legality of Israel's conduct. United Nations officials and human rights groups have argued that Israel has not done enough to protect civilians. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, declared: "This war is a war on children". in
Jabalia refugee camp, October 2023. Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, an associate fellow at
Chatham House, argued that, given the size and nature of the 7 October attacks, Israel has a right of self-defence that could include its stated military aim of destroying Hamas, which has threatened to repeat its assault and eradicate the state of Israel. Israeli security officials state that their proportionality criteria in this conflict are unchanged and that they receive legal advice in relation to strikes. In October 2024,
The New York Times reported compiled testimony from 44 doctors, nurses, and paramedics who treated multiple cases of preteen children with gunshot wounds to the head or chest in Gaza. Inquiries sent to the IDF regarding the experiences of these health care workers received a statement from a spokesperson that did not directly confirm whether investigations into the shootings of preteen children had been conducted or if any soldiers faced disciplinary action for firing at them. In response to claims alleging that the report was based on "fabricated evidence",
The New York Times issued a statement defending the integrity of the piece, emphasizing that it had undergone rigorous editing and verification, including consultations with experts and the use of supporting photographs, which they deemed "too horrific for publication". In October 2024, the
New York Times published an investigation claiming that Israel's military leadership issued an order allowing officers to risk up to 20 civilian deaths per target. Some strikes exceeded that threshold with over 100 civilian deaths for killing one target. The investigation also accuses Israel of dropping excessively big and imprecise bombs on targets where smaller and more precise bombs would've been usable.
Targeted attacks on non-military targets , 8 October In the first week of the war, the IDF carried out 6,000 airstrikes across Gaza, killing over 3,300 civilians and injuring over 12,000. The strikes hit specifically protected locations, including hospitals, markets, refugee camps, mosques, educational facilities, and entire neighborhoods. A group of
UN special rapporteurs asserted that Israel's airstrikes are indiscriminate, stating that the airstrikes are "absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime". A
+972 Magazine investigation found the IDF had expanded authorization for bombing non-military targets. Research conducted by Dr. Yagil Levy at the
Open University of Israel confirmed the
+972 report, stating Israel was "deliberately targeting residential blocks to cause mass civilian casualties". During two airstrikes on 10 and 22 October, the IDF used
Joint Direct Attack Munitions in attacks described by Amnesty International as "either direct attacks on civilians" or "indiscriminate attacks". On 24 October, UN Secretary-General
António Guterres called for an immediate
ceasefire, after stating Israel had committed "clear violations" of international humanitarian law. On 13 November, Israel shelled the Gaza Reconstruction Committee, leading three Arab states to condemn the attack, with
Jordan calling it "a heinous war crime to add to Israel's criminal record." On 12 January 2024, the spokesperson for the
Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights stated Israel's attacks were failing to account for distinction, proportionality and precautions, thus leaving Israel exposed to liability for war crimes. Analyses by
CNN,
The New York Times, and
Sky News all found that Israel had bombed areas it had previously told civilians to evacuate to. The
Sky News investigation also concluded that Israel's evacuation orders had been "chaotic and contradictory",
NYT found that Israel had dropped 2,000-pound bombs in those areas, while
CNN stated it had verified at least three locations Israel bombed after telling civilians it was safe to go there. An NBC news investigation found Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in seven areas that the military had designated as safe zones. In February 2024, the IDF bombed and destroyed the Belgium government's Gaza development office. In response, Belgium summoned the Israeli ambassador and condemned the "destruction of civilian infrastructure" as a violation of international law. On 6 February, the UN stated an Israeli assault on
Rafah could lead to war crimes. On 22 March, Al Jazeera released a video retrieved from an Israeli drone showing four unarmed Palestinians in Khan Younis who were killed by Israeli air attacks. Two were killed instantly, and the others were killed while trying to stumble and crawl away. Al-Jazeera reported that "it is clear from the pictures that these Palestinians were unarmed and posed no threat to anything or anyone". This footage was described by the UN's special rapporteur Francesca Albanese as a part of the "colossal amount of evidence" of war crimes committed in Gaza by Israel. The IDF started the investigation of the footage and said that they had encountered militants in civilian clothes retrieving previously hidden weapons in that area. In 24 July, during Israel's
second incursion in Khan Yunis, eyewitnesses claimed that Israeli snipers that were deployed there would shoot "anyone who is moving", causing over 20 casualties of mostly women and children. Amnesty International called Israel's indiscriminate attacks illegal and a violation of international law. Secretary General of Amnesty International
Agnès Callamard said the 16-year-old "illegal blockade has made Gaza the world's biggest open-air prison", and the international community must now act to avert it from becoming a giant cemetery. Human Rights Watch reported that Israel has completely shut down communications and put lives at risk in Gaza by carrying out relentless airstrikes and damage to the main communications infrastructure, electricity cuts, fuel blockades, and deliberate shutdowns through technical measures.
