Middle East Conflict: Rhetoric, Actions Flout Laws of War
World Leaders Should Unite to Defend Fundamental Protections for Civilians
26 MARCH 2026
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/
(New York, March 26, 2026) – The geographic spread, speed of escalation, and open disregard for international norms by all parties one month into the Middle East conflict are a critical stress test for the international legal order created to protect civilians during armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.
Statements by top officials from the United States, Israel, and Iran demonstrate a willingness to violate fundamental protections of international humanitarian law, reveal callous disregard for civilian life and property, and signal that those in power do not consider themselves bound by the law. All world leaders should urgently speak out in defense of the rules that protect civilians everywhere, strongly condemn violations, and demand accountability.
“As the Middle East conflict has spread and intensified, so too has the dangerous rhetoric by leaders on all sides, including open threats to commit war crimes,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “This explosive combination, building on world leaders’ longstanding failure to hold those responsible for serious violations of international law to account, is threatening the rules-based order that has long sought to protect civilians.”
Since the United States and Israel began their assault on Iran on February 28, 2026, and as Iran responded and Israel escalated attacks in Lebanon, all parties to the conflict have been responsible for serious violations of the laws of war, including possible war crimes. Officials’ inflammatory public statements have included open threats to kill civilians and destroy critical civilian infrastructure, suggestions that abuses by one side justify abuses by the other, and dismissal of international law and rules of engagement.
US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have in the past month alone made numerous public statements showing disregard for international humanitarian law, also called the laws of war.
Hegseth stated on March 13 that “no quarter” would be given to “our enemies” in Iran. Declaring no quarter––the refusal to spare enemy combatants’ lives by accepting their surrender––is a war crime.
On March 21, President Trump warned in a social media post that, if Iran didn’t “FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS,” the United States “will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump later postponed but did not revoke his threat.
The laws of war protect from attack civilian infrastructure and objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population––which could include power plants, oil and gas facilities, and water desalination plants––and attacks on these facilities could amount to war crimes. Even if such infrastructure is used in part for military purposes, an attack would likely be disproportionate and thus unlawful.
Iran’s reply to Trump’s statement indicated a willingness to commit a similar violation. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters spokesman, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, responded to Trump’s post by stating that if Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure were attacked, “then all electricity power plants, energy infrastructure, and information technology systems of the Zionist regime in the region will be struck on a wide scale… all similar infrastructure which have American shareholders will be fully destroyed… [and] all electricity power plants in countries in the region that host American bases will be legitimate targets.”
Iranian officials have also claimed that all of a country’s companies, banks, and commercial ships are military objectives, which violates the presumption under the laws of war that they are protected civilian objects.
Iranian authorities have also threatened to commit further human rights violations against their own population, as they have done repeatedly, including in January, when security forces carried out countrywide massacres of protesters and bystanders.
Ahmad-Reza Radan, the commander of the Iranian police force, told state television in a program aired on March 10 that if people take to the streets “at the will of the enemy,” then “we will not see them as a protester or something else; we will see them as the enemy and do with them what we do with the enemy. … All of our guys are ready with their fingers on the triggers to safeguard their revolution, to back their people and country.” The next day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Intelligence Organization issued a statement warning that any protests would be faced “with [even] a harsher blow than that of January 8.”
Senior Israeli officials and military leaders have also made numerous problematic statements, including threats to carry out unlawful attacks in Iran and Lebanon. The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson issued a statement on X on March 3 calling for representatives of the Iranian government to leave Lebanon before they would be targeted.
Attacks targeting political leaders or government officials are prohibited unless the leader is a member of the armed forces or a civilian directly participating in hostilities. Deliberately attacking a civilian violates the laws of war, and constitutes a war crime.
Statements about Lebanon by Israeli officials also indicate an intent to forcibly displace residents, destroy civilian homes, and conduct strikes that could target civilians, all violations of the laws of war.
During armed conflict, such warnings, threats to commit serious crimes, and other dangerous rhetoric have been followed by military action that violates the laws of war and has had grave consequences for civilians across the region.
