Israel Hamas War: US Releases Country Reports On Human Rights Practices, Highlights Israeli Human Right Abuses In Gaza

The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices has been released by the United States and it includes a 103 pages long section on Israel, listing the many types of human rights buses done by the country in the ongoing Israel Hamas War...

New Delhi: Israel and Palestine, who had strained relations for many decades, converted their conflict into a full-fledged Israel Hamas War when on October 6, 2023 the terrorist organisation fired 5000 rockets at Israel from Gaza, killing hundreds of people. The attack triggered a war that has been raging for the last six months and neither of the two countries are ready to back down. The war has resulted in the killing of thousands of people on both sides, people have been tortured and held hostage, there has been sexual violence and the basic human rights of the people of both countries have been abused in ways more than one. Now, the United States has released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices which is released every year and they have highlighted how Israel has abused human rights in Gaza; US has also mentioned how both countries are equally responsible for the human rights abuses in the war..

‘Israel Hamas War Continues To Raise Deeply Troubling Concerns For Human Rights’

As mentioned earlier, the US State Department released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and highlighted Israel, underscoring concerns over human rights abuses in Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the human rights concerns stating, “The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights.” The resulting conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has had a “significant negative impact” on the human rights status in Israel, the report said.

US Presents ‘Credible Reports’ Of Israeli Human Right Abuses In Gaza

The US Secretary of State has also added that the US has condemned the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks while urging Israel to minimize civilian harm in its response. The section on Israel, which runs 103 pages, documents “credible reports” of more than a dozen types of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, conflict-related sexual violence or punishment, and the punishment of family members for alleged offences by a relative. It further cited credible reports of “unlawful killings” by both Hamas and the Israeli government.

Blinken in his remarks, explained that the US has “made clear” that Israel needs to follow international law “and take every feasible precaution to protect civilians.” He emphasized that the department is still “urgently” raising concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza during the war. The US also “repeatedly” brought up concerns about humanitarian aid access in Gaza, civilian displacement and “unprecedented” journalist deaths, the report noted.

Recently, the Israeli War Cabinet, which included Israel PM Netanyahu, held a meeting to discuss the release of their remaining hostages. While a lot of nations have been trying to get a ceasefire situation between the warring nations but Israel has made it clear that they aren’t done yet and that they will give “additional and painful blows” and will increase “military and political pressure” on the terrorist organisation to make sure that Israel’s hostages are released. The war is far from over.

(Inputs from ANI)