On March 30th, 2026, Rights groups  addressed four separate letters to senior officials of the United States, Iran, and Israel, warning that inflammatory statements by all three governments were signalling a dangerous disregard for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians. The letters come as the broader Middle East conflict, which expanded significantly after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, continues to produce civilian casualties across the region.

The laws of war, embodied in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, are not aspirational guidelines. They are legally binding obligations that apply to all parties to a conflict, at all times. They require the distinction between combatants and civilians, proportionality in attack, precautions to minimise harm to the civilian population, and the protection of civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, and water systems. When senior officials use public rhetoric that dismisses these obligations or implies that civilian harm is acceptable or inevitable, they normalise violations and make accountability harder to pursue.

All three governments should publicly and unequivocally commit to their obligations under international humanitarian law. They should ensure that military commanders and planners understand those obligations and are held to account when they breach them. They should establish or strengthen mechanisms for investigating alleged violations and ensuring that findings are transparent and acted upon.

The conflict has already produced a mounting civilian toll across the region: in Lebanon, more than 1,200 people killed since the escalation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel following US and Israeli strikes on Iran in early March 2026; in Iran, mass displacement and civilian casualties from tens of thousands of reported airstrikes; in Gaza, continued bombardment and deprivation. Rhetoric from the leadership of all three governments has at times appeared to celebrate, minimise, or justify this harm. That is unacceptable under any legal or moral framework.

Rights groups are urging all three governments to stop the dangerous language, commit publicly to the laws of war, and ensure that every military action is subject to rigorous legal review before, during, and after it is carried out. In a conflict of this scale and intensity, words from the top set the tone for everything that follows.