Serious violations of the laws of war during the first month of conflict include:
- A US attack on a primary school in Minab in southern Iran that killed scores of civilians, including many children;
- Israel’s use of white phosphorus over homes and targeting of financial institutions in Lebanon;
- Iranian attacks on hotels, residential buildings, financial centers, and airports in the Gulf;
- Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz;
- Israeli and Iranian attacks on oil and gas infrastructure; and
- Iran’s use of internationally banned cluster munitions in attacks on Israel.
The attacks, as well as the threat of attacks, on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and on oil and natural gas facilities in Iran and the Gulf states also appear to have contributed to significant global cost increases in energy and may also result in cost increases in food, fertilizer essential for agriculture, and transportation worldwide, as well as significant environmental damage.
This could cause economic catastrophe and food insecurity to civilians in Iran and across the Gulf and economically marginalized people across the globe. The World Food Programme estimates that almost 45 million more people could fall into acute food insecurity or worse should the conflict continue through the middle of the year and if oil prices remain above US$100 per barrel.
The toll of the conflict on civilians so far, and the extent of violations and potential war crimes, remains unknown, in part due to censorship by involved governments. In Iran, the government has imposed an unlawful blanket internet shutdown and arrested hundreds of people for alleged contact with media outlets outside Iran, taking footage of strike sites, and sending such footage to the media.
In the United States, Trump and Hegseth have attacked the media for its Iran coverage, and Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr accused media outlets of publishing “fake news” and threatened their broadcasting licenses.
Israeli officials have banned live broadcasts of city skylines, prohibited the reporting of precise locations of missile or rocket impacts, and detained journalists deemed to have violated these restrictions.
Countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, have also detained people for allegedly posting images and footage of attacks on social media.
In Lebanon, the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah has banned all filming “under any circumstances” in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In the face of this disregard for international humanitarian law and the potential far-reaching consequences of this conflict for civilians across the globe, world leaders––including allies of the United States, Israel, and Iran––should speak out for the need to respect international human rights and humanitarian law, strongly condemn violations, insist on accountability, and ensure that they are not complicit in serious violations by the warring parties.
Common Article 1 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions provides that states “undertake to respect and to ensure respect” for the conventions “in all circumstances.” This obligation binds the parties to the conflict in the Middle East to respect the conventions and ensure their respect by their armed forces at all times, regardless of the conduct of other parties.
The International Committee of the Red Cross’ authoritative commentary on the Geneva Conventions states that to “ensure respect” requires all states parties to the conventions “take proactive steps” to stop violations of the conventions and to “bring an erring Party to a conflict back to an attitude of respect for the Conventions, in particular by using their influence on that Party.” It includes the obligation “to prevent violations when there is a foreseeable risk that they will be committed.” Customary international humanitarian law also provides that states must exert their influence, to the degree possible, to stop violations of international humanitarian law.
The current Middle East conflict is occurring in the context of ongoing war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide in Gaza––committed by Israel with significant support from the United States since October 7, 2023––and Iran’s crimes against humanity against its own population. Impunity for these crimes and states failing to consistently apply international humanitarian law elsewhere, including in Sudan and Ukraine, have contributed to the dangerous disregard of the rules designed to protect civilians in war occurring today.
“The words of leaders are especially consequential during wartime,” Bolopion said. “Rhetoric that mocks or dismisses the laws of war is dangerously corrosive and can be seen to encourage grave violations that inevitably prove harmful to civilians. It’s increasingly clear that other governments urgently need to weigh in and press for greater protection of civilians.”
Additional concerning statements by US officials, some of which threaten to violate international humanitarian law, include:
- On March 2, Hegseth said that the United States was fighting the war in Iran with “No stupid rules of engagement,” reflecting comments he made throughout 2025 about “overbearing” and “burdensome” rules of engagement and “tepid legality,” and in 2024 that the United States “should fight by its own rules” and not “by rules written by dignified men… eighty years ago.”
- On March 9, Trump said the US Navy sank Iran’s warship off the coast of Sri Lanka because “it’s more fun” to sink ships than capture them.
- Also on March 9, Trump said that the United States could strike to “make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign [sic] upon them.”
- On March 13, Trump stated that the United States had “demolished” Kharg Island, a small island critical for Iran’s oil export infrastructure, but may strike “a few more times just for fun.”
- Also on March 13, Trump said that while the United States had “so far… chosen not to,” it could strike “power plants that create the electricity, that create[KA1] the water. … We could do things that would be so bad they could literally never rebuild as a nation again.”
