Israel has given itself almost complete immunity from paying compensation in cases where its soldiers have killed, injured or disabled Palestinian civilians, an Israeli human rights group has warned.
In a report released on Wednesday, entitled Getting Off Scot-Free, B'Tselem said that Israel had violated its obligations under international law by denying many thousands of Palestinians redress in Israeli civil courts.
The report said that changes to Israeli law over the past 15 years meant that Israeli authorities were now almost never liable for awarding compensation, even in non-combat situations. That also included cases where soldiers had engaged in patently criminal behaviour against Palestinians, such as physical assault or looting.