a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings
There were several reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings during the year.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that on January 25, a border police officer shot Wadea Abu Ramouz, a Palestinian, age 17, when he was with a group of teenagers who were throwing stones and launching fireworks at Border Police vehicles in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. HRW reported witnesses did not see whether Abu Ramouz himself launched fireworks or stones. According to one witness, he lay bleeding on the street for 45 minutes until an ambulance was permitted to evacuate him. Israeli medics provided first aid and without informing his family took him to a hospital in West Jerusalem, where he died on January 27, with his hands cuffed and feet manacled, according to press reports. On May 30, authorities returned Abu Ramouz’s body to the family. The family’s lawyers appealed to the Department of Internal Police Investigations within the Office of Israel’s State Attorney (Machash) to investigate Wadea’s shooting and received no updates regarding their complaint by mid-August. In February a police spokesperson told Haaretz newspaper they rejected witness testimony and claimed Abu Ramouz was shooting firecrackers and throwing Molotov cocktails at border police officers, and that in a search conducted afterwards, authorities seized firecrackers, a knife, and a Hamas flag.
On December 4, military police arrested Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reserve soldier Aviad Frija for allegedly shooting and killing Yuval Castleman, an Israeli civilian who had shot and killed two Hamas terrorists who killed three civilians on November 30 in Jerusalem. Farija said he believed Castleman to be a terrorist even though Castleman fell to his knees, laid down his gun, put his hands in the air, and reportedly pleaded to Frija to check his identification. An investigation into whether to prosecute Frija with charges of reckless homicide continued at year’s end.
(For information on killings related to Hamas’ October 7 attack, see section 1.i.)
Arab criminal organizations were involved in many intracommunity killings, with 244 Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel who were victims of crime and violence within Arab communities, an increase of 134 percent over the previous year, according to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Abraham Initiatives, making it the deadliest year ever for crime and violence within the society of Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel.
b. Disappearance
There were reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities. Most were related to the conflict following Hamas’ October 7 attacks (see section 1.i.).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses
The law did not include a specific prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment practices, and there were credible reports that government officials employed them. The state’s attorney argued the law exempted from prosecution Shin Bet personnel who used so-called exceptional methods of interrogation (including what NGOs assessed could include torture, physical violence, threats, and cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment, and related abuses) in cases determined by the Ministry of Justice after the fact to have involved an imminent threat. The government declined to reveal publicly the rules, procedures, and methods of interrogation that it stated would be kept confidential for security reasons.
Human rights organizations raised concerns over reports of systemic torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment of Palestinian detainees in prison facilities after October 7. One of the six Palestinians who died in Israeli custody during the period was Thaer Abu Assab, a Palestinian from the West Bank who died at Ketziot Prison on November 18. Abu Assab was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to local press reports, authorities carried out an autopsy without notifying the family, stating they had difficulties in contacting his family, and that by year’s end, a final opinion on the cause of death had not yet been received. On December 1, a prisoner who alleged to be Abu Assab’s cell mate claimed Abu Assab was beaten to death by the prison service’s Keter unit, according to press reports. Press reported 19 prison guards were detained for questioning on suspicion of assault and causing injury. The Jerusalem Post reported a media gag order had been in place since the incident and expired by December 21. In response, the domestic NGO Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) stated the case “raises serious suspicion that the IPS [Israeli Prison Service] is being transformed from a professional incarceration body to a vindictive and punitive force.”
According to media, Abed al-Rahman Mara’i, a resident of the West Bank, died on November 13 during his administrative detention at Megiddo prison that began in February. According to reports, an autopsy was performed on him 10 days later, with a doctor from Physicians for Human Rights present on behalf of his family, and the autopsy found his chest and other areas were bruised and his ribs and breastbone were broken. According to the autopsy, he was healthy and had no pre-existing conditions prior to his imprisonment, and according to a medical examiner, Mara’i had been under forceful restraint six days prior to his death. Authorities’ investigations continued at year’s end.
PCATI identified persistent and systemic shortcomings in the government’s investigations of allegations of mistreatment of detainees, especially in the aftermath of October 7.
(For more information on abuse of Palestinians detained after October 7, see section 1.i.)
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.
In criminal cases investigated by police involving crimes with a maximum imprisonment of 10 years or more, regulations required recording interrogations, but a “temporary” law continuously extended by the Knesset exempted Shin Bet and police from the recording requirement for interrogations of suspects of so-called security offenses. In nonsecurity related cases, Shin Bet interrogation rooms were equipped with closed-circuit cameras, and only supervisors appointed by the Ministry of Justice had access to real-time audiovisual feeds. Supervisors were required to report to the comptroller any irregularities they observed during interrogations. PCATI criticized this mechanism as insufficient to prevent or identify abuses, arguing that any absence of recordings of interrogations impeded accountability and judicial review.
