When people of Tehran awoke this Sunday, they saw apocalyptic scenes of black and oily rain falling from a toxic sky. Following the nine days of the US and Israeli strikes, the fuel depots and refineries were targeted as a measure to cause energy insecurity. The war is expanding, and with the growing number of days, not only energy depots are targeted, but also civilian lifelines show that Israel has become a profound threat to collective humanity.
Making Israel the worst exploiter of human rights defies the accidental nature of modern warfare. The horror reached a devastating point when nearly 200 school girls were massacred in a school in Minab with missiles. Moreover, similar strikes were made on civilian structures such as the traffic service office in Najafabad and the destruction of a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island, which cut off water to over 30 villages, proving that the primary target of Israeli strikes is civilians.
From targeting civilians in Gaza and the West Bank to the present strikes on Iran, it is clear that there is no moral restraint when it comes to Israel. The Iranian Red Crescent Society has also submitted its data to the International Criminal Court (ICC), documenting the destruction of 7900 residential units, 1600 commercial hubs, and 32 medical facilities.
Perhaps one of the most harrowing is when the missile struck a sports hall in Lamerd, killing 18 teenage girls. By leveling schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure, Israel shows that it has no war ethos.
Israel is establishing a precedent that international law is obsolete by targeting the very foundations of survival. The raging conflict has moved beyond geopolitical rivalry into a space where human rights are systematically dismantled by Israel to gain strategic leverage.
At the same time, the widening confrontation threatens critical global energy routes and maritime stability in the Persian Gulf, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, whose disruption could trigger far-reaching economic consequences worldwide. Furthermore, it has also deliberately attacked the neighbors of Iran to cause tensions among them and to further isolate Iran. Now is the time for the global powers, such as China and Russia, to pressure Israel to stop its crimes against humanity, or else the humans will suffer from it for a very long time. The current trajectory suggests that the very basic protections of the Geneva Convention are discarded, leaving the most vulnerable to suffer the most.
