Updates

To mark International Women’s Day, B'Tselem is issuing a collection of videos filmed by women who volunteer in its camera project. The images provide the viewer with a unique look into these women's daily lives. The women in the project live in a reality in which human rights violations are a daily occurrence. It is a reality most of us prefer not to see, yet the documentation is crucial and also transformative. The women photographers say that the cameras have changed their lives. They provide a tool for personal, social, and popular expression and they make these women effective human rights advocates in a traditional society in which the men usually take center stage.

After the operation B'Tselem wrote to the MAG Corps demanding investigations of the Military Police Investigation Unit (MPIU) into 20 incidents that had taken place during the operation. In each of the incidents, B'Tselem's field research raised serious suspicions that military actions had harmed unarmed, uninvolved civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law. View list of cases and investigations status

On 5 Jan. '12, B'Tselem wrote to the military advocate general demanding an investigation into the firing of .22-caliber bullets that hit a young Palestinian man who was throwing stones at soldiers during the weekly demonstration in a-Nabi Saleh, on 23 December 2011. B'Tselem also requested that the MAG clarify to senior commanders, to forces in the field, and to the Judea and Samaria Division’s spokesperson that using these bullets is tantamount to firing live ammunition, and is, therefore, forbidden as a crowd-control measure.

In two incidents in December 2011, the Israeli air force bombed ammunition storages in the middle of a civilian area in Gaza. Secondary explosions caused nearby homes to collapse. In the first bombing, two civilians were killed, one of them a 10-year-old, and an 8-year-old was severely injured. In the second, an 11-year-old was severely injured. Hamas breached international law by storing the weapons in a civilian area. Israel failed to take all feasible means to minimize harm to civilians, and did not warn civilians to evacuate the area.

B'Tselem documented three cases in which the air force killed civilians and damaged civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in the past ten days. B'Tselem demanded a criminal investigation in one case and further details in the other cases.

B'Tselem responds to an op-ed published by Richard Goldstone regarding the Goldstone Report into Operation Cast Lead. While Goldstone retracts the allegation that Israel intentionally targeted civilians, grave questions remain regarding others aspects of Israel's conduct.

B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) welcome the Israeli military's announced change of the policy of investigations, made today (6 April) in an updated statement to the High Court of Justice in a petition filed by the two organizations. At the same time, the organizations stress that the change of policy as presented by the Judge Advocate General (JAG) is insufficient to uphold Israel's obligations regarding accountability and the protection of the right to life.

On 22 March '11, Israeli mortar fire killed four Palestinian civilians east of Gaza City. Despite promises following Operation Cast Lead, it seems the military has not made the changes necessary to prevent harm to civilians from this imprecise weapon.

On 2 Dec. '07, soldiers shot Firas Qasqas to death. He was unarmed and posed no threat. For more than a year and a half, the JAG's Office has delayed the decision whether to prosecute the soldiers or close the file.