The government acknowledged it used so-called exceptional measures during interrogations in some cases, but the Ministry of Justice refused to provide information regarding the number of such interrogations, or which specific “exceptional measures” were used. According to PCATI, these measures included beatings, forcing an individual to hold a stress position for long periods, incommunicado detention, sexual harassment, threats of rape and other physical harm, painful pressure from shackles or restraints applied to the forearms, religion-based humiliation, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme heat and cold, and threats against families of detainees, and other acts that might constitute torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment. In addition, PCATI cited as a prevailing form of torture and ill treatment Shin Bet’s holding of detainees in interrogation facilities with poor living conditions, in cells reported to be insect-infested, lacking adequate food and water, and unsanitary, and with constant exposure to light and extreme hot or cold temperatures.
On October 23, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced new restrictions for detainees accused of terrorist crimes, including measures to “make prisoners’ living spaces more crowded,” provide mattresses instead of beds, and overall worsen living conditions. Ben Gvir declared these measures were designed to enable prisons to absorb additional detainees accused of terrorist crimes.
During a November 14 visit to a prison where Hamas members who allegedly carried out the October 7 attack were held, Ben Gvir confirmed the detainees were, according to his instructions, shackled in dark cells with seven other prisoners and subjected to harsh living conditions. He also stated he backed the IPS commissioner in taking a strong hand against them. On December 7, Ben Gvir instructed the IPS commissioner to reopen the closed Rakefet underground facility at Nitzan prison for Hamas members. Media outlets and NGOs did not report whether the underground facility was operating by year’s end.
PCATI reported a continuous upward trend in the number of cases in which Shin Bet was alleged to have used “exceptional measures.” During the year, PCATI filed 12 complaints to the Inspector of Interrogee Complaints on behalf of victims of alleged torture by Shin Bet personnel and had 33 cases pending at year’s end, including cases from previous years. PCATI reported that in some cases of abuse, prisoners did not file complaints due to fear of reprisals by authorities. PCATI identified persistent and systemic shortcomings in the government’s investigations of allegations of mistreatment of detainees, especially after October 7.
The government reported requests from prisoners for independent medical examination at the prisoner’s expense were reviewed by the IPS medical team. According to PCATI and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), IPS medics and doctors ignored bruises and injuries resulting from violent arrests and interrogations.
On May 24, the IDF stated a military court accepted a plea agreement imposing only a suspended prison sentence for two Golani Brigade soldiers convicted of abusing a Palestinian man and exceeding authority to the point of endangering life or health. One soldier served a 40-day prison term. The soldiers were also convicted of obstruction of justice. The case of a fourth soldier accused of assault and abuse under aggravated circumstances and threats was pending at year’s end.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
There were numerous reports that authorities held some prisoners in conditions that harmed their health, including severe overcrowding.
Abusive Physical Conditions: Local human rights organizations reported Palestinian security prisoners (those convicted or suspected of nationalistically motivated violence), including Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel, often faced more restrictive conditions than prisoners accused of other types of crimes. Restrictive conditions included increased incidences of administrative detention, restricted family visits, ineligibility for temporary furloughs, and solitary confinement. The NGO Ma’avarim – Israeli Trans Community, noted prisons held transgender women in solitary confinement due to their gender identity.
On September 21, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) filed a petition to the Supreme Court presenting testimony from dozens of detainees held for days without access to toilets, proper food, or medical services in police stations throughout the country. On January 10, the court dismissed a 2022 petition after a government report claimed it had nearly eliminated the holding of detainees in police stations, but according to documents obtained by civil society groups through freedom of information laws, police continued to hold detainees in stations under conditions that contradicted the law and violated detainee rights. The court scheduled a hearing on the petition for July 2024.
IPS informed the Knesset that as of December 10, there were 19,372 prisoners, an increase of more than 3,000 since October 7. In February the government established a limit on incarcerations of 14,500 for the year. According to IPS data, overcrowding in prisons was approaching the level it was when the High Court issued its 2017 ruling, which required prisons and detention centers to provide a minimum living space of 48 square feet (including toilet and shower) per prisoner and mandated a deadline for compliance within 18 months. The court extended the deadline several times, most recently until December 31, 2027, due to the government’s failure to meet this requirement. According to IPS data, as of December 18, 84 percent of Palestinian security prisoners and 18 percent of criminal prisoners were held in less than 32 square feet per person. IPS noted more than 3,000 inmates slept without a bed, on only a mattress.
A temporary law remained in force allowing the early release of prisoners (excluding “security prisoners” and those convicted of severe offenses such as sex offenses), to facilitate compliance with the court’s ruling. According to the Public Defender’s Office and legal scholars, the state was also required to investigate possible alternative approaches to arrests and imprisonments. On August 31, NGOs Adalah, Al Mezan, and ACRI petitioned the Supreme Court against the law’s denial of administrative release for security prisoners, arguing it was discriminatory and went against the law’s intent to ease prison overcrowding.
