According to the US State Department, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has had “a significant negative impact” on the nation’s human rights landscape.
This was stated in the US State Department’s annual report released on Monday.
The report mentions credible reports of enforced disappearances, arbitrary or illegal killings, torture, and unwarranted arrests of journalists as among the human rights violations.
The State Department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices provided confirmation of this.
But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has refuted claims that the nation applies a “double standard” in enforcing the law in response to claims of wrongdoing by the Israeli force in Gaza.
He claims that investigations into these accusations are still going on.
“We apply the same standard to everyone when we look at human rights and the condition of human rights around the world,” Blinken said during a briefing when he revealed the yearly report on human rights.
“It makes no difference if the nation is an ally, friend, rival, or enemy,” he went on.