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On the second day of Israeli and U.S. military operations inside Iran, multiple reports indicate that hospitals, schools, humanitarian facilities, and parts of Iran’s national broadcasting infrastructure have sustained damage, raising serious human rights concerns and intensifying calls for the protection of civilians.
In Tehran, Iranian media reported that Gandhi Hospital, Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital, and a building affiliated with the Iranian Red Crescent Society were affected by nearby strikes. Video footage circulating online shows shattered windows, damaged facades, and emergency evacuations. Medical staff were seen transferring patients, including a newborn, out of Gandhi Hospital amid visible structural damage.
Israeli officials have stated that the intended target was “military infrastructure” located near a hospital and have emphasized that the hospital itself was not the objective. However, even if security-related facilities were present in the vicinity – including operational offices linked to parts of the IRGC – international humanitarian law imposes a clear and binding obligation to protect medical institutions and prevent civilian harm. Hospitals, patients, and medical staff must remain protected at all times.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed deep concern regarding damage to Gandhi Hospital, emphasizing that healthcare facilities and medical personnel must be protected at all times and are not lawful targets of attack. These principles are foundational to international humanitarian law and binding on all parties to a conflict.
According to Iranian health officials, at least ten medical centers across the country have sustained damage, including facilities in Ahvaz, Chabahar, Hamadan, and Sarab. The head of Gandhi Hospital reported that all patients were safely evacuated, though one staff member suffered severe brain injury, and the hospital’s fertility ward experienced serious structural damage.
Particularly distressing are reports from the southern city of Minab, where a missile struck the private elementary school Shajareh Tayyebeh on Saturday, February 28. Local authorities report that 165 people were killed and 96 injured, with most casualties believed to be young children attending the school. The scale of loss in this single strike is staggering, and occurred in the opening days of the war. The school appears to be located near a compound associated with security forces, suggesting that the strike may have been a case of faulty intelligence or misfiring on the part of the United States or Israel. Ultimately, the attacking party that fired on the school would bear responsibility for this grievous crime. The presence of nearby security facilities does not alter the civilian and protected status of a school under international law, nor does it diminish the obligation to ensure distinction, proportionality, and precaution in military operations.
A separate missile strike hit a gymnasium in Lamerd, Pars Province, where dozens of teenage girls were playing sports. Reporting indicates that at least eighteen civilians were killed and scores more injured, many of them teenage athletes whose lives were cut short by the sudden violence. Like the destruction of the school in Minab, basic protections to safeguard the lives of civilians in war either failed or were disregarded, leading to catastrophic loss among Iran’s civilian population.
Additional reports indicate damage to other schools in Qazvin province and eastern Tehran, with student casualties reported. Some reports also indicate a “double tap” strike in Tehran, wherein responders rushing to the scene after an initial strike were apparently killed in a second bombing shortly after the first, a pattern that was deployed repeatedly by Israel in the Gaza war.
The Iranian Red Crescent states that 555 people have been killed nationwide since the war began, and that 131 counties have been affected. The high death toll on the third day suggests a significantly higher human toll than during the 12 Day War in June, which led to 1,190 deaths with more than half of those identified being civilians.
On Sunday, Iranian state media also reported that parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) complex in northern Tehran were struck in at least two separate attacks. Iran’s News Network announced that “sections of the national broadcasting organization were targeted,” though broadcasting later resumed and technical teams began assessing damage. Temporary signal disruptions were reported in some areas of the country. Broadcasting facilities that function as civilian media institutions are not military bases and are protected civilian objects under international humanitarian law, unless directly and effectively used for military purposes. Attacks that impact media infrastructure risk undermining civilian access to information and endanger journalists and technical staff who are civilians.
At the time of publication, no clear U.S. statement has attempted to explain the bombings of schools and hospitals in Iran. On March 1, CENTCOM spokesperson Tim Hawkins responded to the bombing of the school in Minab, stating “We are aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations. We take these reports seriously and are looking into them. The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm.”
Separately, Secretary of the Department of War (formerly Defense) Pete Hegseth struck a defiant tone in a press briefing on March 2, suggesting the U.S. would not be bound by international law. He stated “America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise airpower campaign in history. B-2s, fighters, drones, missiles, and of course, classified effects, all on our terms, with maximum authorities. No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win and we don’t waste time, or lives.” Hegseth has consistently attacked compliance with rules of engagement governing the use of force, including those designed to minimize civilian casualties in war, instead emphasizing “lethality” in American operations. Now, he appears to be touting his refusal to comply with the law of war while evidence of war crimes in Iran stack up.
The cumulative pattern of reported damage – to hospitals, schools, humanitarian facilities, residential buildings, and media infrastructure – demands serious scrutiny. Under international humanitarian law, both schools and hospitals are protected civilian objects, and are supposed to be protected under humanitarian principles of distinction and proportionality. Even when military objectives are alleged to be nearby, parties to a conflict are legally obligated to distinguish clearly between civilian and military objects and to ensure that anticipated military advantage is not outweighed by foreseeable civilian harm. The United Nations Secretary General also maintains a list of parties to conflict committing grave violations against children in armed conflict, including via attacks on schools and hospitals. The protection of children, patients, medical workers, humanitarian staff, journalists, and other civilians is an absolute obligation.
Grave war crimes against the Iranian people have already been committed in two days of war, with strikes on hospitals and schools that have killed children shocking the conscience of Iranians, international rights monitors and civilians across the globe. Such strikes are among the gravest possible violations of international law, and the National Iranian American Council wholeheartedly condemns them. We call for the warring parties to make clear the circumstances surrounding these attacks, identify the chain of events that led to innocents being killed and immediately halt actions that could reproduce this tragedy. We also urge international rights monitors to launch an independent investigation into these war crimes and pursue accountability.
This war must stop. Iranian retaliation has likewise claimed the lives of innocent people across the Persian Gulf and in Israel, as well as American servicemembers. The National Iranian American Council mourns the loss of everyone who has been victimized by this abhorrent and senseless war that was launched by the United States and Israel without Congressional or United Nations approval.
The growing toll of civilian deaths and injuries underscores the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, strict adherence to international humanitarian law, and independent investigation into reported war crimes. Civilian lives must never be treated as collateral damage in geopolitical confrontation.
De-escalation is imperative. The protection of non-combatants must be prioritized above military posturing. Lasting security and stability cannot be built upon the destruction of classrooms, hospital wards, newsrooms, or family homes. An immediate cessation of hostilities and a renewed commitment to diplomacy are essential to prevent further irreversible loss of civilian life.