Regulations allowed the IPS to deny prisoners medical treatment due to lack of funds or budget constraints, according to PHRI.
According to PCATI, in response to a complaint, the IPS admitted Shin Bet maintained control over many of the decisions setting conditions in IPS detention facilities, including on solitary confinement, holding detainees in cells with cameras, temperature control, water infrastructure, and general cell maintenance.
Administration: Authorities investigated some credible allegations of mistreatment but ignored others.
On March 23, the state attorney indicted former Gilboa Prison commander Bassem Kashkosh and former prison intelligence officer Rani Basha on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and failure to fulfill their duties. The indictment alleged the two attempted to obtain information for intelligence purposes from Palestinian prisoner Muhammad Atallah by forcing women guards into sexual situations with Atallah from 2015 to 2017.
Independent Monitoring: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited prisons and detention facilities (including interrogation centers) to monitor conditions of detention, detainee treatment, and detainee access to family visits until October 7. Authorities imposed limitations on detainee visitation more broadly following October 7 and did not permit ICRC prison visits thereafter.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The law prohibited arbitrary arrest and detention and provided for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of their arrest or detention in court. The government generally observed these requirements, although NGOs identified cases where the requirements were not followed, and where authorities applied different laws to residents of Jerusalem based on their ethnicity or religion, regardless of their Israeli citizenship status. Military law allowed the indefinite administrative detention without charge or trial of Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza detained or imprisoned within Israel.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees
The law required police to have a warrant based on sufficient evidence and issued by an authorized official to arrest a suspect. Authorities generally informed defendants promptly of charges against them, but this did not apply to the thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who were held in administrative detention in prisons within Israel. The law allowed authorities to detain criminal suspects without charge for 24 hours prior to appearing before a judge, with limited exceptions allowing for up to 48 hours; the judge then had the authority to extend the detention for a period of up to 15 days at a time to a total of 30 days. Authorities generally respected these rights for persons arrested on non-“security related” criminal charges. There was a functioning bail system, and detainees could appeal decisions denying bail. Authorities allowed detainees to consult with an attorney in a timely manner, including one provided by the government for the indigent, and to contact family members promptly.
The Ministry of Defense had the authority to administratively detain a person for a period of up to six months – without an indictment, arrest warrant, judicial order, or finding of criminal culpability – if it determined the individual likely presented a danger to the security of the state. The minister of defense had the authority to extend administrative detention orders repeatedly. According to IPS data, as of December 31, the government held 3,242 Palestinians in administrative detention, of whom 41 were from East Jerusalem. Freedom House reported the Supreme Court almost never granted attorneys’ requests to void administrative detention orders. The organization also reported that although the law prohibited the detention of children younger than 12, authorities occasionally held Palestinian children younger than 12 under administrative detention.
Israeli citizens who committed crimes within the West Bank were subject only to Israeli law and could only be tried in civilian courts within Israel, whereas Palestinians in the West Bank were subject to trial in Israeli military courts. NGOs criticized this practice, stating that international humanitarian law permitted it only on a temporary basis in a situation of military occupation. According to the NGO Military Court Watch (MCW), 96 percent of cases tried in military courts ended in convictions.
Authorities relocated most Palestinian prisoners detained in the West Bank or Gaza to detention facilities inside Israel. Some human rights groups, including MCW, claimed the country’s detention of the majority of convicted Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza in prisons inside Israel was a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and raised concerns that relocations made it more difficult for the family members of Palestinians to visit their loved ones in detention.
The law allowed authorities to prosecute persons detained on “security” grounds or to hold them as administrative detainees or unlawful combatants. During its military operation in Gaza following October 7, the government arrested hundreds of Palestinians it claimed were suspected Hamas militants under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which defined as an unlawful combatant anyone “who has participated either directly or indirectly in hostile acts against the State of Israel or is a member of a force perpetrating hostile acts against the State of Israel.” In contrast to administrative detention, the law did not provide “security” detainees the same protections afforded to detained civilians under International Humanitarian Law. After October 7, the government amended the Unlawful Combatants Law by emergency regulations, increasing the maximum length of time for detention from 96 hours to 30 days and the length of time a detainee could be held without being brought before a judge from 14 to 45 days. Rights groups reported hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Palestinians detained in Gaza under the Unlawful Combatants Law had no affiliation with Hamas. Authorities held detainees incommunicado as unlawful combatants in ad hoc facilities, according to PCATI. As of year’s end, it was unknown how many Palestinians authorities continued to detain without charges pursuant to the Unlawful Combatants Law.
(For more information on Palestinian workers from Gaza detained in Israel, see section 1.i.).
The government stated it used solitary confinement only when a detainees threatened themselves (e.g., hunger strike) or others and authorities had exhausted other options, or in some cases, during interrogation to prevent disclosure of information. On May 2, Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner protesting his administrative detention, died in solitary confinement after an 87-day hunger strike.
