impunity

Israeli soldiers from the 8717 Battalion of the Givati Brigade operating in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

‘I’m bored, so I shoot’: The Israeli army’s approval of free-for-all violence in Gaza

Israeli soldiers describe the near-total absence of firing regulations in the Gaza war, with troops shooting as they please, setting homes ablaze, and leaving corpses on the streets — all with their commanders’ permission.

By Oren Ziv July 8, 2024

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi gives a statement to the media at an army base in southern Israel, December 26, 2023. (Flash90)

The ‘mistaken’ killing of three Israeli hostages was a tragedy long foretold

Far from an aberration, the hostages’ deaths are the result of Israel giving its soldiers license to kill innocent Palestinians without repercussions.

By Sebastian Ben Daniel (John Brown) January 9, 2024

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi during a tour near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel, March 16, 2023. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Israel’s security brass are defending the High Court to save themselves

Israel's top court has consistently shielded soldiers from standing trial. Now they fear the judicial overhaul could expose them to prosecution overseas.

By Sebastian Ben Daniel (John Brown) September 11, 2023

Latest

The mother of Iyad al-Hallaq reacts after the Jerusalem District Court acquits the police officer who who shot him dead, July 6, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Chronicle of an acquittal foretold

In the end, the Israeli judge simply played her role in a sideshow of due process. Iyad al-Hallaq was a Palestinian, and that means he had to die.

By Sebastian Ben Daniel (John Brown) July 21, 2023

Palestinians hold a vigil in memory of Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza City, May 11, 2022. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills)

What 2022 taught Palestinians

The past year proved that Israel's impunity on the international stage knows no bounds. But looking ahead to 2023, there are still reasons to be hopeful.

By George Zeidan January 1, 2023

Israeli border policemen violently arrest a Palestinian protester during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in north Ramallah, near the Beit El checkpoint, occupied West Bank, December 22, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

The odds of a violent Israeli soldier facing charges? Under 1 percent

New data shows how the Israeli army's complaints mechanism serves as a facade of accountability when it comes to soldiers who harm Palestinians.

By Dan Owen December 29, 2022

The final photo. Mahmoud Badran (first on the right) and his friends, who went for an evening swim at the pool and finished off the night riddled with bullets. (Photo courtesy of B'Tselem)

Justice will never be the norm under occupation

A 15-year-old boy is shot and killed, and the soldiers who shot him — in violation of army regulations — will likely never see the inside of a prison cell. The situation is both outrageous, and the most normative end to this story and countless others just like it. The Israeli soldier and army officer…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 19, 2018

The funeral procession of Palestinian teenager Muhammad al-Kasba, who was shot and killed by Col. Yisrael Shomer. (Flash90)

When shooting a teen in the back is a ‘professional error’

An IDF brigade commander shot a Palestinian teen who threw a rock at his jeep, while the boy was running away, and then left him bleeding on the road. Initially, the colonel claimed his life was in danger. With each subsequent interrogation, the story changed. The military police determined the incident was a ‘professional error’…

By +972 Magazine April 11, 2017

Israeli policemen stand guard as bulldozers demolish houses in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Umm el-Hiran, in the Negev desert, January 18, 2017. (Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills.org)

Assault on Palestinian man shows violent effects of police impunity

Even when brutality is documented, Palestinians must live with the knowledge that they are unlikely to receive truth, justice, or respect from the authorities that claim to serve them. In the wake of a video released last Thursday showing an Israeli police officer assaulting a Palestinian truck driver in East Jerusalem, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh…

By Amjad Iraqi March 25, 2017

Israeli policemen stand guard in front of the car of Yaqoub Abu Al-Qi'an, who was shot dead by Israeli police in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran, in the Negev desert, January 18, 2017. (Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills.org)

Accepting the truth about Umm al-Hiran killing isn’t enough

The slander and lies that accompanied the lethal shooting of a Bedouin teacher in Umm al-Hiran last month were nothing out of the ordinary. Walking it back won’t be enough. In the end, it took a looming police internal affairs report for one of Israel’s most senior government ministers to even consider walking back his insistent…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland February 23, 2017

An Israeli soldier stands watch at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus. (IDF Spokesperson)

Qalandiya rashomon: Anatomy of an apparent murder in cold blood

Nobody knows what happened last week at Qalandiya checkpoint, where a Palestinian woman was killed together with her brother. And until police release the CCTV footage, nobody will. By Alon-Lee Green Last week, 23 year-old Maram Salih Hassan Abu Ismail and her 16-year-old brother, Ibrahim, were killed by Israeli forces while walking towards Qalandiya checkpoint,…

By +972 Magazine May 3, 2016

Palestinian protesters flee tear gas at a non-violent protest in which Palestinian Minster Ziad Abu Eid died. Activists set out to plant olive trees on lands usurped by Israeli settlements, December 10, 2014. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Challenging Israeli impunity in the ICC

As the Israeli judiciary continues to side with the state and its security services, advocates and human rights lawyers must reevaluate the strategy of litigating Palestinian grievances in the occupier’s courts. By Sagiv Galai Palestinian human rights organizations submitted a classified communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor last month. The information contained will…

By +972 Magazine December 10, 2015

Israeli police forces at a checkpoint restrict Palestinians from entering Jerusalem's Old City, October 6, 2015. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

The heavy price of segregation and occupation

In Jerusalem nowadays, Palestinians stay on the east side, Israelis on the west, and Netanyahu’s right-wing government is smack in the middle racking up political points. Much of the violence taking place at the moment begs the question: who actually benefits from the occupation? We know it’s not the Palestinians, and it’s definitely not the…

By Sawsan Khalife' October 9, 2015