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Another Report from Human Rights Watch: Ignore Hamas, Blame Israel
November 2023: An Israeli soldier helps to provide incubators to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Photo: Screenshot
On November 14, Human Rights Watch released a report titled “Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged,” which accuses Israel of numerous war crimes in Gaza.
The report is based primarily on interviews with 39 Gaza residents, along with analysis of photographs, satellite imagery, and evacuation orders the IDF published on social media.
Of course the war has caused tremendous suffering for Gaza. While fighting against Hamas in a densely urban setting makes this largely inevitable, Israel should not be immune from scrutiny as to whether it has done enough to respect the rights of Gaza civilians. So investigation and analysis of Israel’s conduct is certainly in order.
However, as we’ve unfortunately become accustomed to from Human Rights Watch, this report is biased against Israel at every turn.
Standard of Perfection
Humanitarian law is extraordinarily demanding in the protections it affords civilians — so much so, that no army has ever succeeded at upholding humanitarian law completely. In fact, most do a terrible job. A reasonable question might be to ask how Israel’s humanitarian score compares with other Western nations in their own recent conflicts. But Human Rights Watch holds Israel to a standard of complete perfection — any time Israel falls the slightest bit short of what they believe humanitarian law requires, no matter how impossible the situation, this report immediately accuses Israel of a war crime.
For example, in declaring most evacuations of civilians illegal, the report says, “failure to ensure the security and the guarantee of protections of displaced persons as they fled and in the places to which they were displaced would still render the displacement unlawful.”
In other words, the IDF told civilians to leave a residential area where it was planning to operate against Hamas missiles and tunnels, where they would be in enormous danger should they remain.
But even though evacuation was clearly a good idea and would make them much, much safer, since Israel couldn’t guarantee that they would be completely safe while traveling and at their destination, Human Rights Watch says the evacuation was a war crime.
But how can anywhere in Gaza be completely safe, with Hamas popping up all over? This demand that Israel ensure complete safety for evacuees is impossible, and that would be the case for any other army as well.
The report even criticizes Israel for this: “The evacuation orders also failed to take into account the needs of people with disabilities, many of whom are unable to leave without assistance.”
Of course it would be best if Gaza residents had plenty of time to leave in an organized fashion, with special consideration for those with disabilities. But rockets were raining down on Israel’s cities, with hostages languishing in captivity and Israeli soldiers in danger of attack by Hamas as they wait. Human Rights Watch makes it sound as if Palestinian civilians are the only ones whose rights need to be considered. They’re not.
The report describes Israel’s system for issuing evacuation orders like this:
On December 1, the Israeli military published an online map on its website, that could be accessed using a QR code from a mobile phone, that divided Gaza into a grid of 620 numbered blocks, allowing the user to know in which of these blocks they are located, using the location services of their phone, assuming one had a phone with sufficient battery charge and internet connection. The Israeli military then continued to publish leaflets and social media posts indicating the blocks slated for evacuation.
That might sound like a pretty elaborate, good faith effort to give Gaza civilians continuously updated information to help them avoid the fighting. But not according to Human Rights Watch. The group repeatedly criticizes Israel’s evacuation instructions as incomplete or misleading.
For example, regarding one order on Dec. 3, they write:
The caption in the X post instructed people living in blocks 36, 38 through 54, and 219 through 221 to evacuate, but the heading on the map provided a different list of block numbers: 36, 47 through 54, and 221 through 219, which resulted in the omission of nine blocks.
The appropriate conclusion to draw here is that Israel is not perfect. Getting real-time information from army units actually in Gaza to the people issuing the notices was not seamless. And yes, this certainly did cause stress and uncertainty for Gaza residents, perhaps even leading some to harm. But what government would have done better?
Any new website or system has kinks and mistakes, let alone something as complex as this, being done hurriedly in the midst of a war. The alerts Israel gives to its own citizens to protect themselves from incoming missiles are hardly error-free either. By condemning Israel for even these simple missteps, Human Rights Watch reveals that its agenda is simply to blame Israel for everything, no matter what.
What About Hamas?
The report acknowledges that the Hamas Oct. 7 atrocities precipitated the war. But beyond that, Hamas is hardly mentioned at all.
Doesn’t Hamas bear any responsibility for all the suffering? What about Hamas stealing aid and therefore making its distribution impossible? Or Hamas preventing evacuations in order to drive up civilian casualties to exploit as propaganda and create human shields? Hamas deliberately putting its military tunnels under civilian infrastructure, and using the tunnels to shelter only its fighters but not civilians? For that matter, what about Hamas’ crimes in firing tens of thousands of missiles at Israeli civilian targets and holding hundreds of innocent hostages?
The only place any of this is mentioned is in a brief section that discusses allegations that Hamas prevented people from fleeing. This is probably because in June, a United Nations Human Rights Council report found reasonable grounds to conclude that Hamas has made attempts to discourage and potentially obstruct the evacuation of civilians, so the report had to at least bring it up.
