Author, Merlin Thomas
Role, BBC fact-checking correspondent
And
Author, Maryam Ahmed
Published 2 minutes ago
Reading time: 12 minutes
The BBC Verify unit monitored 254 incidents in which the Israeli army was accused of killing or wounding people in Gaza, Lebanon, the occupied West Bank and Israel. These are incidents that the army said it was investigating, but the results of these investigations have not been announced to the public yet.
The BBC fact-finding used artificial intelligence tools, developed specifically for this purpose, to scan more than 60,000 news reports, and examined hundreds of incidents in which the Israeli army was accused of causing damage since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. After a comprehensive manual examination of each incident, it was found that there were 300 cases that the Israeli army announced that it was looking into, but in the end the results of the investigation in only 28 cases were published on the Israeli army’s website.
There are also 18 additional incidents, the status of investigations and whether they have been completed or not is not clear.
The BBC Fact-Finding Unit contacted the Israeli army several times to determine the status of each case separately, but it only received information about two incidents, which the army stated were still under review.
The Israeli army said in a statement: “The army takes with the utmost seriousness any allegation or report that raises concerns about behavior that may not comply with the law or with army directives.”
It should be noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross, which works in war zones to ensure compliance with the Geneva Conventions, publishes guidance stating the need to observe the greatest degree of transparency in investigations into possible violations of international humanitarian law, whether criminal charges or otherwise.
Of the 254 incidents monitored by the BBC for fact-finding, there were 158 incidents in Gaza, 48 in the West Bank, and 32 in Lebanon, while 16 other incidents occurred inside Israel or while people were being held by the Israeli army.
All of these incidents occurred between October 7, 2023 and August 19, 2024, and at least one person was killed in more than 200 of them.
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Some of the incidents whose investigation results have not yet been announced date back to late 2023. Among the bloodiest of these cases is the targeting of a school building in Gaza in August 2024, in which at least 93 people were reported killed, including six women and 11 children.
When confronted with accusations of causing damage over the past three years, the Israeli army has become accustomed to responding by saying that the incident is under investigation through various methods. He once replied that it was “under review” or “being reviewed” and another time that it was “being examined” or “audited.” He often becomes silent after that and stops answering any questions about these cases.
A number of these incidents were referred for criminal investigation by the Israeli army. Among the cases that have been subjected to intense public scrutiny are those related to the killing of the child Hind Rajab, who was no more than 5 years old, in addition to the killing of 15 ambulance crews affiliated with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. They were violently attacked with more than 100 bullets, and there are accusations that they were killed at close range.
How does the Israeli army investigate the facts?
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The Israeli army does not usually announce the results of its military investigations, even those that lead to the opening of criminal investigations against its soldiers.
However, the results of some investigations related to hostages in the Gaza Strip, who were allegedly killed as a result of Israeli military operations, were published. However, in some cases, the army did not announce that it had conducted an investigation into a specific incident until media outlets contacted it and asked it about that incident, as the BBC did to investigate the facts.
Last August, the Israeli army issued a rare report containing details about internal investigations into five incidents that occurred in Gaza, including the killing of the child Hind Rajab and 15 Palestinian ambulance and emergency crews. The army revealed that these incidents had been turned into criminal investigations.
In the other three cases, including the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an air strike, as well as the killing of four Doctors Without Borders workers in two separate attacks in Gaza, the Israeli army stated that it found no basis or reasonable suspicion to warrant opening a criminal investigation.
The report also indicated that the "Fact-Finding and Evaluation Mechanism" of the Israeli General Staff is responsible for investigations into "exceptional operational incidents" and has already completed a review of about 150 cases since the start of the war.
According to the Israeli report, these cases were referred to the Israeli Army Military Prosecution for examination. The army did not clarify the nature of these 150 cases, and even when asked about their nature, it did not clarify whether these cases were separate from those monitored by the BBC for fact-finding, or whether they were among them.
Despite receiving repeated requests, the Israeli army did not provide transparent details about the status of investigations in 300 cases identified by the BBC for fact-finding.
The Israeli army stated in a statement that it “publishes information about the results of investigations and reviews whenever possible, taking into account legal and operational considerations, in addition to restrictions related to privacy and information security.”
The army added that some incidents are subject to operational reviews at the command level, which aim to "determine the sequence of events, uncover failures, and draw lessons with the aim of improving operational performance and taking any necessary leadership measures."
