Much of Israel's destruction was wanton and resulted from direct attacks on civilian objects as well as indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilian objects. Such attacks violated fundamental provisions of international humanitarian law, notably the prohibition on direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects (the principle of distinction), the prohibition on indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks, and the prohibition on collective punishment. 

This 39-page report details six incidents resulting in 29 civilian deaths, among them eight children. Human Rights Watch found that Israeli forces failed to take all feasible precautions to verify that these targets were combatants, as required by the laws of war, or that they failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups have reported a total of 42 drone attacks that killed civilians, 87 in all, during the fighting in December 2008 and January 2009. 

Six months after Israel launched its three-week military operation in Gaza on 27 December 2008, Gazans still cannot rebuild their lives. Most people struggle to make ends meet. Seriously ill patients face difficulty obtaining the treatment they need. Many children suffer from deep psychological problems. Civilians whose homes and belongings were destroyed during the conflict are unable to recover. 

Official sources estimate the amount of wastewater flowing in the West Bank - from the settlements, from Jerusalem, and from Palestinian communities - at 91 million cubic meters a year. They also estimate that the average daily per capita amount of wastewater produced by settlements is more than twice the amount produced by Palestinian communities. Despite the dangers inherent to wastewater flowing freely, the vast majority of wastewater in the West Bank is not treated. 

This report reviews a serious phenomenon: the shackling of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in a systematic manner and throughout all stages of detention and interrogation. The motives for this shackling are clearly improper and extraneous, including the causing of pain and suffering, punishment, intimidation, discrimination, and the unlawful extraction of information. In some cases, it may amount to abuse and torture – prohibited practices in both moral and legal terms. 

We, United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian organisations, express deepening concern over Israel's continued blockade of the Gaza Strip which has now been in force for two years. These indiscriminate sanctions are affecting the entire 1.5 million population of Gaza and ordinary women, children and the elderly are the first victims. 

In June 2009 the blockade on the Gaza Strip enters its third year. The intense closure policy, coupled with the government of Israel's recent military operation 'Cast Lead', has had a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of one and a half million Gazans, pushing them further into poverty and aid dependency. Parties to the conflict and the international community have, to varying degrees, prioritised their own political objectives over people's rights and needs, leaving Gazans sitting on the ruins of their homes. 

The ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities is widespread, systematic and institutionalised. This system operates within a general culture of brutality and impunity. Between 2001 and 2008, over 600 complaints were filed against Israeli Security Agency (ISA) interrogators for alleged ill-treatment and torture. To date, there has not been a single criminal investigation. 

The Report depicts a dismal human, economic and social situation in the occupied Arab territories, overshadowed by stalled peace negotiations. Noteworthy differences between Gaza and the West Bank were observed, as well as some common problems. In the aftermath of the devastating war at the turn of the year, the situation in Gaza has all the ingredients of a humanitarian catastrophe. 

The report examines the pattern of IOF killings of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the second intifada, in September 2000. It then focuses on PCHR's ongoing investigations into the deaths of the 313 children killed during the recent offensive. PCHR has gathered data and documentation, including testimonies from numerous eye-witnesses, which testify to the widespread targeting of unarmed civilians, including children, throughout the offensive. 

Since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank, including Jerusalem and Gaza, it is estimated that Israeli civil and military authorities have destroyed 24,000 Palestinian homes in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). The rate of house demolitions has risen significantly since the second Intifada began in September 2000 and, as this study shows, house demolitions have become a major cause of forced displacement in the OPT. 

Because of the lack of adequate medical healthcare Gazan patients often need to seek treatment abroad. The process to get a permit for the treatment has become more difficult and time-consuming as the checkpoints have become harder to cross under the complex closure regime Israel imposes, and as the political situation has become more tense. 

The latest report from the International Crisis Group argues that the fundamental crisis today is not humanitarian but political. If the siege remains, Hamas could launch large-scale attacks. If weapons smuggling and rocket fire persist, Israel could mount a new offensive. Without some Palestinian unity, Gaza's rebuilding will not begin. In short, defusing this crisis requires a sustainable Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Gaza's reconstruction and Palestinian reconciliation.  

This 26-page report documents a pattern since late December 2008 of arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, maimings by shooting, and extrajudicial executions by alleged members of Hamas security forces. The report is based on interviews with victims and witnesses in Gaza and case reports by Palestinian human rights groups. 

In endangering the lives of civilian men, women and children through systematically using them as human shields, the IOF is committing crimes tantamount to war crimes and crimes against humanity according to IHL. Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations have taken all steps within their power to protect Palestinian civilians from this cruel and lethal practice, winning in 2005 a legal battle to secure a prohibition on the use of civilians as human shields under Israeli law. 

The underlying meaning of the attack on the Gaza Strip, or at least its final consequence, appears to be one of creating terror without mercy to anyone. Nearly all the people we spoke to slept cuddled together with the other members of their family in a central room of the house during the three weeks of attack. No one knew where or when the next bomb or explosion would occur. It appears that the wide range of attacks with sophisticated weaponry was predominantly focused on terrorising the population. 

This report aims to give the reader an understanding of the legal status of unlawful combatants within international law as well as Israeli and US law. It examines Israel's Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law, 5762-2002 (with amendments passed on 30 July 2008), as a way of abrogating the rights of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. The report compares the policies of Israel towards unlawful combatants' detainment to those of the United States. 

This OCHA Special Focus addresses the phenomenon of "illegal" Palestinian construction in East Jerusalem resulting from the failure of the Israeli authorities to provide adequate planning for Palestinian neighbourhoods. This Special Focus provides a statistical overview of Israel's demolition of unauthorized structures since 2000, provides background on some of the key difficulties facing Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem in their efforts to build, and identifies a number of at-risk communities. 

The report provides a comprehensive picture of the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) from 1 January to 31 December 2008. It is divided into two sub-sections: 1) Violations of international human rights and humanitarian law perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the OPT; and 2) Human rights violations perpetrated by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and obstacles to democratic reform. 

The closure of Rafah has severe implications for the residents of the Gaza Strip, including preventing access to health care services that are not available in Gaza, preventing access to opportunities for academic studies or employment abroad or in the West Bank, forcing long separations of family members on either side of the border, causing fatal damage to commerce and business, and creating a growing feeling among residents of the Gaza Strip that they are enclosed, isolated and trapped.