One month into the Middle East conflict, Human Rights Watch on 26 March 2026 documented a cascade of statements by senior US, Israeli and Iranian officials that openly threaten, endorse or rationalise violations of international humanitarian law, in what the organisation described as a critical stress test for the rules-based order designed to protect civilians.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared on 13 March that “no quarter” would be given to enemies in Iran, an explicit war crime under international law. President Trump threatened on 21 March to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants, before extending his deadline without withdrawing the threat.

Iran’s military command responded in kind, pledging to destroy energy infrastructure across the region, including in countries hosting US bases. Israel struck Iran’s South Pars natural gas field on 18 March with US coordination; Iran retaliated by attacking Qatar’s largest LNG facility. Senior Israeli officials have threatened to demolish Lebanese villages and forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of civilians south of the Litani River.

Concrete violations documented so far include a US attack on a school in southern Iran killing scores of civilians, Israel’s use of white phosphorus over homes in Lebanon, Iranian strikes on hotels, airports and financial centres across the Gulf, attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and the use of internationally banned cluster munitions. Governments across the conflict have imposed sweeping censorship, making the full toll impossible to establish.

Human Rights Watch called on all states, including allies of the warring parties, to invoke their obligations under Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions and press for civilian protection and accountability.

Source: Human Rights Watch, Middle East Conflict: Rhetoric, Actions Flout Laws of War, 26 March 2026; HRW, Common Article 1, Geneva Conventions (1949); World Food Programme projection, March 2026.