Deborah Brown, senior technology researcher at Human Rights Watch, said a deliberate shutdown, or restriction of Internet access, is a human rights violation and can be deadly during a crisis. A complete disruption of communications, such as that experienced in Gaza, can provide cover for crimes and impunity, while further undermining humanitarian efforts and putting lives at risk. According to
Reuters, Israel laid siege to Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, and launched the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year-old history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, destroying entire neighbourhoods. Israeli ground forces then swept into Gaza with the stated aim of annihilating Hamas, which runs the enclave. Following reports about Israel's use of automated systems for target selection, experts in international humanitarian law stated they were alarmed by accounts that the IDF was accepting "damage ratios as high as 20 civilians", even for lower-ranking militants.
Rebecca Gould wrote September 2025 on
scholasticide and genocidal
epistemicide in Palestine that "the targeted nature of Israeli attacks on education – on the very possibility of a Palestinian future in Gaza – has gone beyond anything that has previously been seen in Palestine." In November 2025, Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the
Gaza Health Ministry, stated that Israeli forces had left booby-trapped children's toys in various neighborhoods throughout the Gaza Strip. These devices were designed to detonate when handled by children. Regional media outlets reported his remarks.
Summary executions Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated on 20 December it had received allegations of Israeli soldiers summarily killing at least eleven unarmed men in
Rimal.
Al Jazeera reported that the number
summarily executed was 15, killed during an apartment raid. The execution was witnessed by the families of the men.
Middlesex University professor
William Schabas stated, "It's not really important to demonstrate that they're civilians. Summary executions even of fighters, even of combatants is a war crime."
Euro-Med Monitor told Al Jazeera they believe there is a pattern of "systematic" killing, that "In at least 13 of field executions, we corroborated that it was arbitrary on the part of the Israeli forces." On 26 December 2023, Euro-Med Monitor submitted a file to the International Criminal Court and United Nations special rapporteurs documenting dozens of cases of field executions carried out by Israeli forces and calling for an investigation. In March 2024, video of an IDF soldier bragging about killing an elderly deaf man hiding under his bed was released, leading the
Council on American-Islamic Relations to condemn the killing as an execution and war crime. The Israeli military stated they would begin a probe into the incident. Defense officials told
Haaretz that the Israeli army had created
kill zones in Gaza, in which any person who crossed an "invisible line" was killed.
Mass graves A mass grave with 283 bodies was uncovered in April 2024 at Khan Younis's Nasser medical complex in the southern Gaza city. 30 bodies were buried in two graves in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Reportedly, bodies were found with their hands and feet tied. Following the discovery of the mass graves, UN human rights chief
Volker Türk called for an independent investigation on the intentional killing of civilians by the IDF and stated the "intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are hors de combat is a war crime". A spokesperson for the
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights described the discoveries, stating, "Some of them had their hands tied, which of course indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and these need to be subjected to further investigations".
William Schabas, a Canadian expert on international human rights law, stated mass graves have "always been an indication that war crimes have been committed". The CNN reported of an Israeli military base in the
Negev desert that functions as a detention center for Palestinians.
Sexual violence and abuse Reports from human rights organizations, media outlets and testimonies from Palestinians have confirmed that Israeli male and female soldiers, guards as well as medical staff have committed
wartime sexual violence against Palestinians children, women and men; including rape, gang-rape, sexualized torture and mutilation. In February UN experts cited at least two cases of Palestinian women being raped by male Israeli soldiers. Palestinian boys and men have also been raped and subjected to torture, including at the
Sde Teiman detention camp, and in some cases the torture has led to the victim's death. In June 2024, a Palestinian prisoner released from the Sde Teiman detention camp gave testimony that prisoners were raped by dogs. In its legally mandated June 2024 investigative report, the UN's
Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CoI) concluded: "The frequency, prevalence and severity of sexual and gender-based crimes perpetrated against Palestinians since 7 October across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) indicate that specific forms of Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are part of Israeli Security Forces (ISF) operating procedures." In early August, Ibrahim Salem, who appeared in one of the first leaked photos from Sde Teiman, was released after being held there for 52 days without charge. In one instance, a prisoner in his 40s was handcuffed and forced to bend over a desk while a female soldier inserted her fingers and other objects into his rectum. If the prisoner moved, a male soldier positioned in front of him would beat him and compel him to remain in that position. According to Salem, "Most of the prisoners will come out with rectal injuries [caused by the sexual assault]." In August 2024, testimony from released Palestinian detainees collected by
Channel 4 found "shocking allegations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse" committed by Israeli forces. In one testimony, a Palestinian victim of sexual violence recounts: "When the female soldier grabbed me by the balls and penis, she wounded me with her nails, digging them into my penis. I started screaming and biting the wire." In October 2024, a UN inquiry examined the detention of Palestinians in Israeli military camps and facilities, finding that thousands of child and adult detainees, many arbitrarily detained, faced widespread abuse, including physical and psychological violence, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, and conditions amounting to torture. Male detainees were subjected to rape and forced to endure humiliating acts as a means of punishment. The report highlighted that deaths resulting from such abuse or neglect constituted war crimes and violations of the right to life. Israel refused to cooperate with the investigation, contending that it had an "anti-Israel" bias.
