Call to Protect Civil Society Watchdogs in Israel-Palestine on Human Rights Day

Today, 10 December, is Human Rights Day. Exactly 76 years ago, in 1948, the General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and 30 years ago, in 1984, it adopted the Convention against Torture. These instruments introduced a number of key legal principles. 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust and the Second World War. For the first time, an international instrument postulated the universal maxim that ‘[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’. Meanwhile, the Convention against Torture outlaws torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment in all circumstances. 

Unfortunately, the reality in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has often stood in sharp contrast to the rights and ideals enshrined in these two instruments.  

In 1948, the same year the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into being, more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee from their homes during the war in which the State of Israel was established, without being allowed to return. This is known as the Nakba, and for many Palestinians, it represents a continuous process of displacement, dispossession, and destruction which is felt most acutely in the Gaza Strip today.  

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as of 3 December more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 105,000 have been injured since the start of the hostilities in October 2023. After 14 months of war, much of the civilian and residential infrastructure has been reduced to rubble, and large areas rendered uninhabitable for years to come. More than 90% of Gaza’s population is internally displaced, often multiple times over. The healthcare system has all but collapsed amidst persistent warnings of famine and denial of humanitarian relief.   

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, incidents of settler violence and excessive use of force by Israeli security forces have reached record levels. As of 2 December, the Israel Prison Service detains over 10,000 Palestinians, and the Israeli military has detained thousands more Palestinians from Gaza. Detainees have been routinely subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence.   

According to the Israeli authorities, more than 1,200 Israeli and foreign citizens were killed and over 5,400 injured in the attacks by Hamas and other armed groups from Gaza on 7 October 2023. 251 persons were taken hostage to Gaza, where 101 of them are estimated to remain. The hostages have reportedly been subjected to torture and ill- treatment, including sexual violence.  

Against the backdrop of such large-scale and systematic violations of international law, the need for monitoring and documenting conduct is greater than ever. At the same time, an already challenging environment for local and international humanitarian and civil society actors is becoming ever more restrictive.  

Since 2008, Israel has refused access to the various officials holding the mandate of United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The international staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have been working from Jordan since Israel stopped renewing their visas in 2020, and a Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry has also been denied access to the oPt since its establishment in 2021.  

In the same year, leading Palestinian civil society organisations – which for decades have borne the brunt of repression – were designated as ‘terrorist organisations’ pursuant to Israeli law and the military law that Israel enforces in the West Bank. Their offices have been raided, and their staff prevented from travelling internationally.  

Israeli organisations critical of government policies have been subjected to budgetary restrictions, banned from appearing in public schools, and singled out in case they receive funding from foreign governments.  

This is by no means a comprehensive account. Many of these actors have also been subjected to delegitimization campaigns as well as baseless accusations of treason and antisemitism. Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist who currently serves as Finance Minister and Minister in the Defence Ministry, has even called human rights organisations an ‘existential threat’ to the State.  

Since the outbreak of the hostilities in October 2023 and as of 9 December 2024, at least 137 media professionals in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Israel have been killed; according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least eight of them ‘were directly targeted by Israeli forces’. A further 343 aid workers, including 253 UN staff, have been killed in Gaza, with 2024 reportedly the deadliest year on record for aid workers worldwide.   

Despite the humanitarian needs in the oPt being greater than ever before, the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, has recently passed legislation prohibiting UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem and restricting its contact with the Israeli authorities.  

For more than a year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been prevented from visiting Palestinian detainees. Such lack of oversight is not only illegal; it contributes to the climate of impunity for torture and ill-treatment of detainees.  

In May, the Israeli government banned the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera – known for its critical reporting on the hostilities in Gaza – from broadcasting in Israel and East Jerusalem, and in September soldiers raided and shut down the outlet’s Ramallah office. In November, the government announced that it would no longer advertise in Haaretz, Israel’s best-known leftwing newspaper, urging public officials to ‘boycott’ it.  

Palestinian staff of humanitarian organisations from the West Bank have been denied work permits for Jerusalem, and international staff cannot obtain visas for Israel and the oPt. With very few exceptions, foreign journalists have not been allowed to report from Gaza without embedding with Israeli forces, which is reflective of previous hostilities.    

A recent investigation by The Guardian and two local news outlets revealed longstanding efforts by the Israeli government to interfere with the ICC investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine.  

The developments outlined here are not just deeply concerning from a humanitarian perspective; they also engage the legal obligations of other States. All States have an obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law (IHL). This means that they must exert their influence on other States – Israel in this case – to prevent and bring violations of IHL to an end.  

Journalists, human rights organisations, aid workers, and many others fulfil a crucial function in documenting violations of international law and advocating for accountability efforts. To comply with their duty to ensure respect for IHL, States must protect such actors and put pressure on the Israeli authorities to allow them to carry out their vital work without threats or interference.  

This is also crucial from a principled perspective: repression of civic and humanitarian space anywhere is a threat to such spaces everywhere. It fosters impunity and disrespect for the law.  

The last 14 months of hostilities in Israel and Gaza have been a stain on the world’s collective conscience. This Human Rights Day, the stakes could not be higher.