Israel Not Reliable For Self-Investigation: Yesh-Din Report *URGENT*

*This letter is intended to share information that is critical to all U.S. elected officials and their staffers. Please follow links included at the end of this letter.* This is an excerpt from a recent report from Israeli human rights organization Yesh-Din. See link below for full report. Israel’s war in Gaza has led to unprecedented civilian casualties and destruction and is considered one of the most devastating military offensives in the world in the 21stcentury. Israeli decision makers inside the government and the military, who are directly responsible for Israel’s use of force policy, have significantly expanded the harm caused to innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed so far, infrastructure vital to civilian life in Gaza was obliterated, and starvation is spreading among hundreds of thousands of residents who have been uprooted from their homes. Israel’s warfare in the Gaza Strip has been marked by massive bombardments, systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and even starvation, drawing scathing criticism and allegations that Israeli security forces are breaching international humanitarian law (the laws of war). The State of Israel counters these allegations by arguing it is operating according to the laws of war, including upholding its duty to investigate suspicions of war crimes. This report examines whether Israel’s law enforcement mechanism has the capacity to investigate alleged grave breaches of the laws of war during the war in Gaza and whether it is has any interest in doing so. • Refrains from investigating high-ranking decision makers and policy makers The top ranks in government, military and Office of the Attorney General, who are responsible for setting Israel’s use of force policy, are not subject to any review by the law enforcement system • Refrains from conducting a proper and effective assessmentThe FFA Mechanism deliberately wastes precious time, and almost all the cases it assesses are subsequently closed without a decision to open a criminal investigation • Extends near complete immunity to commanders and soldiers who harm Palestinians Nearly zero indictments are served relative to the number of complaints of soldiers and commanders who commit offenses. In rare cases when commanders or soldiers are convicted, they receive ridiculously lenient sentences compared with the severity of the offense (https://www.yesh-din.org/en/the-general-staff-whitewashing-mechanism-the-israeli-law-enforcement-system-and-breaches-of-international-law-and-war-crimes-in-gaza/)