BBC Investigation: The Israeli army has not made public the results of hundreds of investigations on dead and wounded in the Middle East

BBC Investigation: The Israeli army has not made public the results of hundreds of inquiries into deaths and injuries in the Middle East - Author, Merlyn Thomas - Author's title, BBC Verify Correspondent - Author, Maryam Ahmed - Author's title, BBC News - Publication date - Reading time: 14 min BBC Verify has identified 254 incidents in which the Israeli army has been accused of killing or injuring people - in Gaza, Lebanon, the occupied West Bank, and Israel - which, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), are under investigation but have had no public resolution. Using AI tools designed specifically for this purpose, BBC Verify analyzed more than 60,000 news articles and examined hundreds of incidents in which these security forces faced accusations of damage since the start of the Gaza war. After an exhaustive review of each incident, we found 300 cases that, according to the army, were being investigated, but only 28 had results published on the IDF website. In the other 18 incidents, it was unclear whether the investigation had concluded. BBC Verify contacted the Israel Defense Forces repeatedly about each case, but only received information about two incidents, which according to the IDF are still under investigation. "The IDF takes every complaint or report that raises concerns about conduct that may be incompatible with the law or the directives of the IDF with the utmost seriousness," the statement indicated. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which works in war zones to enforce the Geneva Conventions, publishes guidelines stating that investigations into possible violations of international humanitarian law, whether criminal or otherwise, should be as transparent as possible. Of the 254 incidents identified by BBC Verify, 158 occurred in Gaza, 48 in the West Bank, and 32 in Lebanon. Other 16 took place in Israel or in IDF detention centers. All occurred between October 7, 2023, and August 19, 2026, and it was reported that at least one person died in more than 200 of them. Some of the incidents without public resolution date back to late 2023. One of the most deadly cases was an attack on a school building in Gaza in August 2024, in which, according to reports, at least 93 people died, including six women and 11 children. For three years, the Israeli army has frequently responded to accusations of damage by claiming that the incident is being investigated in some way, for example, that it is being "analyzed," "reviewed," "verified," or "examined." Often, this is the latest news about the case. The Defense Forces have elevated several incidents to the category of criminal investigation. Two of them, which attracted public attention, were the deaths of Hind Rajab, five years old, and 15 emergency workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent who allegedly received more than 100 shots and were allegedly attacked at point-blank range. How do the Defense Forces investigate incidents? The results of the military investigations by the IDF are not routinely made public, including those that lead to criminal investigations against their soldiers. Several publications refer to hostages in Gaza who allegedly died as a consequence of Israeli operations. In some cases, the army only announced that it was investigating an incident after being contacted by BBC Verify or other media outlets. In August, the IDF published an exceptional report detailing internal investigations into five incidents in Gaza, including the deaths of Hind Rajab and the 15 Palestinian emergency workers, and revealed that they had been elevated to criminal investigations. In the other three cases, which involved the deaths of seven humanitarian workers from the World Central Kitchen organization in an air attack and the deaths of four humanitarian workers from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in two separate attacks in Gaza, the IDF stated that they found no reasonable grounds or suspicion to initiate a criminal investigation. The report also indicated that the Israel Defense Forces Investigation and Evaluation Mechanism of the General Staff (FFAM), which is responsible for investigating the actions of the IDF regarding "exceptional operational incidents," had completed the review of approximately 150 cases since the start of the war. According to the report, these cases have been referred to the Military Prosecutor's Office of the IDF for examination. The IDF did not specify what these 150 incidents consisted of nor clarify whether they were different from the cases identified by BBC Verify when asked about them. Despite multiple requests, Israeli military authorities have not provided a transparent breakdown of the status of the 300 investigations identified by BBC Verify. In a statement, the IDF stated that they "publish information about the results of investigations and reviews when possible, taking into account legal and operational matters, as well as restrictions related to privacy and the security of information." They added that certain incidents are examined through high-level operational reviews, the objective of which is to "establish the sequence of events, identify failures, and draw lessons to improve operational conduct and take the necessary command measures." The Israel Defense Forces also stated that, during the war, they have taken disciplinary measures in dozens of cases against soldiers who did not comply with the expected standards and acted against IDF directives, including the dismissal of combat and reserve positions. According to data obtained by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, between October 2023 and August 2024, at least 1,456 incidents related to Gaza were referred to the FFAM. Twelve of these reviews were completed and referred to the Military Prosecutor's Corps (MAG), two of which led to criminal investigations. Dan Owen, a researcher at Yesh Din, an organization