Gaza war: US puts out long list of human rights violations in Israel, Palestinian territories

The war in Gaza has made the human rights situation in Israel and Palestinian territories worse, the US State Department said in a new report released on Monday (April 22).

The report coincides with the US reportedly considering sanctions against an Israel Defense Forces unit for rights violations and massive blowback against the Biden administration across top US universities due to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis stoked by Israel's retaliatory state of war in Gaza. The report also coincides with Gaza Civil Defensefinding about 300 bodies in a mass grave at a hospital in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The State Department’s annual human rights report cited several reported rights violations committed in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in 2023 by parties, including the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas militants and the Palestinian Authority, before and after Hamas’Oct7 attacks threw West Asia into turmoil.

The report said that the war in the Gaza Strip has had a "significant negative impact" on the status of human rights in Israel. The State Department also cited credible reports of "unlawful killings" to assert the deteriorating status of human rights in Israel and Palestinian territories.

The report referenced the deaths of more than 21,000 people in the Gaza Strip through the end of 2023.

The report added that Israeli authorities had taken "some steps to identify and punish officials accused of committing human rights abuses" in the West Bank, where the US as well as Gulf nations have long criticised illegal Israeli settlements.

The US said that Israeli authorities operating in Gaza had taken "no publicly visible steps to identify and punish officials" implicated in alleged violations there.

Since the report covers 2023, it did not address the aftermath of a key incident in which Israel’s military targeted an international aid convoy in April, killing seven people. An initial Israeli investigation into that incident found the IDF violated its own regulations. At least two officers were dismissed.

Also watch |US looking into rights abuses in Gaza

"According to human rights NGOs that conducted visits to detention facilities, detainee testimonies, and local press reports, Palestinian detainees held by Israel were subjected to physical and sexual violence, threats, intimidation, severely restricted access to food and water, exposure to extreme cold without adequate clothing, and regular prolonged periods of isolation," the report said.

(With inputs from agencies)