GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Human Rights Watch confirmed that the Israeli practices in the Gaza Strip amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, saying that US President Joe Biden’s administration adopts a “double standards” policy in dealing with Israel’s crimes.
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 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.”