Additional concerning statements by Iranian officials, some of which threaten to violate international humanitarian law, include:
- A spokesman from Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said on March 8 that “every point that serves as the origin of aggression against Iran is a legitimate target.”
- On March 14, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that American “companies will be the legitimate targets for Iran’s Armed Forces,” listing a number of US management consulting and investment firms.
- Also on March 14, an IRGC spokesperson posted: “The attack on American bank branches was in response to the enemy’s attack on 2 Iranian banks. If the enemy repeats this action, all branches of American banks in the region will be our legitimate target.”
- On March 16, Brig. Gen. Ali Mohammad Naini, an IRGC spokesman who was reportedly killed in an Israeli attack on March 20, stated that Iranian forces had targeted all vessels owned by a US or Israeli entity, regardless of their flag country.
Additional concerning statements by Israeli officials, some of which threaten to violate international humanitarian law, include:
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on March 16 that “hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of southern Lebanon … will not return to their homes south of the Litani [River] area until the safety of Israel’s northern residents is guaranteed.”
- In a video clip posted on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s X account on March 17, Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee joke about a “punch card” listing individuals the Israelis are targeting in Iran. Netanyahu says: “We’re wiping them out,” and Huckabee says: “I love it.”
- On March 22, Katz threatened to “hit Iran so hard it will be sent back decades” and to implement house demolition policies across Lebanon’s southern border villages like those seen in Gaza.
- The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson repeatedly posted
orders on X to people in Lebanon, saying that they “will not hesitate to target anyone who is near Hezbollah members, facilities or means of combat” in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli Officials Signal Stepped-Up Atrocities in Lebanon
Risk of Forcible Displacement, Wanton Destruction, Threat of Strikes on Civilians
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/
(Beirut) – Israeli forces have expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon after indicating an intent to forcibly displace residents, destroy civilian homes and conduct strikes that could target civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Forcible displacement, wanton destruction and attacks deliberately targeting civilians are war crimes. Countries that continue to provide Israel with arms and military aid risk complicity in the Israeli government’s serious violations in Lebanon.
On March 22, Israel’s defense Minister, Israel Katz, issued a statement announcing that he and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have “ordered the acceleration of the demolition of Lebanese houses in the border villages in order to thwart threats to Israeli communities – in accordance with the Beit Hanoun and Rafah models in Gaza.” On March 16, 2026, Katz said that “hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of southern Lebanon […] will not return to their homes south of the Litani area until the safety of Israel’s northern residents is guaranteed.” Displacement orders issued by the Israeli military to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut between March 11 and 15 further stated that the Israeli military “will not hesitate to target anyone who is present near Hezbollah members, facilities, or means of combat.”
“For over two years, Israel’s allies and European states that purport to support and uphold human rights have buried their heads in the sand as atrocities continue in Lebanon, as in Gaza,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Atrocities flourish when there is impunity, and other countries should no longer stand by as they continue.”
Since the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,029 people in Lebanon, including 118 children and 40 medical workers, as of March 22 according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. In recent days, Hezbollah has fired an average of about 150 rockets per day, according to the Israeli military. Hezbollah attacks have injured at least 15 people in Israel, according to Israeli mediareports.
On March 4 and 5, the Israeli military issued displacement orders for the entire population of Lebanon south of the Litani River and all residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which include hundreds of thousands of people. Since March 12, the Israeli military has expanded the areas subject to displacement orders, ordering residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Zahrani River, 15 kilometers north of the Litani River, and 40 kilometers north of Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. Over a million people have been displaced in Lebanon thus far.
The Israeli defense minister’s statement, indicating that Shiite residents of southern Lebanon will be prevented from returning to their homes until an undetermined safety standard for Israel’s northern residents is guaranteed, signals that Israel will prevent residents from returning to their homes for an indefinite period. The sweeping nature of the displacement orders, and the statements that do not address the protection of the displaced civilians, raises concerns of the war crime of forced displacement, Human Rights Watch said.
Singling out Shiite residents further indicates that Israel is imposing such measures based on their religion, a human rights violation, and further indicates that the residents’ security is not the aim of the displacement.
