Methodology

<h2>What this database documents</h2><p>This is a public record of United States citizens — including dual nationals — harmed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, where responsibility has been attributed by credible public reporting to Israeli soldiers, settlers, or police. Each case records who was harmed, what happened, where and when it happened, and how the United States responded.</p><h2>Inclusion criteria</h2><p>A case enters the record only when all of the following hold:</p><ul><li>The person harmed was a U.S. citizen at the time of the incident (dual nationals are included and noted as such in the case file).</li><li>The harm falls into one of the categories below.</li><li>Responsibility is attributed to Israeli soldiers, settlers, or police by at least two independent credible public sources, or by one primary source (an official record, court filing, or first-person testimony) corroborated by credible reporting.</li><li>The date and location of the incident are established.</li></ul><h2>Harm categories</h2><ul><li><strong>Killed</strong></li><li><strong>Injured or beaten</strong></li><li><strong>Detained</strong></li><li><strong>Denied entry</strong></li><li><strong>Home attacked</strong> / <strong>Home demolished</strong></li><li><strong>Denied medical care</strong></li></ul><p>Where more than one category applies, the case is filed under the gravest harm and the others are described in the case narrative.</p><h2>Sources and verification</h2><p>Every case file links the sources it rests on. Quotations in the testimony field are verbatim and attributed to named people. We do not paraphrase testimony, and we do not cite anonymous social media. When sources conflict on a material fact, the case file says so.</p><h2>What each case file contains</h2><ul><li><strong>Name, age, and home state / congressional district</strong> — who was harmed, and where in the United States they are from.</li><li><strong>Date and location</strong> — when and where the incident happened. Dates are the incident date, not the reporting date.</li><li><strong>Narrative</strong> — a short factual account of the incident.</li><li><strong>Testimony</strong> — a verbatim quotation from the person harmed, a family member, or a named eyewitness.</li><li><strong>U.S. response</strong> — what, if anything, the United States government did.</li><li><strong>Sources</strong> — the reporting and records behind every statement above.</li></ul><h2>Photographs</h2><p>Case portraits are used only with a verified license (for example Creative Commons, confirmed on the source page) or with the permission of the family or photographer. Every portrait's source and license is recorded. If you are a family member and want a photograph added, changed, or removed, contact us — we will act on it promptly.</p><h2>Photograph credits</h2><p>Licensed photographs used in this record:</p><ul><li><strong>Rachel Corrie</strong> — photograph by Joe Carr (derivative work: Gobonobo), via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rachel_Corrie_2003_March_16_cropped.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, copyrighted free use.</li><li><strong>Shireen Abu Akleh</strong> — photograph by Al Jazeera Media Network, via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shireen_Abu_Akleh.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, licensed <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>.</li><li><strong>Arik Ascherman</strong> — photograph by יורם שורק (Yoram Sorek), via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arik_Ascherman_protest_Or_Yehuda_1.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, licensed <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>.</li></ul><p>Other case photographs are used for identification in this public-interest record. Rights holders and families can request a correction, credit, or removal at any time via the Contact page; requests are prioritized ahead of all other work on the record.</p><h2>Corrections and updates</h2><p>If anything in this record is wrong, tell us via the contact page. Include the case ID, what is incorrect, and a source we can check. Corrections are reviewed against the sourcing standard above and applied to the live record; material corrections are noted in the case file. The record is reviewed on an ongoing basis and the case count updates automatically as cases are added.</p><h2>Limitations</h2><p>This record is a floor, not a ceiling. It contains only cases that meet the criteria above with public documentation; harm that was never reported, or reported without enough detail to verify, is not counted. “Zero prosecutions” means that as of the last review, no criminal prosecution of a person responsible for a documented case has been identified in public records.</p>