Several major international human rights organizations declined to condemn Iran’s Friday airstrike on a hospital in southern Israel as tensions escalate between the two nations.
Following the strike against the Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel, Amnesty International among other high-profile organizations have not yet issued statements addressing the attacks, according to The Washington Free Beacon. The attack injured roughly 80 people, per The Washington Post, with most of them stemming from ceiling debris and broken glass.
Amnesty International told the Beacon it was “unable to comment at present as our research team is still looking into this incident and that its research team was still investigating”. However, the group has continued to accuse Israel of genocide and apartheid against Palestinians on social media, despite not yet verifying similar claims about Iran’s actions. Human Rights Watch refused to comment to the Beacon, stating staff were either on holiday or not present.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute deflected blame from Iran. The group told the Beacon in an email that “Israel should not put civilian infrastructure near its military installations” and that the country “bombed hospitals dozens of times in Gaza, usually claiming it’s targeting Hamas.”
Only one group, Churches for Middle East Peace, issued a statement condemning the attack on Soroka Medical Center, saying, “hospitals must be protected as safe places where healing can occur without fear of bombardment and war”, although it also criticized Israeli operations in Gaza.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Nonviolence International, and Pax for Peace did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The lack of response has sparked criticism, especially given these groups’ long history of harshly condemning Israel during conflicts according to the Beacon. “they have weaponized the moral principles of human rights to demonize the Jewish state” according to NGO Monitor told the Beacon.
Just days after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel that killed 1,200 people, a UN human rights official accused Israel of war crimes, while several other leaders from countries accused of committing human rights violations did the same. Members of Congress accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians” after the country urged citizens in Gaza to evacuate days after the massacre took place.
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