Israeli destruction of mosques, churches, cultural and historic sites , which Israel destroyed A report in early November 2023 listed over 100 significant archeological and antiquities sites, libraries, religious sites and places of ancient historical importance that Israel had partly or completely destroyed. In January 2024, The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in Gaza estimated that 104 mosques had been damaged or destroyed since the start of the conflict.
BBC has verified 74 cases where religious sites were damaged or destroyed, of which 72 were mosques and two were churches.
The Nation wrote that the destruction of the Great Omari Mosque in particular, originally a fifth-century
Byzantine church, was "a crime against cultural heritage. But more importantly... part of a campaign of total annihilation... a deliberate element of the Israeli campaign to erase all traces of Palestinian life.".
Destruction of cemeteries Israel has damaged or destroyed at least sixteen cemeteries across the Gaza Strip, in some cases, creating dirt roads across them or establishing military positions. The intentional destruction of religious sites without military necessity is a possible war crime. On 21 December, bulldozers destroyed a cemetery in the Al-Saha neighborhood in eastern Gaza. On 6 January 2024, Palestinians in
Tuffah reburied bodies after the Israeli army reportedly exhumed them and smashed their graves. Gazans in Khan Younis reported the Israeli army raided a cemetery and took corpses. The Khan Younis cemetery was reportedly bulldozed over, tombstones crushed, and human remains were visible. Muna Haddad, a lawyer on the treatment of the dead, stated, "What is happening is... considered a war crime of 'committing outrages upon personal dignity' under the Rome Statute." Moreover, the IDF did not permit CNN to see any alleged entrance to the tunnel inside the cemetery, and later provided drone footage of two tunnel entrances, both located
outside the cemetery. CNN broadcast footage of completely destroyed, and dug-up cemetery grounds.
Collective punishment Several actions taken by the Israeli army, including its
blockade on electricity, food, fuel and water, were characterized as
collective punishment, a war crime prohibited by
treaty in both international and non-international armed conflicts, more specifically Common Article 3 of the
Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II. Israel's president
Isaac Herzog accused the residents of Gaza of
collective responsibility for the war.
Doctors Without Borders international president
Christos Christou said millions of civilians in Gaza faced "collective punishment" due to Israel's blockade on fuel and medicine. In an interview with
The New Yorker, human rights expert Sari Bashi noted the historical uniqueness of Israeli officials openly admitting they are engaging in collective punishment. On 18 October, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated Hamas' attacks "cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people." On 24 October, Human Rights Watch criticized Israel's refusal to allow fuel or water into a Gaza, terming it a war crime. On 29 October, Karim Ahmad Khan stated Israel's impeding aid to Gaza may constitute a crime under the
International Criminal Court. On 7 December, Khan again stated "wilfully impeding relief supplies" may constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute. On 20 January 2024, the IDF dropped leaflets with hostages' images on Rafah, stating, "Do you want to return home? Please make the call if you recognise one of them." On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that Israeli troops had fired upon and killed twenty civilians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza City. On 31 January 2024,
Haaretz reported that Israeli army commanders were ordering troops to burn down and destroy unoccupied buildings in Gaza. According to Human Rights Watch: "Unlawful and wanton excessive destruction of property that is not militarily justified, is also a war crime." On 16 April 2024, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office stated, "Israel continues to impose unlawful restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance, and to carry out widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure". The Irish foreign minister
Micheál Martin called Israel's actions "fully disproportionate and... a breach of humanitarian law in terms of the destruction of Gaza".
Starvation Israel imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza in the first ten days of the war, due to alleged security concerns that weapons, fuel, and armaments would be transferred to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid. Israel later allowed the delivery of limited humanitarian aid following security checks. Israel's restriction of the flow of food, fuel, water, and other humanitarian aid was criticized as a war crime by human rights organizations. in The Hague, Netherlands. In applying for the arrest warrants, ICC Prosecutor
Karim Ahmad Khan alleged that Netanyahu and Gallant committed the
war crime of starvation. In March 2024, the
European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, stated Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. Similarly, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Volker Türk, stated, "The extent of Israel's continued restrictions on entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime". Human Rights Watch stated Israel was committing a war crime by using starvation as a method of warfare.
Alex de Waal stated it was the worst man-made
famine in 75 years.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former chief prosecutor for the ICC, stated, "Stopping aid in particular to destroy civilian life – with intention to destroy a historical community – is genocide." In April 2024, the United Nations human rights office stated Israel was placing "unlawful restrictions" on humanitarian aid.
