Israel and the Occupied Patestinian Territories (IOPT)

Free forcibly disappeared Palestinian surgeon - URGENT ACTION - 07/06/2024

On 24 March 2024, Palestinian Khaled Al Serr was detained by the Israeli military from Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Since then, he has been held in conditions that amount to enforced disappearance. The Israeli authorities continue to conceal his fate and whereabouts; the scraps of information his family have been able to receive only came from his colleagues and from released detainees. Take action.

New crossing points and 'floating dock' are cosmetic - NEWS - 28/05/2024

As Israeli attacks intensify on Rafah, the unpredictable trickle of aid into Gaza has created a mirage of improved access while the humanitarian response is in reality on the verge of collapse, 20 aid agencies have warned. Read more.

Israel's announcement that it has approved the opening of two humanitarian routes into the occupied Gaza Strip, including the temporary re-opening of Erez crossing in northern Gaza and Ashdod port, is a welcome move but is insufficient to tackle the scale of the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Read more.

Amnesty Interational was one of 25 non-governmental organisations to call on governments to prioritise a ceasefire and ground-based humanitarian aid as deaths from malnutrition and disease rise. Read more.

Air strikes that killed 44 civilians further evidence of war crimes - NEWS - 27/05/2024

The International Criminal Court should investigate as war crimes three Israeli air strikes that killed 44 Palestinian civilians, including 32 children, in the occupied Gaza Strip in April 2024. Read more.

Despite repeated calls on Israel from heads of state, United Nations' officials and humanitarion non-governmental organisations to refrain from expanding its ground offensive to Rafah, Israeli troops entered the governorate on 07 May 2024. Read more.

The current forced displacement of almost two million Palestinians and mass distruction of civilian property and infrastructure in the occupied Gaza Strip puts a spotlight on Israel's appalling record of displacing Palestinians and its ongoing refusal to respect their right to return for the last 76 years. Read more.

The Israeli military have ordered over 100,000 residents, most of whom are internally displaced, to 'evacuate' whole neighbourhoods in eastern Rafah amid news that its miliatry operations in the area are already underway. Read more.

On 02 May 2024, a joint NGO global day of action took place mobilising a global coalition of human rights and humanitarian organisations, arms experts, activists, journalists, academics, legal professionals and students to call on all states to stop the transfer of weapons, parts and ammunition being used to fuel violations of international law in the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more.

Mass graves containing hundreds of bodies have been discovered at two of Gaza's hospitals. Read more.

Amnesty International has gathered fresh evidence of deadly unlawful attacks in the occupied Gaza Strip demonstrating how Israeli forces continue to flout international humanitarian law, obliterating entire families with total impunity. Read more.

Israel must comply with International Court of Justice order - NEWS - 24/05/2024

On 24 May 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling which ordered Israel to immediately halt military operations in the governorate of Rafah, following South Africa's application for additional provisional measures in its genocide case. Read more.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister. Benjamin Netanyanu, and Israeli minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, for war crimes and crimes against humanity commited in Israel and and in the state of Palestine, specifically in the occupied Gaza Strip, from at least 07 October 2023. Read more.

One month after the ICJ ordered 'immediate and effective measures' to protect Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip from the risk of genocide by ensuring sufficient humanitarian assistance and enabling basic services, Israel has failed to take even the bare minimum steps to comply. Read more.

Israel must end its brutal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which it has maintained since 1967, Amnesty International has said, as public hearings begin at the ICJ to examine the legal consequences of Israel's prolonged occupation. Read more.

On 26 January 2024, the ICJ ordered provisional measures in response to South Africa's genocide case against Israel in an important step that could help protect the Palestinian people in the occupied Gaza Strip from further suffering and irreparable harm. Read more.

The ICJ proceedings alleged that the state of Israel is breaching its obligations under the United Nations Genocide Convention and could help protect Palestinian civilians, end the man-made humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied Gaza Strip and offer a glimmer of hope for international justice. Read more.

Over 300 Palestinian-Bedouin face forced evictions - NEWS - 09/05/2024

On 08 May 2024, the Israeli authorities demolished 47 homes in Wadi al-Khalil, an unrecognised Palestinian-Bedouin village in the Negev/Naqab, without proper consultation or compensation underscoring the urgency to dismantle Israel's apartheid system. Read more.

