Israel Closes 88% of War Crimes Investigations in Gaza Without Charges: Report

LONDON:  A new report by the UK-based war monitor Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) reveals that 88% of Israeli military investigations into alleged war crimes in Gaza have been closed without any charges or findings of wrongdoing since the outbreak of war in October 2023.

The AOAV report, released on Sunday, documents 52 publicly reported cases involving alleged misconduct or civilian harm by Israeli forces in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,303 Palestinians and the injury of 1,880 others. However, only one case has led to a prison sentence.

Among the most high-profile unresolved incidents are

• The killing of at least 112 Palestinians waiting in line for flour in Gaza City in February 2024.

• The deaths of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family on January 29, 2024, following a reported Israeli airstrike.

• A deadly airstrike that killed 45 people in a refugee tent camp in Rafah in May 2024.

• The killing of 31 Palestinians at a food distribution point in Rafah on June 1, 2025—initially dismissed by Israel as “false,” though later confirmed to be under review.

In another controversial case, the Israeli military acknowledged that soldiers tied Palestinian man Mujahed Azmi to the front of a jeep during a raid in Jenin on June 23, 2024. Yet no disciplinary measures have been disclosed.

On March 23, 2025, 15 Palestinian medics were killed after Israeli forces fired on a clearly marked ambulance. Despite the Israeli military citing “professional failures” and removing a deputy commander, no criminal accountability has followed.

Only one case to date has resulted in a prison term: a reservist received a seven-month sentence for the mistreatment of detainees at the Sde Teiman detention center in February 2025.

Five additional cases concluded with findings of violations, such as the April 2024 killing of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen. In that incident, a colonel and a major were dismissed, and three other commanders were reprimanded. The Israeli military described the airstrike as “a grave mistake” caused by misidentification.

The remaining 46 cases, representing 88% of the total examined by AOAV, have either been closed with no finding of fault (7 cases) or remain unresolved (39 cases).

Researchers Iain Overton and Lucas Tsantzouris from AOAV warned that Israel appears to be fostering a “pattern of impunity,” noting that investigations have grown “more opaque and slow-moving” as the civilian death toll has increased.

The report raises serious concerns about accountability and transparency, urging the international community—particularly the United Nations and human rights bodies—to ensure independent investigations and prevent further erosion of international humanitarian law.

Despite mounting global pressure, Israel continues to assert that its military operations in Gaza are conducted with adherence to international law. Critics, however, argue that the lack of accountability only deepens the humanitarian crisis and erodes prospects for justice.