Authorities maintained such detainees retained the right to meet with ICRC representatives, IPS personnel, and medical personnel, if necessary, but authorities did not permit ICRC visits after October 7. NGOs, including Military Court Watch, HaMoked, and B’Tselem, accused authorities of using isolation to punish or silence politically prominent Palestinian detainees, but the government stated the IPS did not hold Palestinian detainees in separate detention punitively or to induce confessions. PCATI and other local human rights organizations received dozens of complaints following October 7, alleging the IPS severely limited water, electricity, and food in all prison cells where Palestinians were held. The IPS put prisons on lockdown and imposed restrictions on the exit of individuals to receive medical care, giving rise to concerns that acute and chronically sick individuals were prevented from receiving necessary medical attention.
Human rights NGOs reported the IPS placed Palestinian detainees with mental disabilities in isolation and without full medical evaluations, or placed in isolation detainees who were a threat to themselves or others, including prisoners on hunger strike who in most cases were protesting their repeated administrative detention. According to PHRI, isolation of Palestinian prisoners with mental disabilities was common. On September 20, the Lod District Court postponed a hearing to extend Ahmad Manasra’s solitary confinement, citing a deterioration in his health. Subsequently, he was transferred to a mental health unit at Ayalon prison, where he remained in solitary confinement. Manasra was convicted of attempted murder at the age of 14. Amnesty International reported that although the courts subsequently found that Manasra did not participate in the stabbings that occurred in the crime, he was serving a nine-and-one-half year sentence for attempted murder and had been in solitary confinement since 2021. Amnesty also reported independent psychiatrists diagnosed Manasra with schizophrenia and severe depression and warned his life was at risk if he remained in prison. The IPS said Manasra was kept in a supervised cell because of his mental state.
Arbitrary Arrest: NGOs reported cases of arbitrary arrests of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. B’tselem reported that on January 19, Israeli police detained five Palestinian children between ages 12 and 15 from the neighborhood of Wadi Qadum in East Jerusalem without notifying parents for more than six hours and interrogated them without an adult present on their behalf. According to B’tselem, after some of them refused to sign a statement in Hebrew and insisted they hadn’t thrown stones, the interrogators reportedly humiliated them, swore at them, and in some cases hit the children. They were later released on house arrest, without being told what they had been suspected of, according to B’tselem.
According to Amnesty International, police arbitrarily arrested dozens of protesters during demonstrations against government efforts to overhaul the judicial system during the year. The weekly protests were attended by hundreds of thousands before ending due to the post-October 7 conflict.
There were allegations authorities arbitrarily arrested persons who participated in protests. Hundreds of Palestinians, including Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel, were arrested for social media posts after the Knesset passed on November 8 an amendment to the counterterrorism law, criminalizing the “consumption of terrorist materials.” Mossawa Center for Arab Citizens in Israel reported that after October 7, authorities launched 350 criminal investigations for speech-related offenses, claiming most of those investigated were supporting terrorism. Human rights groups criticized this practice as suppressing free expression. According to The Washington Post, these efforts were spearheaded by National Security Minister Ben Gvir.
As of November 7, Adalah was monitoring 251 cases of arrests and detentions (excluding cases in the Jerusalem District) that it characterized as arbitrary. These cases included arrests, interrogations, and “warning talks” by police or Shin Bet. Of these 251 cases, 121 were linked to social media posts and 31 involved arrests made during demonstrations. The remaining cases were associated with events after October 7, including allegations of obstructing police work during arrests, and engagement in political or religious activities. In at least 132 cases, police filed at least one request with the court to extend detentions.
Pretrial Detention: Authorities regularly held “security” detainees in lengthy administrative detention, and in some cases authorities never brought security detainees to trial. The Israel Prison Service reported to HaMoked that at year’s end, the government held 3,291 Palestinians under indefinite administrative detention, which did not include detained Palestinians from Gaza. Haaretz reported that by the year’s end, authorities held at least 661 Palestinians from Gaza in prisons inside Israel, not including an unknown number detained at the Sde Teiman prison. The ICRC estimated that nearly 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza who had disappeared were believed to be detained by the Israeli military by year’s end, though it was unknown how many were detained in prisons within Green Line Israel.
Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA) policy allowed the administrative detention of foreigners either without a trial or for additional periods following the completion of time served. On September 5, authorities placed 53 Eritreans in administrative detention without a trial, following their September arrest for alleged participation in clashes in Tel Aviv between supporters of the Eritrean regime and its opponents. The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants (HRM) alleged some of those detained did not participate in the clashes. All Eritrean regime opponents detained on September 5 were released within a month. Between January and October (the period for which data were available at year’s end), 84 asylum seekers were placed in administrative detention without a trial, according to HRM. As of October 31, 47 asylum seekers remained in administrative detention, either without a trial or following completing time served, according to HRM.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The law provided for an independent judiciary. The government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality but attempted to make legislative changes that if adopted would have significantly diminished judicial independence.