Human Rights Watch dismisses this, though, because none of the 39 people they interviewed claimed it had happened to them (although even they acknowledge that these people may not have felt comfortable revealing derogatory information about Hamas for fear of reprisal). The report then claims that even if Hamas did obstruct the evacuations, Israel should also still be guilty.
Most telling is that the report contains a rather pompous set of recommendations, with separate sections telling Israel, Egypt, all other governments, the United Nations, and other humanitarian organizations, and the International Criminal Court what they should do to comply with international law and stop the suffering of Gazans.
But there is nothing for Hamas.
Absolutely nothing — no demands for Hamas at all. Not to release the hostages, not even to allow the hostages to be visited by the Red Cross. No demand that Hamas allow the unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance. According to this report, Hamas isn’t doing anything wrong or in any way part of the problem at all.
That’s the bias we’ve unfortunately come to expect from Human Rights Watch. And it’s a shame. An honest, objective report reviewing the conduct of both sides in the current war should be welcomed. It would explain what humanitarian law demands, and make clear that Hamas has purposefully violated and made a mockery of everything it stands for. And it would also show that while Israel has made a tremendous effort to uphold humanitarian values, it has sometimes fallen short. But giving Israel feedback to improve is clearly not the goal of this report — leveling war crimes accusations to ramp up political pressure and hatred of Israel are all that Human Rights Watch is after.
What a pity that what is supposed to be a human rights group has sunk to that.
Shlomo Levin has a Master’s in International Law and Human Rights, and he is the author of the Human Rights Haggadah.
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US Sanctions Six Firms in China, Hong Kong Over Iranian Drone Network
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The United States has sanctioned six entities in Hong Kong and China for allegedly participating in an Iranian drone procurement network, as the Trump administration advances its so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
These latest sanctions follow the US Treasury Department’s announcement earlier this week of new restrictions on Iran’s oil industry, targeting over 30 brokers, tanker operators, and shipping companies involved in transporting and selling Iranian petroleum.
On Wednesday, Washington issued these new sanctions against entities accused of procuring unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components for the Iranian firm Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra and its subsidiary, Narin Sepehr Mobin Isatis, both already blacklisted by the US, calling them key suppliers to Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile programs.
“Iran continues to try to find new ways to procure the key components it needs to bolster its UAV weapons program through new front companies and third-country suppliers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“The Treasury remains committed to disrupting the schemes that enable Iran to send its deadly weapons abroad to its terrorist proxies and other destabilizing actors.”
According to a Reuters report, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said Beijing and Tehran’s cooperation was “reasonable and legal.”
“China has always firmly opposed the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises and citizens,” Pengyu said.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran, aiming to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
However, Trump also expressed a willingness to talk to Iran’s leaders, stating his desire to reach a “nuclear peace agreement” to improve bilateral relations, while insisting that the Iranian regime must not develop a nuclear weapon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected the possibility of nuclear talks with Washington, stating that Tehran would “not negotiate under pressure, threat, or sanctions.”
“There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the United States on the nuclear issue as long as the maximum pressure is applied in this way,” Araghchi said during a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also rejected the idea of negotiating with Washington, calling such a move “unwise” and “dishonorable.”
This week, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported that Iran has further accelerated its production of near weapons-grade uranium, according to a report by The Associated Press.
As of Feb. 8, Tehran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium reached 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds), an increase of 92.5 kilograms (203.9 pounds) since IAEA’s last report in November.
Iran has repeatedly claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than weapon development.
Last year, the UK, France, and Germany said in a statement that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Tehran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
In their latest report, the IAEA estimated that Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), an increase of 1,690.0 kilograms (3,725.8 pounds). The report also noted that Iran continues to ban some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors from monitoring the country’s nuclear program.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from in 2018, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and maintain a stockpile of no more than 300 kilograms.
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Contender in NYC Mayoral Race Has Extensive Anti-Israel Trackrecord
Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
A major contender in the New York City (NYC) mayoral race has an extensive anti-Israel track record, raising concerns among the Big Apple’s Jewish population that the city’s staunch support of the Jewish State may be in jeopardy.
Zohran Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly and candidate for New York City mayor, has made anti-Israel activism a cornerstone of his political career. Mamdani, a self-described progressive and socialist, has both advanced state legislation seeking to punish Israel and has labelled the Jewish state’s defensive military operations in Gaza a “genocide.”
According to a poll conducted by Honan Strategy Group from Feb. 22-23, Mamdani currently sits in second place in the NYC mayoral race, polling at 12 percent. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a commanding lead at 38 percent.
