"This report, says Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President, is an attempt to create a comprehensive reference of FIDH’s own and multi-lateral actions in demanding and challenging accountability for the violations of international human rights and humanitarian law which occur in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. For, one year after, meeting the challenge of justice for victims of international crimes may be, more than ever a key condition for peace in the Middle East".
In the aftermath of Operation "Cast Lead" conducted by the Israeli army in the Occupied Gaza Strip from 27 December 2008 to 17 January 2009 when unilateral ceasefires were announced by both Israel and Hamas, some 1,400 Palestinians had been killed, including some 300 children and hundreds of other unarmed civilians, and large areas of Gaza had been razed to the ground, leaving many thousands homeless and the already dire economy in ruins.
FIDH has been working very closely with its member organizations in Israel (Adalah, Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI, B’Tselem and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel - PCATI) and in the Palestinian Occupied Territory (Al Haq and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights PCHR), in conformity with the priorities set forth by the organization in the fight against impunity. "Cast Lead" has prompted reports and fact-finding missions by a very large number of human rights and humanitarian organizations, as well as, for the first time, by inter-governmental regional organizations such as the Arab League.