that oversees military investigations since 2006, told BBC Verify that he believes the Israel Defense Forces often try to prolong investigations. "They try to extend these processes to the point where people forget them and stop paying attention to them," he stated. Janina Dill, a professor of International Law at Oxford University, England, stated that, according to the Geneva Conventions, a party in an armed conflict has the responsibility to "investigate and, potentially, prosecute its own." "That is the absolutely clear conclusion," she added. "There are also guidelines for investigation, endorsed by the International Committee of the Red Cross, so they have some authority. And they emphasize promptness, thoroughness, and impartiality." Eran Shamir-Borer, director of the Center for Security and Democracy at the Israeli Institute for Democracy (IDT) and a former high-ranking legal official in the Israel Defense Forces, stated that there are "real challenges" in investigating accusations in the conflicts in which Israel is involved, given the complex combat environments. "In a hostile territory, which is not always under your control, gathering evidence can be very difficult. There are many forces on the ground, many of them opening fire," he said. Shamir-Borer added: "The idea of investigating soldiers in the context of a war is never popular," something that, according to him, is also observed in other countries that respect the law. He added that Israel would benefit from greater transparency in its investigations and urged the Israel Defense Forces to be "more communicative with the information they share with the public about the progress they are making in investigating various accusations." The last three years in Gaza Since the attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken as hostages, the Israel Defense Forces have carried out extensive military operations in Gaza that, they claim, aimed to rescue the hostages and dismantle Hamas. According to the Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, more than 74,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks since the start of the war. BBC Verify has reported on the deaths of emergency workers and people trying to access humanitarian aid within Gaza, the destruction of thousands of buildings in the Strip, and the incidents of alleged misconduct perpetrated by Israeli soldiers over the last three years. Less than two months after the start of the war, two women were killed by Israeli troops in the only Catholic church in Gaza in December 2023, during an incident that, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was being investigated. According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, a mother, Nahida Anton, and her daughter, Samar Anton, died from sniper fire inside the walls of the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza. At the time, BBC Verify contacted the Israel Defense Forces regarding the report. The army declared that an initial review suggested that the troops had been operating against a Hamas threat that they had identified "in the vicinity of the church." The IDF added that they were "conducting a thorough investigation of the incident." In September 2025, BBC Verify requested updated information about the investigation and was informed that the incident "was still being investigated by the FFAM." Now, almost three years after the deaths of Nahida and Samar, the IDF have again declared that the incident is under investigation. After the latest request for information, they declared: "Complex incidents may require considerable time to collect, cross-reference, and verify the relevant factual information." "The Israel Defense Forces do not shorten or renounce examination or investigation procedures to meet external deadlines," they added. Lethal Attack on a School Building One of the deadliest incidents still being investigated by the Israeli army is an air attack carried out against a school building in the east of Gaza City in August 2024. The Hamas-led civil defense agency reported that at least 93 people, including six women and eleven children, died in the attack on the Al Tabaín school complex and the nearby mosque. The buildings housed displaced Palestinians when several Israeli attacks hit the area during the dawn prayers. Videos verified by the BBC showed a cloud of dust as emergency teams cleared the way between small fires, rubble, and human remains scattered on the ground. Photographs taken in daylight showed blood-stained floors, rubble, and clothing of scattered people. According to information provided to BBC Verify, the fragments of ammunition visible at the scene matched those of a GBU-39, a precision bomb supplied by the United States to the Israeli army. At that time, the IDF stated that a Hamas command and control center had infiltrated the school building and that IDF soldiers killed 31 combatants in the incident. They added that, according to an "initial review," the number of casualties did not match the information held by the IDF, the ammunition used, or the accuracy of the attack. The IDF informed BBC Verify that this incident is still under investigation. The Situation in the West Bank BBC Verify also investigated incidents that, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), were being investigated in the West Bank. Israel occupies the territory since the 1967 war and has built dozens of settlements there, which is illegal under international law. More than a thousand Palestinians have died in the West Bank at the hands of Israeli forces since October 11, 2023, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. BBC Verify examined more than 50 investigations by the IDF into incidents in the territory, at least 26 of which involved the deaths or injuries of women and children. One of these incidents took place on the outskirts of Jenin in September 2024, when, according to reports, Israeli forces killed Lujain Musleh, 16, during an operation. Lujain's father said that he was shot in the head while looking out