The IDF was due to publish a major formal update on its war-crimes probes sometime in February and then again in late spring, but the report has been repeatedly delayed, this last time due to attention being deflected to strikes on Iran, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Earlier delays appear to have been related to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir replacing Herzi Halevi; the increase in Israel’s confidence in handling legitimacy issues, given the backing it received from the Trump administration; and the return to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War since March.
On January 30, sources familiar with the matter told the Post a major new update was only weeks away. That message was repeated in late spring.
Astonishingly, despite needing to keep up with international law’s prompt probing requirements, as well as to debunk false war-crimes allegations against Israel in a timely manner by presenting its side of the story, the last significant update published by the IDF on its war-crimes probes was in August 2024.
This came after IDF Military Advocate-General Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi first started to provide public updates in May 2024.
Temporarily, there seemed to be new support for issuing an update after the January 19 ceasefire with Hamas, with the premise that Israel could avoid the concern of a war-crimes probe impacting officers still in the field of an ongoing war.
Also, Halevi’s January 21 announcement that he would publish the report about the October 7 massacre before he resigned on March 6 collectively marked a distinct turning point in the conflict.
When the update is published, it is expected to note that the number of preliminary operational reviews by the Fact Finding Mechanism of Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Har-Even exceeds 1,000 cases, the Post has reason to believe.
Within these reviews, as of April 20, Har-Even has moved forward with more in-depth probes of about 350 war incidents, with many leading to disciplinary charges. He has also sent an estimated 51 incidents to the IDF legal division to probe, with about 40 of them going directly to the legal division without needing a prior probe by him due to their severity.
Of the more than 90 criminal probes, at least 50 relate to the wrongful deaths or abuse of detainees, many occurring at the Sde Teiman makeshift detention facility at the beginning of the war. Six soldiers and officers have been indicted in two separate cases of alleged abuse of detainees.
IDF soldiers already indicted for alleged abuse of detainees
Some cases involve allegations of wrongful killing in the field, while others involve either theft of Palestinian property or the illegal taking of Palestinian weapons without declaring them to the proper IDF authorities.
By comparison, the fact-finding mechanisms after Operation Protective Edge in 2014 carried out about 300 preliminary reviews and 32 full criminal probes.
There is now a third major probe into potential abuse of Palestinian detainees, which could eventually lead to multiple indictments, the Post can confirm.
This investigation of at least three IDF reservists guarding Palestinian detainees at the Filon base in the Lower Galilee started as a secret probe months ago. It recently became a public investigation.
One of the suspects, a female soldier, was already questioned under caution, and additional suspects may have also testified or are due to soon, the Post has learned.
The probe, which was first reported by Yediot Aharonot, is expected to lead to additional detentions of soldiers and possibly additional indictments.
The investigation is ongoing, military sources confirmed, adding that the ultimate direction of the case would be clarified in the coming months.
Regarding the ongoing Sde Teiman cases, the alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees took place in July 2024, but the indictments were not filed until this February. The cases have barely advanced and are bogged down in procedural fights about whether the Military Police improperly leaked alleged footage of the defendants committing the abuse.
Given the six-month gap between the case opening and the indictments, there may not be indictments in this latest case until early 2026, although it has not yet generated as much criticism from certain coalition officials.
Absent that additional tension, the case might move forward faster.
Regarding the IDF probe from late June into multiple incidents in which soldiers mistakenly killed or wounded Palestinian civilians in proximity to or on the way to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation facilities, there has been no publicly notable progress, the Post has learned. The IDF has confirmed about three to four incidents and dozens of casualties, while critics claim there were hundreds of victims.
Moreover, there is no near-term intent to issue a comprehensive preliminary update about the probes, as was done this April and last April about multiple March 2024 and March 2025 incidents when soldiers mistakenly killed humanitarian aid workers.
Some IDF sources have accused OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor, who assumed his position in March, of blocking or slow-walking most probes, more than his predecessor, Yaron Finkelman.
Asur has rejected these charges and said he does not interfere with the probes, but many issues do not reach the IDF legal division until he clears them.