News

Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from some areas in the northeastern region of Kharkiv as Russian forces continue a new offensive that has displaced thousands. This latest setback for Ukraine comes more than two years after Russia invaded the country. Human Rights Watch has documented several incidents of Russian soldiers summarily executing surrendering Ukrainian soldiers, with drone footage showing the killings “in clear detail,” says Belkis Wille, associate director with the Crisis, Conflict, and Arms Division at Human Rights Watch. “They take off their vests, they put down their helmets, they lie on the ground and put their hands up. And then we see them being executed by Russian soldiers in cold blood.”

A new Human Rights Watch Report finds Israeli forces have attacked humanitarian aid convoys and facilities at least eight times since October 7 despite being given their coordinates. Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations before the attacks, which killed at least 15 people, including two children, and injured at least 16 others. More than 250 aid workers have been killed in Gaza over the past seven months, according to the United Nations. “Aid workers, unfortunately, die in conflict zones,” says HRW researcher Belkis Wille. “What’s really unique in the context of Gaza is the high number in such a short period of time.”

Wille also discusses a recent U.S. government report that found Israel has likely violated international law in its assault on Gaza but that it could not make that conclusion definitively — a “shocking” finding, she says. “The United States absolutely has to start doing more to limit military assistance to Israel. … And it needs to do far more to protect civilians more broadly.”