the window of his house in Kafr Dan after soldiers surrounded a neighboring house. At that time, the Israeli army declared that armed combatants had shot at the soldiers, who "returned fire against a suspect who was watching them," and that the details of the incident were being investigated. Operations in Lebanon BBC Verify also found about 40 investigations by the Israel Defense Forces regarding incidents of violence in Lebanon. The Shiite armed group Hezbollah launched rockets against Israel in support of Hamas after the October 7 attacks. Since then, Israel has launched two major invasions into Lebanon, where, according to the country's health authorities, more than 4,000 people have died. An investigation by the Israeli Defense Forces, identified by BBC Verify, took place on November 10, 2024. An Israeli attack killed 23 people, including seven children, near the city of Biblos, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The verified images of the consequences of the attack showed smoke rising among the rubble and twisted metal scattered on the ground where buildings had been destroyed. The IDF stated at the time that they had attacked a position from where Hezbollah operated and stored weapons, and that the incident was under investigation. Long-Term Investigations Michael Schmitt, a professor of International Law at the University of Reading, England, who has collaborated closely with the IDF, stated that the legal division of the Israeli army is a benchmark in terms of understanding Law, and added that "not every violation complaint necessarily entails an exhaustive investigation." Schmitt stated that there are several reasons why the Israel Defense Forces might not publicly reveal the details of an investigation or the decision not to conduct one. "For example, operational details or specific rules of engagement are not desired to be revealed, as enemy forces would adapt," he explained, and added: "E, even if an investigation were to be initiated, many elements of it would remain confidential." Janina Dill -who is also co-director of the Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflicts at Oxford (ELAC)- said: "After three years of this operation, some of these investigations should have concluded." According to her statement, when it comes to investigating incidents of violence, "Israel has largely taken the argument that it is a state governed by the rule of law to delegitimize the attempts of the international community to investigate." "If we have documented cases of abuses that are not investigated or whose investigations stall, and we have reasonable grounds to believe they are being forgotten, then that would undermine the idea that Israel is fully capable of guaranteeing accountability," she added. Methodology BBC Verify collected 61,000 reports from BBC News and Reuters mentioning Gaza, the West Bank, or Lebanon, published between October 7, 2023, and August 19, 2026. We created an AI search engine to examine these reports for incidents in which people may have suffered injuries or deaths at the hands of Israeli forces, and in which the IDF indicated that the report was being investigated, or for example, "examined," "reviewed," "verified," or "analyzed." This allowed us to identify almost 5,000 reports. Each one was then reviewed by BBC Verify reporters, who excluded those that did not meet the aforementioned criteria. This left 1,343 incident reports that, according to the Israel Defense Forces, were being investigated. Some of these reports described the same incidents. We developed another AI tool to eliminate these duplicate reports. This tool grouped the reports into unique incidents based on the publication date, the date of the incident, the location, and the number of injured or dead reported. We then manually checked that each report was assigned to the correct group, leaving us with 300 unique incidents. For each of these incidents, we checked our records, including the date of the incident, the place, and the number of people killed or injured, comparing them with the original BBC News or Reuters report. We shared the details of each case with the Israel Defense Forces, including the date and place of the incident, the journalistic report describing it, and the original statement from the IDF indicating that they were investigating the matter. We requested comments and the latest information from the IDF about the status of each case, but Israeli authorities did not respond to the BBC's requests about whether any of these investigations had concluded. For each incident, we also searched for statements on the IDF website indicating that the investigation had concluded, using two web search engines with artificial intelligence. We found evidence that 28 cases were closed based on statements that detailed the findings or indicated that no further action would be taken. In the other 18 incidents, it was unclear whether the investigation had concluded. This included cases where the IDF published initial information about the incident without clearly indicating that the investigation had closed, and cases where the IDF had classified some or all of the dead or injured as combatants, in statements on their own website. This left us with at least 254 incidents of damage that the Israeli army had said was under investigation, but for which we found no public results on the IDF website. This was not an exhaustive search, and there may be more investigations into incidents of damage that have not been detected in our search. Additional information from Barbara Metzler. This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. More information on how we use AI. - Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries, and analysis, all in one place. Important: the new application is not available in the UK or the United States. - You can also follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, and our WhatsApp channel. - And don't forget to subscribe here to our newsletter to receive a special selection of our best content every Friday.