On July 24, the Knesset passed an amendment to Basic Law, eliminating the courts’ ability to hear a petition or proactively rule against the government, the prime minister, or a government minister based on a court’s assessment that a government decision or action was “extremely unreasonable.” From January to September, weekly mass protests by hundreds of thousands of participants, and the announcement that opponents of the bill would refuse to volunteer for IDF reserve service, preceded and followed the law’s passage. NGOs, the Israeli Bar Association, and private individuals petitioned to the Supreme Court to annul the law. On September 12, a panel that for the first time in the country’s history included all 15 justices held a hearing on the case. A ruling was pending at year’s end.
Trial Procedures
The law provided for the right to a fair and public trial, and an independent judiciary enforced this right with some exceptions, including for individuals the government claimed were national security concerns, cases involving protection of the interest of a minor or an individual requiring special protection, and cases involving protection of the identity of an accuser or defendant in a sexual offense case. Military law allowed the indefinite detention without charge or trial of Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza detained or imprisoned within Israel, and their trial in military rather than civilian courts.
The law generally required the prosecution to provide all evidence to the defense following an indictment, but did not apply to “security” cases, which mostly impacted Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza detained or imprisoned within Israel and tried in military courts. The government could, on security grounds, withhold from defense lawyers evidence it had gathered that was not intended for use in the case against the accused. The Supreme Court could scrutinize the decision to withhold such evidence in civilian courts, while the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction for military courts. The rules of evidence in espionage cases tried in criminal court did not differ from the normal rules of evidence, and use of secret evidence was not permissible, although trials and hearings could be held behind closed doors under gag order restrictions.
Courts conducted virtual hearings with prisoners and detainees under a temporary law instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Knesset extended on December 18 for the duration of the escalation in the conflict following the October 7 attacks, due to the claimed risk to human life by bringing suspects to hearings. While authorities usually allowed visits from lawyers and claimed every inmate who requested to meet with an attorney was able to do so, this was not always the case, according to civil society organizations. The ICRC reported that after October 7, authorities prohibited Palestinian detainees from having visitors.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
Some human rights organizations claimed Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel should be considered political prisoners. The government described security prisoners as those convicted or suspected of nationalistically motivated violence or speech-related support for such violence.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported the IDF arrested Palestinian journalist Moath Amarneh, a photographer and cameraman, and detained him on October 28 in Megiddo Prison. According to local news reports, prison guards beat Amarneh on November 10, resulting in a head injury. CPJ reported that as of December 31, Amarneh was one of at least 19 Palestinian journalists in Israeli custody and was held under administrative detention. CPJ also reported Palestinian journalists Sabri Jibril, Mustafa al-Khawaja, Radwan Qatanani, and Abu Award were held in prisons at year’s end.
f. Transnational Repression
Not applicable.
g. Property Seizure and Restitution
The Jerusalem Municipality recorded government forces demolished 140 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, a 60 percent increase from 2022. Government forces also demolished 84 other structures belonging to Palestinians, including shops and warehouses. There were credible claims that municipal authorities in Jerusalem often placed insurmountable obstacles against Palestinian residents who applied for construction permits, including by failing to incorporate community needs into zoning decisions, requiring that they document land ownership despite the absence of a uniform post-1967 land registration process, imposing high application fees, and requiring residents to connect housing to municipal infrastructure that was often unavailable or inaccessible. Human rights organizations argued these regulations forced Palestinian residents into unauthorized construction.
The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported authorities demolished, confiscated, sealed, or evicted Palestinians from 229 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem. Among the homes demolished, 47 percent were destroyed by their owners to avoid fines imposed by authorities for lacking building permits. Legal experts attributed the increase to laws reducing administrative processing times for demolitions, limiting court interventions, and escalating fines for those not demolishing their own buildings. UNOCHA reported authorities’ demolition of Palestinian-owned homes displaced 633 Palestinians and directly affected 5,952 persons.
Authorities issued approximately 1,984 administrative demolition orders in 2022 (the most recent year for which data was available), overwhelmingly against Arab/Palestinian-owned structures, an increase of 7 percent from 2021. In cases of demolitions with no agreement from the residents to relocate, the government levied monetary fines against residents to cover the costs of demolitions.
Several human rights groups and the United Nations stated the authorities’ punitive demolitions were a form of collective punishment that violated the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Supreme Court ruled on several occasions that the demolitions were not punitive but rather a deterrent and were therefore lawful.
According to media reports, on January 25, government forces sealed for demolition the home of the family of Udai Tamimi in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, accusing Tamimi of killing an Israeli soldier and seriously wounding a civilian guard in October 2022 at a checkpoint near the camp. Following those attacks, Tamimi attempted another attack at a checkpoint and was killed by security personnel near the West Bank settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim.