The Israeli army also stated that, during the war, it took disciplinary measures in dozens of cases against soldiers who did not adhere to the standards expected of them and acted in violation of army directives; These measures included removing them from combat positions and from serving in the reserve forces.
Data obtained by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, showed that under the Freedom of Information Law and between October 2023 and August 2024, about 1,456 incidents from the Gaza Strip were referred to the fact-finding mechanism of the Israeli General Staff.
Indeed, 12 of these reviews have been completed and referred to the Military Prosecutor, and criminal investigations have already been opened in two of them.
Dan Owen, a researcher at Yesh Din, which has monitored military investigations since 2006, said he believes the IDF often seeks to "prolong" investigations.
He added in a statement to BBC Fact-Finding: “They are trying to extend these investigations to the point that people forget about them or lose interest in them.”
For her part, Janina Dale, professor of international law at Oxford University, explained that according to the Geneva Conventions, in the event of a conflict between two parties, each party to the conflict has the responsibility of “investigating its individuals, and perhaps prosecuting them.”
She added: "This is a very clear basic rule. There is also a manual of guidelines for investigations, which is supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross and has some authority, and these principles stress the need for investigations to be carried out quickly, accurately and impartially."
But Eran Shamir-Porer, director of the Center for Security and Democracy at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former senior legal official in the Israeli army, believes that there are “real challenges” facing investigating allegations during conflicts in which Israel is involved, “given the complexity of combat environments.”
He said: "In a hostile area, which is not always under your control, collecting evidence can be very difficult, especially with the presence of many forces on the ground, many of whom are firing."
“The idea of investigating soldiers while they are at war is not acceptable,” Shamir-Porer added, noting that this also happens in other countries that respect the rule of law.
He explained that Israel would benefit if it were more transparent regarding its investigations, and that he encouraged the Israeli army to be “more open regarding the information it shares with the public about the progress that is actually being made in investigating various allegations.”
Gaza
Since the attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people and the taking of 251 others hostage, the Israeli army has launched large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip, declaring that its goal is to recover the hostages and eliminate Hamas.
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands injured in Israeli attacks since the outbreak of the war, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The BBC fact-finding unit documented the deaths of emergency team workers and people trying to access humanitarian aid inside the Gaza Strip, in addition to the destruction of thousands of buildings in the Strip, and monitored incidents of alleged misconduct on the part of Israeli soldiers over the past three years.
In December 2023, just two months after the start of the war, Israeli forces killed two women inside the only Catholic church in the Strip, an incident that the Israeli army later announced was under review.
According to the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, a mother named Nahida Khalil Boulos Antun and her daughter, Samar Kamal Antun, were killed by sniper fire inside the campus of the Holy Family Church in Gaza.
At the time of the incident, the BBC fact-finding team contacted the Israeli army regarding this report, and the army reported that an initial review indicated that its forces were operating against a threat from Hamas, which had been detected “in the vicinity of the church.” The Israeli army added that it was "conducting a comprehensive review of the incident."
In September 2025, the BBC fact-finding team asked the Israeli army for updates on this review, and the response was that the incident “is still under review by the General Staff’s fact-finding mechanism.”
Even now, nearly three years after the killing of Nahida and Samar, the Israeli army has reiterated that the incident is still under review.
In response to the latest request for information about what really happened at the church, the Israeli army stated: “Complex incidents may require a long time to collect, match, and verify factual information relevant to the incident.”
He added: "The Israeli army does not shorten or cancel any examination or investigation procedures in order to adhere to external timetables."
Deadly attacks on schools
One of the bloodiest incidents, which is still under investigation by the Israeli army, was the targeting of the “Al-Tabaeen” school building in eastern Gaza City with an air strike in August 2024.
The raid led to the death of 93 people, including six women and 11 children, after striking the school and a nearby mosque, according to data from the Civil Defense in Gaza, which is run by the Hamas movement.
The buildings were housing displaced Palestinians when the area was subjected to several Israeli raids that coincided with the time of dawn prayer. Video clips verified by the BBC showed a cloud of dust in the area, while emergency team members were making their way through small fires, rubble, and human remains scattered on the ground.
Pictures taken during the day also revealed that the floors were stained with blood, debris appeared everywhere, and citizens’ clothes were scattered throughout the place.
Experts told the BBC fact-finding unit that the remnants of the munitions that appeared at the site and were used in the raid were consistent with a GBU-39 bomb. It is a precision-guided bomb produced by the United States and provided to the Israeli army.
At the time of the raid, the Israeli army claimed that the school building contained a command and control center run by Hamas, and that its soldiers killed 31 Hamas militants during the operation.