In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement—an initiative which seeks to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel in the first step to its eventual destruction. He claimed that support for the anti-Israel movement is growing within New York City, saying on X/Twitter that “The tide is turning. The fight for justice is here. The moment is now.” That same year, he also called for prohibiting New York lawmakers from visiting Israel, asserting that “every elected [official] must be pressured to stand with Palestinians.”
In May 2023, Mamdani advanced the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” legislation which would ban charities from using tax-deductible donations to aid organizations that work in the West Bank. Mamdani argued that the legislation would help the state fight against so-called Israeli “war crimes” against Palestinians. The socialist dismissed critics of the legislation, saying that his anti-Israel proposal is “in line with the sentiments of most New Yorkers.”
On Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning “Netnayahu’s declaration of war” and suggesting that Israel would use the terror attacks to justify committing a second “Nakba.” Mamdani then said that Israel can only secure its long term safety by “ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”
Five days later, he further criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas-led massacres, saying that “we are brink of a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza right now”
In January 2024, he called on NYC to cease sending any funds to Israel, saying that “Voters oppose their tax dollars funding a genocide.”
The progressive firebrand is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a far-left political organization with critical views of Israel. Though the DSA has long opposed Israel, the organization has ramped up its pro-Hamas rhetoric during the ongoing war in Gaza. On Oct. 7, the organization issued a statement saying that Hamas’ massacre was “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” The organization also encouraged its followers to attend an Oct. 8 “All Out for Palestine” event in Manhattan.
In January 2024, the DSA issued a statement calling for an “end to diplomatic and military support of Israel.” Then in April, the organization’s international committee, DSA IC, issued a missive defending Iran’s right to “self-defense” against Israel. In addition, the socialist group slammed former US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) over his vote in favor of replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
The organization has also issued public support of Hamas, calling the terrorist group a “resistance” and “armed struggle” against Israel. In March 2024, the organization publicly repudiated progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), after the lawmaker condemned Hamas, arguing that Palestinians have a “right to defend against occupation.”
Mamdani’s political ascendence comes amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes within New York City.
New York City has been ravaged by a surge in antisemitic incidents in the 16 months following Oct. 7. According to NYPD data, Jews accounted for a majority of all hate crimes in the city. Pro-Hamas activists have held raucous—and sometimes violent—protests on the city’s college campuses, oftentimes causing Jewish students to fear for their safety. NYC schools are also currently facing criticism for failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from antisemitism.
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GOP Lawmakers Urge Trump to Recognize Israeli Sovereignty Over West Bank
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) Source: Reuters
A group of Republican lawmakers are urging US President Donald Trump to formally recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank, citing the territory’s historical ties and importance to the Jewish people.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), one of the most strident pro-Israel voices in Congress, spearheaded a letter to Trump, calling on the president to endorse an Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Other signatories of the letter include Mary Miller (R-IL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Randy Weber (R-TX), and Andy Harris (R-MD).
The coalition of pro-Israel Republicans—which are members of the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus—argue that the internationally recognized borders of the West Bank, “comprise the Judeo-Christian biblical heartland, where over 80 percent of the Torah and Old Testament took place.” Thus, the lawmakers claim that acknowledging Israel’s claim over the West Bank is central to reinforce America and Israel’s shared “Judeo-Christian heritage.”
The lawmakers argue that recognizing the West Bank as Israeli territory would help build upon his record of supporting the Jewish state. Letter pointed to Trump’s 2021 recognition of the City of David in Jerusalem as a “testament to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and founding principles.” The lawmakers claim that the West Bank, which they refer to as Judea and Samaria, is similarly critical to Israel’s national identity.
They also said that they were in “strong opposition to the recognition of any hostile Arab state in Judea and Samaria that supports terrorism and fails to recognize Israel.”
Israeli leaders have also publicly opposed the creation of a Palestinian state within the West Bank, arguing that the territory would become a hotbed of terrorism and launching pad for direct attacks into the Jewish state’s population centers.
In the immediate aftermath of President Trump’s victory last November, several high-profile conservative lawmakers vowed to refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, aligning themselves with the terminology preferred by Israel. To many observers, the shift in language signalled a shift in US policy closer to the Jewish state and in favor of further expansion of Jewish communities in the territory.However, Critics have argued that the change in language might inflame tensions in the Middle East, complicating the possibility of reaching a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Nonetheless, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), introduced legislation in December ban the federal government from using the term “West Bank” instead of “Judea and Samaria,” arguing that the bill would “align US policy language with the geographical and cultural significance of the region.”
Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has also vowed to use the words Judea and Samaria in lieu of the West Bank.
“I can’t say something I don’t believe. As you well know, I’ve never been willing to use the term ‘West Bank.’ There is no such thing. I speak of Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee told Israeli media outlet Arutz Sheva in an interview. “I tell people there is no ‘occupation.’ It is a land that is ‘occupied’ by the people who have had a rightful deed to the place for 3,500 years, since the time of Abraham.”
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