The IDF has closed dozens of alleged warfare crimes circumstances arising from the 2023-2024 interval of the warfare, The Jerusalem Publish can disclose completely for the time.
Publication of the main points of the case closures has been extensively delayed by fears that the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) and the Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) will abuse any new info put out for a politicized anti-Israel agenda.
Typically, way more progress has been made for the 2023-2024 interval than for newer incidents, which solely occurred in 2025.
The Sdei Teiman circumstances
Most of the circumstances which were closed relate to the alleged deaths of as many as 98 detainees on the IDF’s Sdei Teiman detention facility or at different detention services earlier within the warfare.
These circumstances have additionally made up a major group of the round 100 felony probes (although not each loss of life receives a probe, as many detainees have been apparently mortally wounded on the battlefield and died of their wounds shortly after being dropped at Sdei Teiman for medical consideration), which the IDF authorized division has opened into its personal troopers’ conduct.
That 100 quantity is simply a drop within the pond of the as much as 3,000 complete preliminary evaluations of alleged warfare crimes. At press time, the IDF had not supplied a breakdown of which preliminary overview circumstances had been referred for potential felony consideration by the IDF authorized division, which turned full felony circumstances, and which circumstances leapfrogged previous the operational overview stage instantly into felony probes.
It is usually fairly attainable that a number of further indictments will nonetheless be filed within the Sdei Teiman circumstances.
If that’s the case, it is going to be fascinating to see how the complicated home and worldwide politics of the problem, which has already seen two indictments, considered one of which took Israel by storm, are impacted by the brand new developments.
Israel’s ICJ response
Relating to the ICJ, the Publish has discovered that Israel’s response, due March 12, to South Africa’s genocide claims in opposition to it’s within the technique of being detailed by an roughly 1,000-page authorized transient, with one other 4,000-plus pages of displays.
One of many largest, if not the biggest, worldwide legislation and warfare authorized protection paperwork Israel has ever produced, the fees being confronted nonetheless relate solely to 2023-2024.
South Africa has not but supplied an in depth critique of the IDF’s conduct in 2025.
It’s anticipated that South Africa will file an replace in Spring-Summer time 2026, to which Israel will probably want to reply by Spring 2027.
There are considerations amongst Israeli legal professionals in regards to the genocide fees attributable to exaggerated public statements made not solely by Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, but in addition attributable to statements made close to the beginning of the warfare by extra authoritative protection figures.
The World Central Kitchen and Islamic Crimson Crescent case
Relating to the April 1, 2024, World Central Kitchen incident during which the IDF mistakenly killed seven humanitarian assist staff, though some senior IDF officers concerned have been instantly fired or censured as a part of an operational probe, there was an in depth delay in saying the ultimate felony probe outcomes.
Already in summer time 2024, the Publish was informed by prime IDF authorized sources {that a} determination might be coming quickly. This was repeated in January 2025 by sources, and as soon as once more final week. There is no such thing as a query that, among the many massive, high-profile circumstances, this one is way alongside within the IDF authorized division’s means to render a authorized determination.
Past that, although there are a variety of purely authorized causes for the delay, there is also higher diplomatic considerations about further ICC warrants being issued in opposition to the troopers concerned, a few of whom have been publicly named by the IDF as being fired or censured.
Additionally, six totally different nations’ residents have been killed within the incident, with wider implications given that every one of these nations have saved the problem alive as a major problem of their diplomatic interactions with Israel.
Though the preliminary evaluation of the incident by the operations probe portrayed it as a sequence of errors and positively not intentional, there may additionally be considerations about decrease ranges of potential felony culpability.
Relating to the March 23, 2025, Islamic Crimson Crescent incident during which the IDF mistakenly killed as much as 15 humanitarian assist staff, this is among the few 2025 circumstances that may be very superior within the probe course of.
If many 2025 circumstances are nonetheless on the preliminary probe stage, this probe has already been despatched to IDF Navy Advocate Common Maj. Gen. Itay Offir for a call.
It’s unclear when he’ll subject the selections, provided that he solely took workplace on November 27, 2025, and that he has supplied little advance discover after his predecessor abruptly resigned amid a separate scandal associated to the Sdei Teiman circumstances.
The Gazan bakeries case
In October-November 2023, there was a sequence of IDF strikes that hit totally different Gazan bakeries, which aren’t solely normally outlined as civilian places, but in addition have been a significant supply of meals for the broader public given the warfare state of affairs.
Due to the ICJ’s secrecy guidelines, the IDF argues that it can’t but publicize the specifics of its responses to the assorted incidents (although it might have supplied a paraphrased abstract).
However general, the responses are anticipated to argue that in some circumstances the bakeries had been taken over by Hamas, and in gentle of terrorist-fighters being situated there, had develop into professional navy targets.
In different circumstances, the bakeries could not have been the goal and will not have even been hit instantly by the IDF. However there could have been a misjudgment by the IDF about how far the aftereffects of the strikes would unfold, with unintended, oblique, however nonetheless lethal, results on the bakeries.
Even in that state of affairs, Israel would argue earlier than the ICJ that the unintended and tragic hurt to the bakeries and people potential civilians inside didn’t truly trigger any sort of hunger in Gaza.
Previous to its October 7 invasion of Israel, Hamas had stocked up with meals and provides in Gaza in preparation for an anticipated Israeli counter-strike (although its preparations have been for weeks or months and never two years).
The Jabalia case
In October 2023, the IDF allegedly killed as much as 69 and 125 Palestinian civilians in a number of air strikes in Jabalia in northern Gaza. Among the Jabalia incidents have been among the many first to be investigated by the operational preliminary probes early within the warfare.