EuroMed Monitor described the situation as a war of starvation against civilians in the Gaza Strip. EuroMed noted living conditions had reached catastrophic levels by Israel cutting off all food supplies to the Northern half, and bombing and destroying factories, bakeries, food stores, water stations, and tanks throughout the entire enclave. EuroMed additionally noted Israel deliberately focused its attacks on targeting electrical generators and solar energy units, on which commercial facilities and restaurants depend, to maintain the minimum possible level of their work. Israel also targeted the agricultural areas east of Gaza, flour stores, and fishermen's boats, as well as relief organizations' centers, including those belonging to the UNRWA. As a result, over 90% of the children in Gaza suffered from varying health issues, including
malnutrition,
anemia, and weakened immunity. Israeli snipers reportedly targeted people waiting for humanitarian aid. The ICJ ruled as part of the interim measures that Israel facilitate the flow of aid and lessen humanitarian suffering in Gaza. In its March 2024 interim ruling, the ICJ stated, "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (...) but that famine is setting in." Israel has challenged the IPC's past methodology, citing academics in the Israeli public health sector. An independent study by researchers from
Columbia University found that "sufficient amounts of food are being supplied into Gaza", though, "it may not always be distributed to people due to other factors, such as war and Hamas control". On 5 August 2024
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that Israel "bring[s] in aid because there is no choice" and he believes that blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is "justified and moral" even if it causes two million Gazans to die of hunger, but the international community won't allow that to happen.
Violations of medical neutrality ambulance destroyed by an Israeli airstrike Israel is alleged to have broken
medical neutrality, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions as hospitals are given special protection under international humanitarian law. These attacks have been carried out in a manner that aid groups and international bodies are increasingly referring to as systematic. According to Gaza officials, the IDF deliberately targeted ambulances and health facilities with airstrikes. In a statement, the Palestine Red Crescent demanded "accountability for this war crime". The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UNRWA, and
Medecins Sans Frontieres reported the deaths of their medical personnel. On 14 October, the
World Health Organization said the killing of health care workers and the destruction of health facilities "denies civilians the basic human right of life-saving health" and is prohibited by International Humanitarian Law. On 17 October, WHO stated 51 health facilities had been attacked by Israel. On 4 November, the Gaza Health Ministry stated 105 medical facilities had been deliberately targeted. Law professor
Neve Gordon said Israel makes use of limited exceptions in the law to justify attacking hospitals by asserting Hamas use of same. On 21 October, the Ministry of Health noted Israel had attacked 69 health facilities, 24 ambulances, put 7 hospitals out of commission, and killed 37 medical staff. Health workers and aid groups said several hospitals in Gaza were hit by airstrikes and shelling. The
Palestine Red Crescent Society accused Israel of "deliberately" carrying out airstrikes "directly around" Gaza's second-largest hospital,
al-Quds Hospital, in north Gaza, to force them to evacuate the facility. The World Health Organization (WHO) found it impossible to evacuate the hospital. According to CNN, even those who evacuated south have not been safe. On 30 October 2023, a
Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, located in the south of Gaza, was struck by a "direct hit", causing damage and injuries. On 3 November, an Israeli
airstrike hit an ambulance convoy departing from
al-Shifa Hospital carrying, according to a
Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman, 15-20 critically injured patients. The Israeli military confirmed the strike, saying one of the ambulances was being used by a "Hamas terrorist cell", and was close to their position. In response,
Yanis Varoufakis noted, "Even if the ambulance was carrying a Hamas overlord, bombing it violates the Geneva Convention." UN chief António Guterres stated he was "horrified" by the attack. In prior weeks, Israel had released an animated video stating Al-Shifa hospital contained a hidden, top-secret underground military center. Laws of war provide limited protections to medical facilities used in such capacities. HRW stated the strikes were apparently unlawful and should be investigated as a possible war crime. During the
Siege of Gaza City, Israeli snipers reportedly fired on the intensive care unit in Al-Quds Hospital, killing one person and wounding 28. Doctors in Al-Shifa Hospital reported snipers at the outskirts of the complex were firing at "any moving person".