According to local press, on February 12, government forces sealed the home of the family of Hussein Qaraqe in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur, ahead of its subsequent demolition, displacing his parents and two brothers. Qaraqe had rammed a vehicle into an East Jerusalem bus stop, killing three persons, including two children, before he was shot and killed at the scene of the attack. Qaraqe’s family and a director of a medical center said he was released from a psychiatric ward the day before the attack and developed a mental illness after falling from a crane six years prior.
NGOs stated the government maintained a policy intended to limit construction and prevent the creation or maintenance of contiguous Palestinian neighborhoods between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Haaretz reported that in April, the Jerusalem municipality retracted its support for the first neighborhood built specifically for Palestinian residents since 1967 over political opposition from the mayor of Jerusalem. Official policy historically had been to maintain an ethnic balance between Jews and non-Jews in Jerusalem at a 70-30 ratio; however, the Jerusalem Local Outline Plan 2000 Report No. 4 stated the goal was unattainable. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated the Jerusalem Municipality did not have any such policy. The law did not prevent non-Jews from purchasing housing units, although cultural, religious, and economic barriers as well as segregated homeowners’ associations remained obstacles to integrating existing neighborhoods or establishing new integrated neighborhoods, according to civil society organizations.
Construction was illegal in towns without an authorized plan for development. Some NGOs criticized the lack of Arab/Palestinian representation on regional planning and zoning approval committees and stated planning for Arab/Palestinian areas was much slower than for Jewish municipalities, leading Arab/Palestinian citizens to build or expand their homes, usually on privately owned land, without legal authorization, thus risking a government-issued demolition order. Arab members of the Knesset and human rights organizations condemned the law for increasing enforcement and demolitions without addressing the systemic housing shortages in Arab communities that led to unpermitted construction. According to human rights organizations, approximately 50,000 Arab families lived in unpermitted houses.
The government stated it used both incentives and punishments to compel Bedouin Israeli citizens to move from 35 unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert inhabited by approximately 90,000 persons into government-recognized villages, including by demolishing unpermitted structures and offering monetary compensation to move to Bedouin towns. According to a state comptroller report and information from NGOs, Bedouins often refused to move because they asserted either that they owned the land or that the government had given them prior permission to settle in their existing locations. Bedouins reported fear of losing their traditional livelihoods and way of life, as well as moving onto land claimed by a rival Bedouin clan. The seven Bedouin townships in the Negev were all crowded and had poor infrastructure and inadequate access to public services such as health care, education, welfare, public transportation, mail, and garbage disposal, especially compared to Jewish towns and cities in the area, according to the state comptroller. According to the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF), Bedouins accounted for 34 percent of the population of the Negev, but only 12.5 percent of the residential-zoned land was designated for them.
In August, the NCF reported that 2,745 Bedouin structures – including tents, fences, tin structures, sheds, and embankments – were demolished in 2022, citing information gained through freedom of information requests to the government. According to the NCF, self-demolition constituted most of demolitions carried out in 2022.
The government maintained laws and mechanisms regarding claims for the return of or compensation of assets imported during World War II and the Holocaust-era whose owners did not survive the war. Unclaimed assets were held in trust and not transferred to legal inheritors, who in most cases were not aware their late relatives had property in Israel.
The Department of State’s Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act Report to Congress, released publicly in July 2020, can be found on the Department’s website at https://www.state.gov/reports/just-act-report-to-congress/.
h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The law prohibited such actions, and the government generally respected those prohibitions for Israeli citizens, but the law restricted residency for different groups based on nationality, and there were multiple court cases pending at year’s end based on security agencies’ surveillance technologies and practices.
NGOs and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem alleged security forces devoted disproportionate enforcement resources to Palestinian neighborhoods, particularly Silwan, Jabal Al Mukaber, Sheikh Jarrah, and Jerusalem’s Old City, with higher numbers of temporary checkpoints and raids than in West Jerusalem.
On May 2, Amnesty International reported the government’s use of an experimental facial recognition system to track Palestinians and enforce movement restrictions, expanding surveillance in East Jerusalem. According to Amnesty, government forces conducted facial scans at checkpoints and entered them into government databases without consent. The NGO reported authorities expanded their city-wide surveillance system across the Old City, allowing authorities to identify protesters and keep Palestinians under constant observation.
The law allowed Shin Bet to collect data of all users of telecom services in the country without a court order. A 2022 ACRI petition to the Supreme Court demanded the cancellation or amendment of a clause of the law that allowed Shin Bet to search and process personal information without supervision, which potentially included individuals’ location data, other information that could reveal a user’s sexual orientation, participation in protests, and political views. The petition was pending at year’s end.
As of year’s end, the Supreme Court was considering a petition from ACRI demanding the revocation of the government’s expansion of Shin Bet’s functions and authorities in the past 20 years. In a 2022 interim injunction, the court ordered the government to justify the need for such expanded authorities and to explain why it would not limit the use of these authorities to urgent circumstances, and why these would not be subject to periodic review.