State-backed deadly rampage by Israeli settlers - NEWS - 22/04/2024

An alarming spike in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians accross the occupied West Bank highlights the urgent need to dismantle illegal settlements, end Israeli's occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and its longstanding system of apartheid. Read more.

Israeli forces have also unleashed a brutal wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, carrying out unlawful killings, including by using lethal force without necessity or disproportionately during protests and arrest raids, and denying medical assistance to those injured. Read more.

Death in custody of Walid Daqqah - NEWS - 08/04/2024

Walid Daqqah, a 62-year-old Palestinian writer who was the longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails after having spent 38 years imprisoned, has died in custody. Read more.

UN Security Council resolution is ignored - NEWS - 03/04/2024

Since the United Nations' Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and the International Court of Justice issued additional provisional measures in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, states must act urgently to ensure its enforcement and prevent atrocity crimes in Rafah as attacks intensify. Read more.

Amnesty International welcomed the new report by the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, which concludes there are 'reasonable grounds to believe the threshold indicating Israel's commission of genocide has been met'. Read more.

The United Nations' Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire 'for the duration of the month of Ramadan leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire' as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and greater humanitarian access to Gaza. Read more.

The European Council's decision to call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza is not sufficient to end civilian suffering. Read more.

The decisions by at least nine donor countries to suspend funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), following allegations that individual staff members were involved in the 07 October 2023 attacks in southern Israel, will deal a devastating blow to more than two million refugees in the occupied Gaza Strip for whom the organisation serves as a sole lifeline. Amnesty International is urging states to reverse their decisions and refrain from suspending funding to UNRWA. Read more.

Amnesty International was among a number of humanitarian agencies and human rights organisations to issue a statement with regards to the harrowing developments in Rafah. Read more.

Amnesty International was one of 16 leading humanitarian and human rights organisations to call to stop arms transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups. Read more.

Amnesty had issued an urgent call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties in the occupied Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid for people in Gaza amidst an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Read more. Take action.

Publish the findings about the attack on journalists - JOINT OPEN LETTER - 29/03/2024

Amnesty International was among a number of local and international human rights organisations, civil society organisations, victims and survivors to write an open letter to the United Nations' Secretary General urging that the findings of the UNIFIL investigation into the 13 October 2023 Israeli attack on a group of jouranlists in southern Lebanon is made public. Read more.

Amnesty had earlier stated that the Israeli strikes, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others, were likely a direct attack on civilians that must be investigated as a war crime. Read more.

The Israeli army fired military shells containing white phosphorus, an incendiary weapon, in military operations along Lebanon's southern border between 10 and 16 October 2023. One attack on the town of Dhayra on 16 October must be investigated as a war crime because it was an indicriminate attack that injured at least nine civilians and damaged civilian objects, and was therefore unlawful. Read more.

Understanding the long roots of violence - EDUCATION - 28/03/2024

The armed conflict between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is one of the longest running in modern history. It is also open to various interpretations, stories and misinformation. Learning more about the root causes of the violence is important to help us prevent future violations and for the respect of international humanitarian law. Read more.

Drop all charges against Ahmad Khalefa - URGENT ACTION - 21/03/2024

Ahmad Khalefa, a Palestinian citizen in Israel, is a lawyer, human rights defender, community organiser and newly elected city council member. On 19 October 2023, Israeli police violently arrested him along with ten other demonstrators from a peaceful protest in his native town of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel. He was subsequently charged with 'incitement to terrorism' and 'identification with a terrorist group', for chanting slogans against the war in Gaza. After nearly four months in prison, Ahmad Khalefa was put under house arrest under strict terms, including electronic tagging. His next hearing will be held before the Haifa magistrate's court on 08 April 2024. Israeli authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Ahmad Khalefa from house arrest, allow him to resume his work without intimidation and drop the baseless charges against him. Take action.

Palestinian human rights defender is released - GOOD NEWS - URGENT ACTION UPDATE - 22/03/2024

On 29 February 2024, Palestinian human rights defender and social worker Munther Amira was released from administrative detention at Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank. Munterh Amira had been arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces since 18 December 2023. On 11 January 2024, an Israeli military court confirmed a four-month administrative detention order against him. Read more.

Amnesty documents

2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updated 07/06/2024

Country coordinators - Garry Ettle - garry.ettle@amnesty.org.uk