Fabrizio Carbone, the Middle East regional head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, stated Israel's attacks on al-Shifa Hospital could not continue, stressing patients and hospital staff should be "protected in line with the laws of war". In response to the
Al-Shifa Hospital siege, Human Rights Watch stated Israel's actions against hospitals need to be investigated as war crimes. Jennifer Cassidy, a legal expert at University of Oxford, stated Israel's siege on al-Shifa was a war crime "plain and simple". Following an Israeli attack on
Indonesia Hospital, the Indonesian Foreign Minister called it a clear violation of international humanitarian law. On 18 November 2023, two people were killed while traveling in a clearly identified Doctors Without Borders evacuation convoy in Gaza City. Doctors Without Borders termed it a "deliberate attack". On 16 December, the
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for an international investigation into Israeli war crimes at the Kamal Adwan Hospital. On 17 January 2024, Israeli fire damaged the Jordanian field hospital, leading the Jordanian army to call it a "flagrant breach of international law". On 19 January, Jordan stated Israel had "deliberately" targeted the hospital. The World Health Organization stated on 24 January it had recorded 660 Israel attacks on healthcare facilities, calling them "a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law". On 31 January, Doctors Without Borders stated Israel had conducted "systematic attacks on health facilities" which they stated was unprecedented for their organization. On 8 February, the Palestinian Red Crescent accused the IDF of deliberately killing one of their paramedics. On 11 February, the Red Crescent accused the IDF of deliberately targeting and killing two of their paramedics sent to rescue
Hind Rajab, calling the killing a war crime. In response to an Israeli attack at the
Al-Aqsa Hospital on 31 March 2024, WHO chief
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "The ongoing attacks and militarisation of hospitals must stop. International humanitarian law must be respected." In October 2024, a UN inquiry accused Israel of "committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities", as well as accusing the IDF of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles, and restricting patients from leaving Gaza. RSF noted that of the 41 journalists killed in the first month of the conflict, 36 among them were Palestinian reporters killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with
NPR, Jodie Ginsberg, the president of the
Committee to Protect Journalists, called for an ICC investigation into the killing of journalists in Gaza, stating the killings "appear to have been targeted". On 27 January 2024, the
International Federation of Journalists wrote an open-letter to Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant stating they would take Israel to court if it did not comply with the ICJ's order to avoid targeting journalists. In February 2024, the deputy director of the International Federation of Journalists stated, "There appears to have been a systematic campaign to kill and terrify and maim journalists in Gaza". On 13 February 2024, the
Al Jazeera Media Network stated Israel had attacked two of its journalists in Gaza, calling it "a full-fledged crime added to Israel's crimes against journalists, and a new part in the series of the deliberate targeting of Al Jazeera's journalists". A representative from
Media Defence stated, "Journalists are civilians so they are entitled to all the protections that civilians should have in times of conflict". The director of the
International Press Institute stated, "We see journalists clearly targeted... Our organisation has been monitoring press freedom for almost 75 years and this is the worst attack we have seen on journalists in any conflict".
Forced evacuation On 13 October, the Israeli army ordered the
evacuation of 1.1 million people from north Gaza, saying that they needed to separate the civilian population from the militants embedded among them, and that the population would be allowed to return after the war. Gazan officials initially asked residents to ignore the order, with the
Interior Ministry stating Israel sought to "displace us once again from our land". The evacuation was characterized as a
forcible transfer by
Jan Egeland, a Norwegian diplomat involved with the
Oslo Accord. Egeland stated, "There are hundreds of thousands of people fleeing for their life — [that is] not something that should be called an evacuation. It is a forcible transfer of people from all of northern Gaza, which according to the Geneva Convention is a war crime." Israeli historian
Raz Segal termed it a "textbook case of
genocide." The action was condemned by the UN, Doctors Without Borders,
UNICEF, and the
IRC. On 14 October, the World Health Organization issued a statement condemning Israel's order to evacuate 22 hospitals in northern Gaza, calling it a "death sentence". Doctors noted both the southern Gaza Strip's lack of hospital beds and the impossibility of transporting patients, such as
newborns in incubators and patients on
ventilators. Nevertheless, on 22 October, the IDF dropped leaflets in northern Gaza stating anyone who did not comply with the evacuation would be considered a "terrorist". On 20 December, Human Rights Watch stated the risk of
forced displacement was growing. On 12 January, the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights stated that Israel's compelled evacuations had failed to ensure protections required under international law, thus constituting a potential war crime. In March 2024,
Forensic Architecture stated that Israel's "humanitarian evacuations" might amount to the war crime of forced displacement. In March 2024, Paula Gaviria Betancur, the
UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of internally displaced persons, stated ahead of Israel's planned
Rafah offensive: "Any evacuation order imposed on Rafah under the current circumstances, with the rest of Gaza reduced to rubble, would be a flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law." French president
Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu that a forced transfer of the population from Rafah would be a war crime. In May 2024,
Volker Türk condemned Israel's evacuation orders in Rafah, stating, "This is inhumane. It runs contrary to the basic principles of international humanitarian and human rights laws". A UNOCHA spokesperson said of the Rafah evacuation: "There are strong indications that this is being conducted in violation of international humanitarian law".
Buffer zone Israel sought to create an expanded
buffer zone in Gaza. Satellite analysis by researchers at
Hebrew University found the buffer zone was already in advanced stages. By January 2024, Israel had destroyed more than 1,000 buildings for the planned zone. In April 2024,
UNOSAT found that around 90 percent of the 4,000 buildings on Gaza's eastern border had been damaged or destroyed. The
Palestinian Center for Human Rights stated such civilian properties were protected under international humanitarian law.
Shaul Arieli, a former IDF colonel and expert on Israeli borders, stated that the creation of a permanent buffer zone was illegal, since Israel is prohibited from altering the boundaries of Gaza as an occupying power.
