The Israeli military killed, wounded, starved, and forcibly displaced Palestinian civilians in Gaza in 2024, and destroyed their homes, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure at a scale unprecedented in recent history, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza were killed and wounded. The military forcibly displaced Palestinians from their homes, a crime against humanity, and Israeli authorities deliberately deprived civilians of food, water, and other objects necessary for survival in Gaza, comprising atrocity crimes, acts of genocide, and mounting evidence of genocidal intent.
For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.
"Israel's decades-long systematic repression of Palestinians worsened dramatically and plunged civilians in Gaza into a horrifying abyss, but possibilities for international justice are emerging," said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Continued weapons sales to Israel by its partners despite vast evidence of its unchecked atrocity crimes are putting those countries and officials at risk of direct complicity."
- In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and the leader of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif, for the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, that included war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- The Israeli authorities continued to commit the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution through their repression of Palestinians. In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion finding that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and that all illegal settlements should be evacuated and dismantled.
- In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the UN reported that Palestinians killed 6 Israeli settlers and 16 soldiers, while Israelis killed 719 Palestinians, from October 7, 2023, to October 7, 2024, far more than in any other year on record based on UN data available since 2005.
- Evidence emerged throughout 2024 of ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian detainees deported from Gaza to detention facilities in Israel.
- Armed groups in the Gaza Strip are holding an estimated 100 hostages, including the bodies of over 30 people believed to have died during the hostilities. In August, captors intentionally killed six Israeli hostages, apparently to prevent their rescue by approaching Israeli forces. Human Rights Watch found that Hamas' military wing-the Qassam Brigades-and at least four Palestinian armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel.
- In October 2024, the Israeli parliament passed legislation aimed at preventing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating in areas under Israeli sovereignty and banning communication with UNRWA staff , endangering access to humanitarian aid and basic services to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory. The ban will take effect in early 2025.
All countries which provide weapons to Israel, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, should suspend weapons transfers due to the Israeli military's repeated, unlawful attacks on civilians. Countries should defend the ICC; execute its arrest warrants; and increase public and private pressure on the Israeli government to stop violating the laws of armed conflict, comply with its obligations as well as the ICJ's binding orders and advisory opinion, and ensure that aid can be taken into Gaza and safely distributed and that Palestinians in Gaza can access basic services.
