Key researchers of Human Rights Watch (HRW) have resigned over a report that labelled Israel’s denial of Palestinian refugees’ right of return a “crime against humanity.”
Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine Director for nearly a decade, and his assistant researcher, Milena Ansari, stepped down. This follows after executives blocked the report scheduled December 4 publication.
Key researchers resign over the blocked Human Rights Watch report
In resignation letters seen by Jewish Currents, the researchers stated that leadership overrode the group’s rigorous internal review process. They said it was due to fear of political backlash, thereby breaching HRW’s commitment to international law.
Shakir said he feared leadership intended to kill or distort the report. He noted that terms like “apartheid” and “genocide” have entered mainstream discourse, the right of return remains a third rail.
“I have lost my faith in the integrity of how we do our work. As such, I am no longer able to represent or work for Human Rights Watch,” Shakir, who also sits on the Advisory Board of Jewish Currents, wrote.
Shakir argued that HRW consistently refused to apply the law and facts in a principled manner. Supporters of Israel argue that allowing the return of millions of Palestinian refugees would end Israel’s Jewish majority.
The resignations have shaken one of the most prominent human rights groups as its new Executive Director, Philippe Bolopion, starts his tenure.
HRW leadership, however, defended the decision in a statement, claiming the report raised complex and consequential issues. They also said it required more analysis to meet the organisation’s high standards.
Findings by Charity Journal reveal that Shakir and Ansari completed their draft, titled “Our Souls Are in the Homes We Left: Israel’s Denial of Palestinians’ Right to Return and Crimes Against Humanity,” in August 2025. It passed through eight internal department however, a senior staff member later expressed concerns.
Chief Advocacy Officer Bruno Stagno Ugarte, in an October email, worried the report’s broad scope implicated all diaspora Palestinians. He hinted it could be misread as a call to demographically extinguish the Jewishness of the Israeli state.
However, acting Program Director Tom Porteous also raised concerns about reputational damage. He asked how to advocate the report’s findings without making HRW appear to reject Israel or undermine its credibility.
Internal debate reveals fears of political backlash
The blocked report reviewed by Jewish Currents, documents the experiences of Palestinians displaced from Gaza and the West Bank since 2023. It also included refugees from the 1948 and 1967 conflicts in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
The report concludes that denying their right of return constitutes a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Shakir said this moved a previously academic legal argument into human rights advocacy. It also creates a potential tool for refugees to bring current cases against Israeli authorities.
Ansari further speculated the report was blocked partly because it linked Israeli policy to a prosecutable crime at the ICC.
Former HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth, briefed on the report’s legal argument, defended the block, calling Shakir’s interpretation “indefensible. Shakir, however countered that the report was fully vetted and ready for publication.
“In an organization of 500 people, people are gonna have different views. But you do not need a consensus of 500 people. That’s not how we release reports,” he said.
The incident threatens HRW’s standing with Palestinian civil society. Ubai Aboudi of the Palestinian NGOs Network said the blocking of report has led Palestinian organisations to question HRW’s integrity.
Shakir lamented the timing of the decision, coming amid Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s refugee camps against the UNRWA. He also questions the organisation’s fidelity to its mandate on Israel and Palestine.
In reaction, Lema Pal, a dedicated advocate for justice and freedom, strongly criticized Human Rights Watch’s leadership. She said Human Rights Watch keeps acting on Palestine from a place of fear.
Lema Pal also added that, historic failures pile up, refusing for months to call for a ceasefire amid a genocide.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, had in 2025 accused Israel of weaponizing humanitarian aid by blocking essential supplies and electricity to Gaza.
Similarly, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has accused Israel of violating the standing Gaza ceasefire and intensifying a systematic campaign against its humanitarian operations in both Gaza and Jerusalem.