Geoffrey Nice, a war crimes prosecutor, stated, "It is unjustified, by any view, under international law." Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, stated, "Extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, amounts to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and a war crime." An analysis by
Haaretz found the buffer zone could occupy as much as 16 percent of Gaza's overall territory.
Looting During the war, soldiers
looted Palestinian homes in Gaza, reportedly taking "whatever is easy and accessible". On 21 February 2024,
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the IDF's
Military Advocate General, stated that some soldiers' actions — including looting and the removal of private property — had "crossed the criminal threshold". Tomer-Yerushalmi stated such cases were under investigation. The
Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 explicitly prohibits the looting of civilian property during wartime.
West Bank During the war, the Israeli military was increasingly active in the
West Bank. According to Amnesty International, Israel violated international humanitarian law by using disproportionate force during arrest raids, blocking medical assistance to people with life-threatening injuries, attacking paramedics, and conducting unlawful killings.
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty's director of global research, stated, "These unlawful killings are in blatant violation of international human rights law and are committed with impunity".
Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on human rights, stated that a November 2023 IDF killing of two boys appeared to be a war crime. On 5 March 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated that it had recorded 427 violations against its medical mission by Israel in the West Bank, terming these a violation of international humanitarian law. Israeli forces disguised as medical staff and civilians have shot dead three Palestinians inside a hospital in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Hospital says the men were 'assassinated'. Israel says they belonged to a 'Hamas terrorist cell'. The BBC called them "members of Palestinian armed groups". But, even if they are militants, it is a war crime to gadget them when wounded, and a war crime to impersonate doctors in the process. According to UN exports, the killing of three Palestinian men in a hospital in the occupied West Bank by Israeli commandos disguised as medical workers and Muslim women may amount to war crimes. Following the demolition of a Palestinian activist's family home in
East Jerusalem — part of a broader wave of forced displacement in the
West Bank — the
European Union External Action Service stated, "Such acts are in violation of International Humanitarian Law". George Noll, head of the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs, condemned the demolition. Following the Israeli approval of around 3,500 new illegal settlements in the West Bank, UN human rights chief Volker Türk stated the transfer of Israel's population into the occupied territories was a "war crime under international law". Following the announcement that Israel was seizing 800 hectares of Palestinian land in the West Bank, the
Federal Foreign Office stated, "The settlements violate international law and fuel further tensions in this extremely fragile situation." French president
Emmanuel Macron condemned the expanded settlements, stating they "are contrary to international law".
BBC News reported in May 2024 that 11 soldiers of the
Kfir Brigade (which is primarily active in the West Bank) posted on social media 45 photos and videos showing detained Palestinians; the Israeli Defence Forces did not respond when asked about the individual incidents or individual soldiers involved and identified, instead broadly stating: "In the event of unacceptable behavior, soldiers were disciplined and even suspended from reserve duty." BBC News further reported that the soldiers did not obscure their identities, with some of them posting under names of Yohai Vazana, Ofer Bobrov, Sammy Ben, and Ori Dahbash. White phosphorus is used in
smoke,
illumination, and
incendiary munitions, and ignites when exposed to atmospheric oxygen. Upon contact, it can
cause deep and severe injuries, potentially leading to multiple organ failure, and even minor burns can be fatal. White phosphorus is considered an incendiary weapon, and
Protocol III of the
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits their use against military targets located among civilians, although Israel is not a signatory. According to Human Rights Watch, the use of white phosphorus is "unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians", and "violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life". On 31 October, after an investigation, Amnesty International stated that a 16 October Israeli white phosphorus attack was indiscriminate, unlawful, and "must be investigated as a war crime", due to its use on the populated Lebanese town of Dhayra, which injured at least nine civilians. On 2 November, Amnesty International stated its investigations into four incidents on 10, 11, 16 and 17 October showed Israel had used white phosphorus munitions. In Lebanon, Israel's white phosphorus bombs have destroyed over 4.5 million sq m of forest in southern Lebanon with the economic loses being valued at nearly 20 million dollars. An investigation by the
Washington Post uncovered that white phosphorus used in an October attack that injured 9 people in Lebanon were supplied by the US.
