In anticipation of the September 8, 2008 United Nations General Assembly debate on the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, Amnesty International published a “review of the type of human rights violations committed in the pursuit of counter-terrorism measures, citing a range of country examples from every region of the world.” Israel is included in the category for maintaining an overly “broad definition of terrorism,” “systematically erode[ing] the rights of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation” in order to prevent attacks on civilians. According to the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which is strongly endorsed by Amnesty, “the respect for human rights for all and the rule of law [are] the fundamental bas[es] for the fight against terrorism.”

In contrast, in September, the family of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped and held in Gaza since 2006, urged Amnesty International to intervene on his behalf. In response, a representative of Amnesty stated: “Our concern is that Gilad Shalit be treated humanely at all times. We have met Hamas to raise our concern and we will continue to put pressure on Hamas to fulfill those demands. There is no reason that would ever justify them denying him Red Cross visitors.”