Ordering the Israeli military to accelerate the destruction of Lebanese homes raises serious risk of the war crime of wanton destruction and violations of the prohibition under international law against deliberately destroying civilian property except when necessary for lawful military reasons. The mere possibility of future military use by armed groups of some civilian structures cannot under the laws of war justify the wide-scale destruction of whole homes across Lebanon’s border.
Between March 11 and 15, the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson issued at least five nearly identical displacement orders for residents of seven neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, after first issuing a sweeping displacement order for entire southern suburbs of Beirut on March 5. The statement ordered residents to “evacuate the area immediately” and called on them to “not return to those neighborhoods until further notice.”
The orders further stated that the Israeli military “will not hesitate to target anyone who is present near Hezbollah members, facilities, or means of combat.” This differs from previous orders issued to residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which stated, for example, that “Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, facilities or means of combat is putting their lives at risk.”
On March 5, minister in the defense ministry, Bezalel Smotrich, who sits on the security cabinet and also serves as Israel’s finance minister, recorded a video statement standing at the Israel-Lebanon border, stating that “very soon, Dahieh [Beirut’s southern suburb] will look like Khan Younis,” in Gaza. Human Rights Watch has previously documented war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide by the Israeli military in Gaza.
These statements, combined with Israeli forces’ previous conduct of war in Lebanon, raise serious concern that the Israeli military may target civilians, based solely on their presence in or proximity to areas where Hezbollah is present.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have committed numerous violations of the laws of war and apparent war crimes in Lebanon with total impunity, including apparently deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on journalists, civilians, med
Civilians who chose to stay in areas subject to displacement orders in southern Lebanon are particularly at risk of being cut-off from food and medicine supplies and other aid, Human Rights Watch said.
In a statement published on March 18, the Israeli Military Arabic spokesperson said that bridges crossing over the Litani River into southern Lebanon would be struck “to prevent the movement of reinforcements and means of combat” into southern Lebanon. Between March 13 and 22, the Israeli military said that it struck at least four Litani River bridges.
Hezbollah should take all feasible precautions to protect civilians in its operations in Lebanon and Israel.
Civilians who do not evacuate following orders are still fully protected by international humanitarian law. Forced displacement is prohibited under the laws of war, except in cases in which civilian security is involved or for imperative military reasons.
A person who commits serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent—that is, intentionally or recklessly—may be prosecuted for war crimes. Individuals may also be held criminally liable for assisting in, facilitating, aiding, or abetting a war crime.
Lebanon’s judicial authorities should initiate domestic investigations of serious international crimes, and the government should accede to the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute and submit a declaration accepting the court’s jurisdiction prior to the date of accession, including since at least October 7, 2023.
Israel’s key allies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, should suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel and impose targeted sanctions on officials credibly responsible for ongoing serious abuses. They should levy further pressure on Israel to ensure that displaced residents can return to their homes once hostilities end or once the reasons for their displacement cease to exist.
“The Israeli military does not get to decide when civilians lose protections afforded by international law nor should it be allowed to prevent displaced residents from returning to their homes based on some undefined ‘safety’ standard,” Kaiss said. “Deliberately targeting civilians, civilian objects, and others protected under international law would be a war crime, and countries supplying Israel with weapons need to realize they are risking complicity in war crimes too.”
Correction
The date by which 1,029 people had been killed in Lebanon according to Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry has been corrected in this version, to March 22.
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Lebanon: Israel Unlawfully Using White Phosphorus
Human Rights Watch Verifies Use of Incendiary Weapon over Residential Areas in Southern Lebanon
9 MARCH 2026
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/
Update, March 9, 2026: Since the press release was published, the reported death toll from Israeli attacks has risen to 394, as of March 8.
Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated eight images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed over a residential part of the town and civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area.
“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”
White phosphorus is a chemical substance dispersed in artillery shells, bombs, and rockets that ignites when exposed to oxygen. It can set homes, agricultural areas, and other civilian objects on fire. Under international humanitarian law, the use of airburst white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and does not meet the legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm.
Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated an image posted on social media the morning of March 3, showing at least two artillery-delivered white phosphorus munitions being airburst over a residential neighborhood in the town of Yohmor in southern Lebanon. Human Rights Watch identified the shape of the smoke cloud caused by the airbursts in the picture as entirely consistent with the “knuckle” made by the expelling and bursting charges of the M825-series 155mm artillery projectile that contains white phosphorous.