A state attorney directive allowed police to search suspects’ mobile phones without a court order if the suspect consented. On June 26, the Supreme Court ordered the state to explain by April 2024 why it would not cancel or amend the directives in response to a 2022 petition by the Public Defender’s Office. The petition remained pending at year’s end.
i. Conflict-related Abuses
Significant conflict-related abuses were documented throughout the year. Human rights groups reported extensive and in many cases unprecedented conflict-related abuses and alleged the commission of war crimes by Israel, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other Palestinian militant groups.
Killings: In May, there was an escalation of violence between Israel and PIJ in Gaza following the death of PIJ activist Khader Adnan after a lengthy hunger strike in an Israeli prison. According to IDF data, PIJ launched 1,468 rockets during this escalation, including 1,139 rockets that crossed into Israeli territory. Inside Israeli territory, rocket fire claimed the lives of two individuals, one Israeli and one Palestinian worker from Gaza. Israeli missile defense systems intercepted more than 95 percent of the rockets. (For more information on the effect of the conflict in Gaza, see section 1.i. of 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in the West Bank & Gaza.)
According to UNOCHA, from January 1 to October 6, 30 Israelis were killed by Palestinians in rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza, the West Bank, in Jerusalem, and inside the Green Line established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and 213 Israelis were injured in these attacks by armed Palestinian militant groups. According to UNOCHA, 237 Palestinians were killed by Israelis during the year prior to October 7, including 199 Palestinians killed in the West Bank, 34 killed in Gaza, and four killed inside the Green Line, almost exclusively by the IDF during counterterrorism operations. UNOCHA also reported that during that period, 9,378 Palestinians were injured by Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers.
On October 7, thousands of Hamas, PIJ, and other armed terrorists breached the security fence between Gaza and Israel by land and air via paragliders and killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, including at least 42 U.S. citizens and 36 children. At least 843 of the victims were civilians, and more than 5,400 Israelis and foreigners were injured in the terrorist attacks. The attack began with Hamas firing a barrage of more than 3,000 rockets toward Israel from Gaza. Terrorists attacked military bases, clashed with security forces in the south, and simultaneously infiltrated civilian communities, deliberately targeting noncombatants. During the attack, terrorists committed multiple abuses, including sexual assault and sexual mutilation. The attackers killed hundreds of civilians and injured many more at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im and kidnapped approximately 253 Israelis and foreigners, including men, women, and children. Among the victims were one autistic girl, age 12, killed at Kibbutz Nir Oz and a girl, age 16, with muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy, according to press reports.
Amnesty International verified video footage showing armed men from Gaza shooting Israeli civilians at close range in cars trying to escape, hiding in bomb shelters, and lying directly on the ground while injured. The attacks, which included the burning of homes, led to severe damage and the destruction of Israeli communities bordering Gaza. Some human rights organizations and the government described the October 7 attacks as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The government called the attacks the deadliest by a terrorist organization in the history of the state. The government officially declared war on Hamas on October 8.
(For journalist deaths during the conflict, see section 2.a.)
In October, the terrorist organization Hizballah in Lebanon initiated cross-border fire against Israel in support of Hamas following its October 7 attacks on Israel from Gaza and the ensuing hostilities, which continued through the end of the year. In the context of this conflict, several Palestinian terror organizations inside Lebanon also fired munitions into Israel. On November 5, Hizballah antitank missiles killed two Israeli civilians, one in Yiftah kibbutz and another in Kirya Shmona. On November 23, Hizballah antitank missile and mortar attacks killed an employee of the Israeli Electric Corporation and injured 21 others, including six other employees and seven soldiers.
(For more information on the military actions along the Israel-Lebanon border, see the Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Lebanon, section 1.i.)
Abductions: On October 7, Hamas, PIJ, and other armed terrorists abducted soldiers and civilians from Israeli communities, a nearby music festival, and army bases. Amnesty International reported video footage showed men in military gear taking away civilians with their hands tied behind their backs. Hamas, PIJ, and others held 253 Israeli and international hostages in Gaza, including at least 30 children, women, and elderly persons, and at least 19 soldiers. After the release of four hostages in October, and following an agreement with Israel secured through international mediators, in November Gaza-based militants released 105 hostages from Israel and other nations in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons. According to a New York Times analysis, the freed Palestinians included 107 children. As of year’s end, there were 136 Israelis and foreigners held hostage by Hamas, PIJ, and others in Gaza, including 132 hostages abducted on October 7 and an additional four hostages held in Gaza before October 7. The exact whereabouts of the hostages remained unknown at year’s end. At least 23 hostages were believed to have been killed in captivity, according to press reports, including three mistakenly killed by Israeli security forces. The ICRC reported that by year’s end it did not receive proof of life for any of the remaining hostages.
