Amnesty International Says US and Israel’s Gaza War Undermines International Rights Order

Amnesty International used its annual human rights report to frame the war on Gaza as part of a broader collapse in international protections, warning that “a global environment where primitive ferocity could flourish has been long in the making.”

“The world faces a "perilous new era" driven by states' "predatory" behaviour leading to an "anti-rights" international order, rights group Amnesty International warned on Tuesday”

Africanews

In the report’s account of the Middle East conflict, Amnesty said the “spiralling conflict in the Middle East is a product of this descent into lawlessness,” and that after “the initial unlawful US-Israeli attacks in violation of the UN Charter” the conflict “quickly morphed into an open warfare against civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

Al Jazeera

Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard described the moment as “a direct assault on the foundations of human rights and the international rules-based order by the most powerful actors for the purpose of control, impunity and profit.”

The organization also tied its Gaza focus to a specific legal and political claim, saying “Israel has maintained its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, despite the October 2025 ceasefire agreement.”

Amnesty’s framing was echoed across multiple outlets, including Al Jazeera, which reported Callamard’s view that “voracious predators” such as the US and Israel have “waged war on civilians with impunity and destroyed the international order based on global human rights.”

Saudi Gazette similarly reported Callamard’s warning that the “spiralling conflict in the Middle East is ‘just the latest example of this new predatory world order,’” linking Gaza to a wider pattern of state behavior Amnesty says undermines diplomacy and law.

Amnesty’s report, as described by multiple outlets, provided a set of casualty and conflict figures that it used to argue that the Middle East fighting has become normalized as “open warfare against civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

Dunya News and Democracy Now! both cited Amnesty’s tally that “over 72,500 in Gaza since October 2023,” while Amnesty International’s own reporting in other outlets also used the same Gaza timeframe and scale.

Amnesty International

Amnesty also described the broader regional conflict as including “nearly 2,400 in Lebanon” and “more than 3,000 people have been killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran,” figures repeated in Dunya News and Democracy Now!.

The Amnesty International France outlet quoted Callamard’s account that “After the initial illegal attacks carried out by the United States and Israel in violation of the United Nations Charter, which triggered blind reprisals from Iran,” the conflict “quickly transformed into an open war against civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

In the same Amnesty framing, the organization said the conflict “now involves countries around the world, affecting populations everywhere on the planet and threatening the livelihoods of millions,” a line carried in Amnesty International France’s version of the report launch.

Democracy Now! further quoted Callamard directly, saying: “It started with unlawful U.S. and Israeli attack in violation of the U.N. Charter. No self-defense can be invoked here. It morphed into open warfare against civilians, Iran launching indiscriminate, disproportionate retaliatory strikes, Israel escalating its attacks on Lebanon.”

Across the outlets, Amnesty’s Callamard repeatedly linked the Gaza war to a legal narrative about unlawful attacks and the erosion of accountability, while also describing the international system as being replaced by a “predatory” order.

“- Predatory attacks on multilateralism, international law and civil society marked 2025 - The alternative on offer is a racist, patriarchal, unequal and anti-rights world order - Protesters, activists and global bodies are working to resist, disrupt and transform The world is on the brink of a perilous new era, driven by powerful states’, corporations’ and anti-rights movements’ assaults on multilateralism, international law and human rights, Amnesty International warned today upon launching its annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights”

Amnesty International

In the Amnesty International Western Alternative text, Callamard said: “We are confronting the most challenging moment of our age. Humanity is under attack from transnational anti-rights movements and predatory governments determined to assert their dominance through unlawful wars and brazen economic blackmail.”

The same text described a “direct assault on the foundations of human rights and the international rules-based order” and argued that the conflict “is now engulfing countries around the world, impacting populations everywhere, and threatening the livelihood of millions.”

Saudi Gazette reported Callamard’s warning that most governments “tend to appease the ‘predators’ rather than confront them,” and it quoted her saying: “Some even thought to imitate the bullies and the looters.”

Amnesty’s critique of the Gaza war also appeared in Africanews, which quoted Callamard saying: “World leaders have been far too submissive in the face of attacks on international law and the multilateral system. Their silence and inaction are inexcusable.”

While DW emphasized Iran, it also quoted Amnesty’s broader position that “For millions of people, international safeguards have failed, as in the case of Palestinians who are subjected to genocide, apartheid and occupation by the Israeli government.”

Amnesty’s report launch, as described by multiple outlets, did not only condemn; it also pointed to what it called “resistance” and accountability efforts tied to the Gaza conflict and to international legal mechanisms.

Dunya News said Amnesty highlighted “the increasing number of states joining South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” and it also referenced “the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) charges of crimes against humanity against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.”

Common Dreams

The same Dunya News account described “the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants against Taliban leaders on charges of gender-based persecution,” and it framed these as part of a broader set of accountability moves.

Common Dreams similarly described the report as naming resistance and accountability efforts, including “the growing number of states joining South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”

Democracy Now! added a specific political development connected to ICC processes, reporting that Hungary’s newly elected Prime Minister Péter Magyar said his government would be “legally obligated to detain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters Hungarian territory while still subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.”

Democracy Now! quoted Magyar directly: “If a country is a member of the ICC and a person who is wanted by the ICC enters our territory, then that person must be taken into custody.”

Amnesty’s report also triggered political and diplomatic disputes in the outlets’ accounts, with Callamard singling out specific countries and describing how governments responded to the Gaza war and related conflicts.

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Common Dreams

Saudi Gazette said Callamard described Spain as an outlier, stating that Spain “is standing above the double standard that is destroying the international system,” and it tied that to Spain’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Democracy Now!

Herald Malaysia Online reported Callamard’s view that “The report comes at a ‘challenging moment’ that could ‘destroy all that was built up over the last 80 years,’” and it quoted her saying “the majority of governments, most notably European governments, opted instead for appeasement.”

Africanews similarly said Amnesty “especially slammed European governments,” and it described the report’s claim that “World leaders have been far too submissive” while naming the UK for actions against Palestine Action.

Africanews quoted the report’s language that “Governments should stop cracking down on and criminalising dissent, including peaceful acts of civil disobedience,” and it said the report criticized the United Kingdom for proscribing Palestine Action and arresting thousands of peaceful protesters.

DW’s account added a different emphasis by quoting Amnesty’s Julia Duchrow on the war in Iran and by describing Amnesty’s view that “some European states appeared to take fuller measure of the risks, refusing to join the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and committing to protect strategic security.”