US voiced “troubling” concerns over Israeli violations of human rights in Gaza

Concerns about violations of human rights in Gaza were brought to light when the US State Department issued its yearly Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which focused on Israel.

In response to the human rights concerns, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights.”

The US, he said, has denounced the terrorist assaults carried out by Hamas on October 7 and urged Israel to limit the damage it does to civilians in retaliation.

The 103-page section on Israel includes “credible reports” of over a dozen different categories of human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence or punishment related to conflicts, and the punishment of family members for alleged offenses committed by a relative.

According to the study, the ensuing battle between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has had a “significant negative impact” on Israel’s human rights situation.

It also included reliable accounts of “unlawful killings” carried out by the Israeli authorities and Hamas.

Blinken said that the US will keep evaluating other countries’ human rights records and would even sanction sanctions for those that don’t meet US standards, regardless of whether such nations are US allies or enemies.

According to Blinken’s comments, the US has “made clear” that Israel must abide by international law “and take every feasible precaution to protect civilians.”

He stressed that the department is still “urgently” bringing up issues over the killings of civilians in Gaza during the conflict.

According to the report, the US also “repeatedly” voiced concerns about civilian displacement, “unprecedented” journalist killings, and access to humanitarian supplies in Gaza.