The US State department has said the war between Israel and Hamas has had “a significant negative impact” on the human rights situation in the country.
The US state department said this in its annual report on Monday.
The human rights issues, according to the report, include credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearance, torture and unjustified arrests of journalists, among others.
This was confirmed in the state department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
However, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has denied that the country has a “double standard” when applying its law to allegations of abuses by the Israeli military in Gaza.
According to him, examinations of such charges are ongoing.
“In general, as we’re looking at human rights and the condition of human rights around the world, we apply the same standard to everyone,” Blinken told a briefing at which he unveiled the annual human rights report.
“That doesn’t change whether the country is an adversary, a competitor, a friend or an ally,” he continued.