Killing of surrendered people Surrendered Palestinians On 10 October, the
Israeli Defence Force published a video that appeared to show IDF soldiers shooting four surrendering Palestinians. Footage analysis indicated the men appeared to be surrendering, with three men getting on the ground with their arms raised, one waving a piece of white clothing. None of them appeared to be armed at the time of the shooting, while a subsequent video showed the bodies had been moved, with weapons placed near them on the ground. The analysis concluded the four men were unarmed Palestinians who left Gaza through a breach in the separation wall. In video footage dated 8 December 2023, the Israeli military is seen killing two Palestinians from the West Bank's
Far'a refugee camp in what
B'Tselem described as "illegal executions". One man holding a canister was shot, and was then gunned down while he laid bleeding on the ground. A second man, who was completely unarmed and hiding under a car, was shot and killed instantly. The Israeli military later said they would investigate the attacks. Human rights groups documented multiple instances of civilians in Gaza being shot by Israeli soldiers while waving
white flags. The Human Rights Watch Israel-Palestine director stated Israel had a "track record of unlawfully firing at unarmed people who pose no threat with impunity – even those waving white flags". In early January, a video surfaced dating to 12 November showing displaced Palestinians evacuating Gaza City, including a woman and her child. Despite the group clearly carrying white flags, the woman was reportedly shot and killed by an Israeli sniper. On 24 January 2024, British network
ITV released footage of an Israeli sniper shooting and killing a man carrying a white flag whom the journalist had interviewed only moments before his death. Both the
Norwegian Refugee Council and Amnesty International termed it a possible war crime. An IDF senior commander later stated, "There are mistakes, it is war." According to a witness interviewed by
Al Jazeera, the corpses of 30 people were found on 31 January 2024 inside a schoolyard in northern Gaza, with the bodies reportedly blindfolded, and their legs and hands tied. The
Council on American-Islamic Relations said the incident should be probed and added to South Africa's ICJ case against Israel. The
Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a "violation of all relevant international norms and laws". The Canadian-Palestinian former peace negotiator
Diana Buttu stated the incident was "clearly a war crime". In March 2024, a man in
Zeitoun was deliberately run over by an Israeli tank while handcuffed, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Footage obtained by Al Jazeera English showed two men waving white flags being killed by Israeli forces, then buried by army bulldozers. The IDF confirmed the killing of the two men, stating they had been acting in a "suspicious manner" and didn't respond to warning shots; they said they buried them with bulldozers as they feared they were carrying explosives. The Palestine Red Crescent Society condemned Israel's actions as "extrajudicial killings". The Council on American-Islamic Relations called the killings a "heinous war crime".
Surrendered Israeli hostages On 15 December, the IDF released a statement announcing that they had killed three of their own hostages by
friendly fire. According to the Israeli military, they "mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat" during operations in
Shuja'iyya and subsequently fired at them, killing them. According to an Israeli military official on 16 December, the three hostages were shirtless and waving a
white flag. The official claimed that one soldier responded to this by "open[ing] fire" and "declar[ing] that they're terrorists"; more Israeli forces fired, killing two hostages "immediately" and wounding the third hostage, who appealed for help in Hebrew. The wounded hostage was pursued into a nearby building by IDF soldiers, where he was killed despite continued pleas for help. Though he claimed that the soldiers were "under pressure" when this happened, Lieutenant General
Herzi Halevi also stated that "It is forbidden to shoot at someone who raises a white flag and seeks to surrender", a sentiment echoed by the former head of
Mossad,
Danny Yatom.
Nahum Barnea wrote that the killing of the hostages, unarmed and waving a white flag, was a "war crime" and that "international law is very clear on the issue". A preliminary IDF investigation found the soldiers were told to open fire on all fighting-age men who approached them, after a number of incidents where militants disguised themselves as civilians to approach soldiers.
Perfidy by the IDF Israeli forces disguised as civilians On 30 January 2024, Israeli forces entered the
Ibn Sina hospital in
Jenin disguised as medics and civilians while carrying concealed rifles. After entering the hospital they drew their weapons and killed three militants — one member of
Hamas and two members of
Palestinian Islamic Jihad — one of whom was a patient. The International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern that the raid was a violation of international humanitarian law. Aurel Sari, a professor of international law at the
University of Exeter, stated, "By disguising themselves as civilians and as medical personnel, the Israeli forces involved in the operation appear to have resorted to perfidy in violation of the applicable rules." Tom Dannenbaum, a professor of international law, stated, "Someone who is paralyzed is incapacitated in that respect, so an attack on that individual would be prohibited. Violating that prohibition would be a war crime."
The Independent Commission for Human Rights called the attack "an assault on an institution protected by international law".
OHCHR stated it was a "seemingly planned
extrajudicial execution."
The Economist and
The Intercept separately wrote that the attack was "likely" or "probably" broke international law on the grounds of perfidy. The IDF initially said the raid had been a "joint IDF, ISA, and Israel Police counterterrorism activity", and later said that none of their soldiers were physically present during the raid.
Use of human shields On 17 January 2024, Israeli soldiers were recorded using a Palestinian shop-owner in
Dura, Hebron, West Bank, as a human shield. In an interview with
Reuters, the shop-owner stated, "He (the first soldier) told me that he will use me as a human shield, that young people shouldn't hurl stones." On 9 February, the
Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that an ambulance crew in
Beita, Nablus, West Bank had been detained by Israeli forces and used as human shields. A 21-year-old man from
Gaza City stated to
Al Jazeera that he had been used as a human shield by Israeli forces. On 22 June 2024, a video was posted of an injured Palestinian man strapped to the hood of an Israeli jeep driving through
Jenin. Another eyewitness asserted that the IDF paraded the wounded man around on the hood, keeping the victim under the hot sun for several minutes, until handing him over to a
Palestinian Red Cross ambulance which was parked nearby. This, the source argued, was evidence that the wounded man was not a suspect, as the IDF later maintained. A UN expert said the incident amounted to the use of human shields.
