United States President Donald Trump's "Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict," announced on September 29, 2025, is no substitute for the urgent action governments need to take to protect civilians and support justice after two years of grave abuses in Israel and Palestine, Human Rights Watch said today.
The 20-part plan does not directly address human rights issues or accountability for serious crimes committed since October 7, 2023. Governments should be taking immediate measures, including arms embargoes, targeted sanctions, and support for the International Criminal Court (ICC), in accordance with their international legal obligations to prevent and stop violations by the parties regardless of whether the Trump plan goes forward.
"The two years since October 7, 2023, have brought a seemingly endless stream of atrocities against civilians for which there has been no letup or justice," said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch. "Governments should not wait for the adoption of Trump's or any other plan to take action to prevent further harm to those most at risk."
Atrocity crimes in Israel and Palestine over the past two years have taken a devastating toll on civilians with thousands killed, maimed, starved, forcibly displaced, and unlawfully held hostage or detained; towns and neighborhoods leveled to the ground; and countless communities and lives devastated, Human Rights Watch said.
Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups gunned down several hundred civilians at festivals and in their homes across two dozen communities in southern Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks. Scores of civilians were taken hostage, and many are still held, including those starving in tunnels. Human Rights Watch found in its July 2024 report that Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and unlawful imprisonment.
Governments with influence over Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups should press for the urgent release of civilian hostages, an ongoing war crime, Human Rights Watch said.
In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them civilians, including decimating entire families and killing on average the equivalent of an entire classroom of children each day. Military operations in Gaza have left most of the territory in ruins, flattening entire neighborhoods and towns and severely damaging or destroying most homes, schools, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure. Israeli authorities have caused a famine, using starvation as a weapon of war, and forcibly displaced virtually the entire population multiple times.
The United Nations, human rights organizations, and the media have repeatedly reported Israeli authorities' actions in Gaza that seriously violated international law. Human Rights Watch found numerous violations of the laws of war amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity, including extermination, and acts of genocide, and the violation of binding orders by the International Court of Justice.
In the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed or maimed, thousands detained, many without trial or charge, and tens of thousands displaced, mostly by Israeli forces, but also by settlers.
The scale of destruction in Gaza and the patterns of attacks have demonstrated the Israeli government's contempt for its fundamental obligations under international law. The failure to uphold these norms has consequences that extend far beyond Israel and Palestine. When powerful states or their allies disregard international humanitarian law without consequence, they erode the credibility of the entire system and weaken protections for civilians in armed conflicts elsewhere, Human Rights Watch said.
All governments should act to prevent further atrocities and to uphold the universality of human rights. They should take steps to halt ongoing abuses and support credible investigations and meaningful accountability for those responsible, including the following measures:
- Press Israeli authorities to immediately and unconditionally lift unlawful sweeping restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza.
- Press Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all civilians held hostage.
- Suspend military assistance and arms transfers to Israel and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
- Impose targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against Israeli officials and others credibly implicated in ongoing serious violations.
- Suspend preferential trade agreements with Israel and ban trade with illegal settlements.
- Publicly express support for the ICC and strongly condemn efforts to intimidate its officials and those cooperating with the court or to interfere with its work; commit to support the enforcement of ICC warrants.
"The worsening repression on the ground as decades of 'peace processes' played out should have made clear the folly of relying solely on peace plans to address grave abuses," Shakir said. "Governments urgently need to take concrete action to protect Gaza's over two million Palestinians and the Israeli hostages."
