Established in March 2005, Yesh Din is comprised of volunteers who have organised to oppose what the perceive as the continuing violation of Palestinian human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Some of the members have long been active in defending human rights, and others have just recently joined the struggle. The members have different personal, professional, and political backgrounds but are united by their deep concern a belief that the occupation is inflicting serious damage on both Palestinian and Israeli societies.

Yesh Din's activities focus on the extent of Israel's implementation of its duty to protect the Palestinian civilians under its armed forces' occupation. These include: criminal accountability of Israeli civilians and members of the Israeli security forces in the West Bank; human rights violations related to use of Palestinian lands; and respect for human rights within the Israeli Military Courts in the West Bank.

Yesh Din has a two-tiered approach to protecting human rights. They work on individual cases to achieve justice for those whose rights have been violated. On the systemic level, they use the accumulation of individual incidents to highlight structural violations of human rights and advocate for change, through a variety of means: they publish reports and disseminate information on human rights abuses; take legal actions and engage in direct advocacy with the authorities in order to remedy the situation; and work with the media to encourage debate on these issues.