From 2016 to 2024, according to figures provided by MAG, a total of 2,427 complaints were filed by Palestinian residents of the West Bank against IDF soldiers.<\/p>\n
Those complaints resulted in 552 investigations being launched, representing 21.6% of cases. Indictments were served in just 23 cases, 0.9% of the total number of complaints over eight years.<\/p>\n
\t International human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as Israeli civil rights groups like B\u2019tselem and Yesh Din have long criticized what they say is a lack of accountability for IDF soldiers who act unlawfully against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n Yesh Din also said that an analysis of the 185 cases it had been involved with from 2016 to 2025 showed that MAG had failed to adhere to the accepted timeframes for the three stages a complaint potentially goes through on the way to a possible indictment.<\/p>\n According to recommendations adopted by the security cabinet in 2016, prosecutors should take a maximum of 14 weeks to decide whether to open an investigation, nine months to conduct the investigation itself, and may take another nine months to decide whether to file an indictment based on the results of the probe.<\/p>\n Yesh Din said it took an average of 213 days, or about 30 weeks, for the first stage alone. The investigation phase exceeded the acceptable time frame in 47% of cases, and the decision on whether to press charges in 50% of the cases.<\/p>\n Still, the average time for the latter two stages only exceeded the accepted timeframe by a month each, according to Yesh Din.<\/p>\n \t Particularly problematic were the 28 complaints filed by Yesh Din alleging that an IDF soldier killed a Palestinian civilian. In 11 of those cases, it took MAG more than 14 weeks to decide to open an investigation. In six cases it took between six and 12 months, and in two it took as long as two years.<\/p>\n Some probes were rendered ineffective due to complications arising from the time that elapsed, the organization said. It also charged that the rarity of punishments translated into IDF soldiers being able to act with impunity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe long wait until a criminal investigation is launched, and again until a decision is made following it, thwarts the investigations in practice, precluding any possibility that the military law enforcement system will penalize offenders and handle suspected violations of the laws of armed conflict,\u201d Yesh Din said.<\/p>\n \t \u201cBy refraining from addressing complaints promptly, effectively and with due gravitas, the MAG Corps sends a clear message to soldiers that the army condones violence, beating, looting of property, wounding or even killing of Palestinians in the West Bank,\u201d said the organization, which campaigns against Israeli control of the West Bank.<\/p>\n It cited one case in which it submitted a complaint on behalf of a Palestinian man who was in a cafe when he was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet by an IDF soldier, and had to have the eye surgically removed as a result.<\/p>\n It took MAG six months to decide to open an investigation into the incident, and the investigation itself lasted eight months. It then took a further 13 months for MAG to close the case without an indictment, telling Yesh Din, \u201cThere was no evidence that your client was injured as a result of intentional firing or unintentional shots carried out in violation of the rules for use of rubber bullets.\u201d<\/p>\n In another case, Belal, a 27-year old resident of Beitunia, a suburb of Ramallah, was shot in the back by soldiers when he was visiting family in Deir Nidham, north of Ramallah in January 2020.<\/p>\n \t Belal filed a complaint through Yesh Din on March 9, but it took until September for MAG to decide to open an investigation. The investigation itself took six months ending, in March 2021 and it then took fully 19 months for MAG to make a decision regarding indictments.<\/p>\n Ultimately MAG decided in October 2023 to close the investigation without an indictment, despite what Yesh Din alleged was strong evidence gleaned during the investigation that the soldier\u2019s account of the incident was false. An appeal of the decision not to issue an indictment took 10 months to be evaluated, and was rejected.<\/p>\n The group warned that the failures raised doubts that MAG is able and willing to conduct credible investigations into allegations of war crimes by IDF forces in Gaza during the war with Hamas. Israel has in the past been able to fend off international tribunals into alleged war crimes by citing the seriousness of its internal investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cBy evading its duty to treat cases that violate the laws of armed conflict with due gravitas, as reflected in this data sheet, Israel undermines this semblance of law enforcement and opens the door to international intervention,\u201d Yesh Din said.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPalestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli soldiers following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Kfar Qaddum in the West Bank on October 7, 2022. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_8777-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tIllustrative: A medical clinic room allegedly vandalized by IDF troops in the Palestinian West Bank hamlet of Jinba, March 30, 2025. (Jeremy Sharon \/ Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/WhatsApp_Image_2025-11-27_at_16.03.22_1_0-640x400.jpeg\")
\n\t\tMilitary Advocate General Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir (center), IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left), and Defense Minister Israel Katz (right), are seen at a ceremony marking Ofir\u2019s entry to the role at the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv, November 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8i5t4fh-640x400.jpg\")
\n\t\tBelal, 27, a resident of the Palestinian city of Beitunia, who was shot in the back while visiting family in the village of Deir Nidham. (Courtesy Yesh Din)<\/p>\n
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