Earlier that day, at 5:27 a.m, Avichay Adraee, Israel’s Arabic military spokesperson, issued an order stating that residents of Yohmor and 50 other villages and towns “should immediately evacuate [their homes] and move away from the villages to a distance of at least 1,000 meters outside the village to open land.” Adraee repeated the statement at 12:12 p.m. that day. Human Rights Watch has not verified whether people were in the area or injured as a result of white phosphorus use.
Human Rights Watch has previously documented the Israeli military’s widespread use of white phosphorus between October 2023 and May 2024 across border villages in southern Lebanon, which put civilians at grave risk and contributed to civilian displacement.
White phosphorus can be used for multiple purposes, including to obscure, mark, signal, or directly attack military personnel and materiel. Concerns over its use in populated areas are amplified by the technique shown in videos of air-bursting white phosphorus projectiles, which spread 116 burning felt wedges impregnated with the substance over an area between 125 and 250 meters in diameter, depending on the altitude and angle of the burst, indiscriminately exposing more civilians and civilian structures to potential harm than a localized ground burst.
Human Rights Watch also verified and geolocated photographs posted to Facebook at 11:34 a.m. and 1:36 p.m. by the Civil Defense Team of the Islamic Health Committee in Yohmor, which is affiliated with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. The photographs show workers extinguishing fires on residential rooftops and in a car and smoke emerging from the balconies of a home, which the Civil Defense Team attributed to white phosphorous. The geolocated sites were inside a radius of less than 160 meters.
Human Rights Watch analysis indicates the fire was likely caused by felt wedges impregnated with white phosphorus given the proximity of the house and the car to the area where airburst munitions were observed, indicating that the munitions were used unlawfully over concentrations of civilians.
Since the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, at least 217 people have been killed in Lebanon as of March 6, according to the health ministry, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
The Israeli military has issued displacement orders for the entire population of Lebanon south of the Litani River and all residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which include hundreds of thousands of people. The sweeping nature of the Israeli military’s displacement orders raises concerns that their primary purpose is not to protect civilians but to instead spread terror and panic, especially in the context of recent large-scale displacement of civilians in Lebanon, raising serious risks of the war crime of forced displacement, Human Rights Watch said.
Israel should prohibit all use of airburst artillery-delivered white phosphorus munitions in populated areas because it puts civilians at risk of indiscriminate attacks. There are available alternatives to white phosphorus in smoke shells, including some produced by Israeli companies such as the M150 smoke projectile, which the Israeli army has used in the past as an obscurant, a means of hindering the visibility of its forces. These alternatives can have the same effect and dramatically reduce the harm to civilians.
Human Rights Watch has urged Israel’s key allies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, to suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel and impose targeted sanctions on officials credibly implicated in grave crimes. Lebanon’s judicial authorities should initiate domestic investigations of serious international crimes, and the government should accede to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Rome Statute and submit a declaration accepting the court’s jurisdiction prior to the date of accession, including since at least October 7, 2023.
Israel’s widespread use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon highlights the need for stronger international law on incendiary weapons, Human Rights Watch said. Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons is the only legally binding instrument dedicated specifically to incendiary weapons. Lebanon is party to Protocol III, while Israel is not.
Protocol III applies to weapons that are “primarily designed” to set fires or cause burns, and thus excludes certain multipurpose munitions with incendiary effects, notably those containing white phosphorus. In addition, it has weaker regulations for the use in “concentrations of civilians” of ground-launched incendiary weapons—like the ones used in Lebanon—than airdropped incendiary weapons, even though they produce the same horrific injuries.
“Concentrations of civilians” is defined broadly to encompass populated areas ranging from villages to refugee camps to cities. Human Rights Watch and many countries have long called for closing these loopholes in Protocol III and creating international norms that better protect civilians from the harm caused by incendiary weapons.
“Israel should immediately halt this practice and states providing Israel with weapons, including white phosphorus munitions, should immediately suspend military assistance and arms sales and push Israel to stop firing such munitions in residential areas,” Kaiss said.
Correction
March 9, 2026: This version of the news release was updated to accurately reflect the number of images verified and geolocated by Human Rights Watch.
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