Current inquiries by the Publish to the IDF in regards to the standing of the probes and why the outcomes of such probes from so early within the warfare had not yielded any public info didn’t yield any new info.
Nevertheless, beforehand, IDF sources had informed the Publish that the aim of 1 operation was to kill a senior Hamas official, and it seems that the IDF had factored in a small variety of civilian casualties from the one location he was inhabiting.
Nevertheless, the struck home triggered the tunnel beneath it to break down, which in flip introduced down a variety of close by buildings.
In such circumstances, a senior IDF lawyer has beforehand informed the Publish that they would wish to contemplate questions of proportionality primarily based on what it might moderately have been anticipated to know earlier than the operation, not on the result that may observe from info it didn’t but have.
From a navy benefit perspective, for the reason that aim was to take management of Gaza from Hamas, the worth of eliminating Hamas tunnels was far greater than ever earlier than. Eliminating tunnels was additionally necessary for ongoing drive safety throughout maneuvering and operations, since there was an ongoing invasion, the IDF lawyer mentioned.
The anticipated hurt to civilians is notoriously arduous to guess, however a senior IDF lawyer has beforehand admitted to the Publish that the IDF had discovered classes from a Might 2021 Gaza battle catastrophe. In that incident, massive numbers of civilians have been killed accidentally as a result of surprising collapse of a tunnel below a residence, inflicting the entire block of residences to break down.
However even after studying the teachings, the tunnel’s top, size, and width could differ from intelligence estimates, mentioned the IDF lawyer. The tunnel’s solidity or rickety nature, and the supplies from which it was made, may additionally differ from IDF estimates.
As well as, the IDF authorized advisor famous that if Hamas hides explosives across the tunnel to attempt to entice and kill IDF floor forces, which causes further surprising explosions and extra residences close by to break down, the IDF can’t be held accountable for that.
Allegations of pointless constructing destruction
In September 2025, the IDF reinvaded Gaza Metropolis after having invaded it a number of instances earlier within the warfare. Nevertheless, this time, the IDF’s aim was to probably completely take over the realm, and a part of the technique concerned destroying areas the place Hamas would possibly conceal out, together with massive buildings that had not been beforehand focused.
In lots of circumstances, the IDF’s or the Protection Ministry’s public statements indicated skyscraper buildings that have been destroyed allegedly as a result of they contained Hamas surveillance tools. These statements didn’t point out killing any imminent Hamas threats, nor whether or not floor troops might have destroyed the surveillance tools with out destroying the entire constructing.
The Publish has not acquired a complete reply explaining these points. However one new attainable reply steered by sources has been that a part of the broader operation concerned clandestine actions to find Israeli hostages. In that case, instant upkeep of operational secrecy might have justified the necessity to rapidly eradicate potential surveillance of Israeli forces.
Likewise, the Publish didn’t obtain a transparent response relating to statistics supplied by the IDF, which cumulatively seem to point out a considerably worse ratio of killed Palestinian civilians in comparison with combatants in 2025 versus in 2023-2024, in addition to related allegations from some air drive sources.
It was unclear whether or not the dearth of response was as a result of 2025 probes nonetheless being within the preliminary phases or to different causes, together with that a number of the statistical knowledge could also be disputed.
Gaza Humanitarian Basis incidents
There was an identical lack of awareness on the standing of probes into the Might – October 2025 incidents with Palestinians relating both to the Gaza Humanitarian Basis (GHF) or to IDF troopers supervising the close by perimeter to the GHF meals assist websites.
The Publish has discovered that the IDF’s view is that a lot of the incidents the IDF or GHF are accused of relating to Palestinian civilian deaths are manufactured by Hamas or exaggerated. Nevertheless, the Publish has additionally discovered that there have been a sequence of incidents, probably within the single digits, during which IDF troopers most likely did mistakenly kill single-digit numbers of Palestinian civilians.
Collectively, this could not depart the IDF liable for the immense quantity claimed by UN businesses, some claiming over 800 and a few way more, however presumably within the low dozens.
These probes, the Publish understands, are nonetheless on the operational stage and haven’t but reached the IDF authorized division. It’s because they occurred not too long ago, within the second half of 2025, and since they’re being reviewed as a part of a extra complete overview of your complete GHF-IDF saga, which incorporates further layers of research past a single case analysis.
ICC Chief Prosecutor’s potential comeback
Though ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended from his publish since October 2024, IDF officers stay involved that he could return, as he has not but been formally required to resign.
No matter Khan’s destiny, his deputy, Nazhat Shameem Khan (Fiji), has made it clear that she is pushing ahead circumstances in opposition to Israelis at the very least as severely as Khan did.
On January 31, the IDF allegedly killed dozens of Palestinian civilians within the technique of assassinating a few Gazan terrorists even supposing Hamas had not succeeded in killing any Israeli troopers, and had solely presumably tried to when a few of its fighters emerged from a tunnel.
IDF justification of the imbalances
The IDF mentioned that even post-ceasefire, Israel and Hamas are locked in an armed battle below the legal guidelines of warfare.
At a sure level, IDF operational commanders assess how necessary a goal is militarily, even when it’s not firing on the IDF at a given second. This could make an assault authorized even within the absence of an open broader warfare.
A separate query for the IDF, past whether or not its assault might be defended legally, is whether or not it might be argued to violate the ceasefire phrases, that are a stricter customary than the minimal necessities of the legal guidelines of warfare.
That is much less a authorized query and extra a matter of diplomacy among the many US, Israel, and the opposite events to the ceasefire.