Abuse and humiliation of detainees Video evidence surfaced of what was described as a "flagrant violation of international laws related to the protection of civilians" by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Israeli soldiers were shown surrounding detainees in
Yatta, Hebron who were being dragged and assaulted by the Israeli soldiers. Many of the detainees had been stripped naked, having both their arms and feet bound, and beaten with the butts of rifles and trampled. Video evidence depicting degradation towards detainees shows Israeli soldiers transporting Palestinians from Ofer prison, all of whom are blindfolded and stripped completely naked. In another video uploaded by an Israeli soldier, a blindfolded and bound Palestinian is shown kneeling on the ground. The soldier taunts him in Arabic, telling him "صباح الخير يا قحبة" (Good morning, whore) before repeatedly kicking and spitting on him. In December 2023, Human Rights Watch director Omar Shakir stated the blindfolding and stripping of Palestinian detainees represented a war crime. In December 2023,
Amnesty International called for an investigation into mass detentions, disappearances, inhumane treatment, and detainee deaths. In February 2024, the
BBC published a report detailing documented instances of Israeli soldiers abusing and humiliating Palestinian detainees, which
Mark Ellis, an expert on international criminal tribunals, said showed possible violations of laws regarding prisoners of war. After the IDF dismissed one of the reservists shown in the video, Sir
Geoffrey Nice, an expert on war crimes, stated a wider investigation was needed beyond the dismissal. In March 2024, the United Nations stated that Israel had detained and tortured its employees in Gaza, extracting forced confessions. A
Bellingcat analysis found instances of a collection of images and videos showing the IDF degrading Palestinian detainees, which
Queen's University Belfast war crimes professor Luke Moffett stated showed potential war crimes. In August 2024, a group of United National special rapporteurs stated they had received substantiated reports of widespread abuse, torture, and rape, possibly amounting to crimes against humanity. In October 2024, human rights activist
Aryeh Neier wrote that Israel's torture of detainees had violated "many norms and provisions of international law that the country has signed and ratified or that are so accepted worldwide that they have the status of customary international law and bind all governments". In February 2026, Al Jazeera reported on the handover of 54 bodies and human remains of Palestinians in Gaza without identifying information. The bodies were handed over to Palestinian families by Israel through the Red Cross. According to the report, several of the 54 bodies were mutilated and showed many signs of torture.
Arms transfers States transferring weapons to Israel faced charges of violations of international law. In February 2024, a group of more than a dozen
United Nations special rapporteurs stated that any export of weapons or munitions to Israel was "likely to violate international humanitarian law". The UN experts stated that parties signed to the
Arms Trade Treaty have additional obligations to deny arms exports if the weapons could be used for serious violations of international humanitarian law. The group called for an
arms embargo. In a statement,
Human Rights Watch stated that the
United Kingdom's refusal to suspend arms transfer to Israel put it "at risk of failing to prevent and being complicit in serious violations of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity". In March 2024,
Nicaragua filed a
lawsuit at the
International Court of Justice against
Germany, stating that its financial and military support to Israel was facilitating genocide in Gaza. Canadian Foreign Minister
Melanie Joly was sued by the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights group for authorizing the export of weapons used by Israel to violate international law. Soon after, Joly stated the Canadian government was no longer issuing new weapons export licenses to the Israeli military. The
Government of Denmark was sued by Oxfam, Amnesty International, Action Aid, and Al-Haq for their arms transfers to Israel, with the organizations stating, "Denmark violates international rules on arms trade and risks becoming complicit in violations of international humanitarian law – including war crimes – and a plausible genocide." In March 2024, Human Rights Watch and
Oxfam stated that Israel was committing violations of international humanitarian law with weapons provided by the United States. After the
UK Foreign Office minister
Andrew Mitchell stated Israeli compliance with international humanitarian law was under review, the UK shadow foreign secretary
David Lammy stated arms export licenses should be denied if "there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law". 600 UK lawyers, including three former justices of the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, stated the UK's arming of Israel was a breach of international law. Following reports the UK Foreign Office found Israel had violated international humanitarian law,
Geoffrey Nice stated, "Countries supplying arms to Israel may now be complicit in criminal warfare." In May 2024,
Amnesty International called on all states to cease weapons transfers to Israel and Palestine while there is "a risk they could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law".
Yemen attack In August 2024, the
Human Rights Watch called the
Israeli strikes on Yemen in July 2024 a possible
war crime since they were apparently an "indiscriminate or disproportionate attack on civilians". == By Palestinian militants ==