Omar Shakir, former Israel-Palestine director of Human Rights Watch, announced his resignation after ten years with the NGO on February 3, 2026. Photo taken from his X account @OmarSShakir
Omar Shakir, the longtime Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), announced on Feb. 3 that he was leaving the organization he had joined more than a decade earlier. His resignation sent shockwaves through the human rights NGO sector.The decision followed HRW's decision not to publish a 33-page report titled "Our Souls Are in the Houses We Left Behind," which had reached an unprecedented conclusion: denying Palestinian refugees the right of return to Israel could amount to a crime against humanity, falling under the legal category of "other inhumane acts" as defined in the 1998 Rome Statute. In today's news What we know about Israel's new measures for the West Bank In his public resignation letter, addressed to HRW's leadership, Shakir said he had " lost my faith in the integrity of...
Omar Shakir, the longtime Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), announced on Feb. 3 that he was leaving the organization he had joined more than a decade earlier. His resignation sent shockwaves through the human rights NGO sector.The decision followed HRW's decision not to publish a 33-page report titled "Our Souls Are in the Houses We Left Behind," which had reached an unprecedented conclusion: denying Palestinian refugees the right of return to Israel could amount to a crime against humanity, falling under the legal category of "other inhumane acts" as defined in the 1998 Rome Statute. In today's news What we know about Israel's new measures for the West Bank In his public resignation letter, addressed to HRW's leadership, Shakir said he had " lost my faith in the integrity...
Iran negotiator vows 'decisive' response to US-Israeli attack