The army said that, based on a “preliminary review,” the announced casualty numbers do not match the information available to it, especially with the use of a type of precision-guided munitions, as well as the accuracy of the strike. The Israeli army confirmed to the BBC fact-checking platform that this incident is still subject to review.
West Bank
The matter was not limited to Gaza only. In the West Bank, the BBC fact-finding unit also investigated incidents that the Israeli army said it was investigating there.
It should be noted that Israel has been occupying these lands since the 1967 war, and has established dozens of settlements there, which is illegal under international law.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces since October 11, 2023, and BBC Fact-Finding examined more than 50 investigations conducted by the Israeli military into incidents that occurred in the area, at least 26 of which involved the killing or injury of women and children.
One of these incidents occurred near the city of Jenin in September 2024, where the 16-year-old Lujain Musleh was killed during an operation carried out by Israeli forces.
Loujain's father stated that she was shot in the head while she was looking out the window of her house in the village of Kafr Dan, after soldiers surrounded a house next to theirs.
The Israeli army claimed at the time that gunmen opened fire on its soldiers, forcing them to respond "and fire at a suspicious person who was watching them," adding that the details of the incident were still under review.
Lebanon
In Lebanon, the BBC Fact-Finding Unit monitored nearly 40 investigations conducted by the Israeli army regarding incidents that resulted in damage in Lebanon.
Hezbollah had fired rockets towards Israel in support of Hamas following the October 7 attacks. Since then, Israel has launched two massive incursions into Lebanese territory, killing more than 4,000 people, according to health authorities in Lebanon.
Among the investigations monitored by the BBC to investigate an incident that occurred on November 10, 2024; An Israeli raid near the city of Jbeil killed 23 people, including seven children, according to what the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced.
Documented footage from the accident site showed smoke rising amid the rubble and metal parts of the buildings scattered on the ground, after they were completely destroyed.
The Israeli army announced at the time that it had targeted a site that Hezbollah was using in its military operations and to store its weapons, indicating that the incident was under review.
Long investigations
Michael Schmitt, a professor of international law at the University of Reading who has previously worked closely with the Israeli army, believes that the legal department within the Israeli army “represents the authoritative reference (the gold standard) in terms of understanding the law.”
But he pointed out that "the mere allegation of a violation does not necessarily require a comprehensive investigation."
Schmitt defends the “many reasons” that might prevent the IDF from publicly revealing the details of an investigation, or the reasons for deciding not to conduct an investigation. “For example, you don’t want to reveal specific operational details or rules of engagement, because enemy forces might adjust their tactics according to what is announced,” he says.
But Janina Dale, a professor of international law who is also co-director of the Oxford Institute for the Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, believes that three years into the process, “some of these investigations should have already been completed.”
Methodology used
The unit developed a search engine based on artificial intelligence to scan these reports for incidents that may have resulted in the injury or death of people at the hands of Israeli forces, as well as the Israeli army’s announcement that it had opened an investigation into the incident, or used phrases such as that it was “looking into the matter,” “reviewing,” “verifying,” or “examining.”
This process resulted in the identification of about 5,000 reports, which the BBC fact-finding team manually reviewed, and excluded any report that did not meet the above-mentioned criteria.
Thus, we remain with 1,343 reports of incidents that the Israeli army said it was looking into, noting that some of these reports referred to the same incidents.
We used another AI-based tool to exclude duplicate reports; Reports related to a single incident were collected according to the date of publication, the date of the incident, its location, and the number of injured or dead mentioned.
The unit then manually verified that each report was classified into the correct group, ultimately arriving at 300 unique incidents worth monitoring.
For each of these incidents, we matched our data, including the date and location of the incident and the numbers killed or injured, with the original report by BBC News or Reuters.
We shared details of each case with the IDF, including the date and location of the incident, the news report describing it, and the IDF's comment that it was looking into the matter.
We asked the Israeli army to comment and clarify the current status of each case and what the investigations had reached, but it did not clarify in its response to the BBC whether any of these investigations had concluded.
We also searched for any data on the IDF website, for each individual incident, indicating the end of the investigation, using two different search engines powered by artificial intelligence.
We found evidence that 28 cases were closed, based on data clarifying the findings reached or indicating that no additional steps were taken.
As for 18 other incidents, it is not clear whether investigations into them have been completed or not. This included cases in which the Israeli army published preliminary information about an incident without clearly indicating that its file had been closed, and other cases in which the army issued