In early December, Israeli forces in search of Hamas or other militants reportedly took Palestinian men and boys from their homes in northern Gaza and transferred some of them to Israeli prisons. At year’s end, the ICRC cited approximately 4,000 cases of Palestinians from Gaza who had disappeared, estimating nearly half were detained by the Israeli military. ICRC reported it had received proof of life only in a handful of cases. Human rights groups expressed concern that the government warned civilians who did not flee areas in Gaza under military evacuation orders that they could be considered a partner in a terrorist organization, and they reported Israeli forces arbitrarily detained military-age men in areas of northern Gaza.
Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture: During the October 7 attack, Hamas, PIJ, and other terrorist groups carried out acts of abuse, rape, mutilation, and other conflict-related sexual violence.
Based on evidence published by Israeli authorities, civil society organizations, survivor testimonies, and videos posted by Hamas, on October 7, Hamas terrorists committed sexual assaults against women, girls, and men, including rape and gang rape, in private homes, at a music festival, on the side of the road, and in a military base. Eyewitnesses testified they saw rapes, mutilation, and sexual assaults taking place, some followed by killing. Medical and search and rescue professionals described signs of sexual violence. The Lahav 433 Police Unit and the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children continued to collect evidence and testimonies regarding sexual violence at year’s end. A December 12 report published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum indicated hostages who were released from Gaza reported some women and men suffered sexual assaults by Hamas while in captivity.
Human rights organizations PCATI, HaMoked, PHRI, and Adalah raised concerns regarding systemic torture and inhuman treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prison facilities after October 7. According to the organizations, the abuse included severe physical assaults, sexual harassment and threats, and intimidation of children and both male and female detainees, as well as other acts of humiliation. They highlighted 19 cases of reports of severe abuse, including the deaths of six Palestinians held in Israeli custody since October 7. They raised concerns regarding allegations that abuse or medical neglect by prison personnel could have caused several of those deaths.
(For more information on conflict-related physical abuse, punishment, and torture in the West Bank and Gaza, see the West Bank and Gaza report, section 1.i.)
Other Conflict-Related Abuses: On October 7, Hamas, PIJ, and other armed terrorists systematically destroyed Israeli homes, schools, bomb shelters, and other civilian property of Israeli communities near the Gaza border.
A total of 2,692 terror attacks occurred during the year, including rockets and mortars, of which 326 occurred in October, according to Shin Bet. Many of these rocket launches hit or endangered Israel’s civilian communities. To protect these communities, on October 7, the IDF began to evacuate residents of localities neighboring the Gaza border. According to the Ministry of Defense’s National Emergency Authority data, 253,000 residents were displaced due to Hamas’ attack on October 7, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the conflict along the northern border with Hizballah.
UNOCHA reported that from October 7 through December 18, authorities increased demolitions in East Jerusalem, with 59 Palestinian-owned homes, schools, businesses, and other civilian property demolished or sealed, displacing 213 persons. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions reported that on November 20, authorities sealed a Palestinian school in the Old City of East Jerusalem that was originally built in 1295, due to alleged scribbles on the wall opposing the war in Gaza.
Rights groups and local and international media reported Israel arrested and detained thousands of Palestinian workers and medical patients from Gaza with valid permits to enter Israel on October 7 who were not connected with the October 7 attacks. The Israeli NGO Gisha reported that at year’s end, it was unknown how many of these Palestinians were still being held by Israel. Reports indicated the government suspected some of the detainees of involvement in the October 7 attacks, such as by providing information about Israeli communities located near Gaza. Media reported that some remained in detention, and authorities did not disclose whether any workers from Gaza were charged with any crime. Rights organizations reported Palestinian workers from Gaza were placed in incommunicado detention at ad hoc military camps-turned detention centers outside of any legal framework or procedural safeguards.
On November 2, following internal deliberations and a pending second petition, the cabinet decided to return to Gaza the Palestinian workers present in Israel on the day the war broke out. On November 3, media reports indicated thousands of Palestinian workers were returned to Gaza on foot via the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Released Palestinian workers told media and human rights organizations that Israeli forces subjected them to severe beatings and electric shocks, urinated on them, attacked them with dogs, held them for days without food or water, and took their cell phones and cash. Local rights groups reported that workers were detained without charge, due process, or legal representation.
At least two workers from Gaza died while in Israeli custody. At year’s end, authorities retained custody of their bodies and had not provided their dates of death, according to local media reports. Haaretz reported accounts that one of these workers, Reja Samour, was diabetic and may have died after not receiving requested medical treatment in detention, and that the cause of the death of the other worker, Majed Zakol, reportedly a cancer patient, remained unclear. HRW reported that by year’s end, the whereabouts of thousands of workers who fled or were released to the West Bank remained unclear, with many living in temporary shelters provided by the Palestinian Authority and NGOs.
