Trump's Iran threats alarm war crimes experts

Donald Trumprisks turning America into a "rogue state," a former U.S. ambassador for war crimes issues warned Wednesday after the presidentthreatened to bomb power stations and desalination plantsin Iran.

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Stephen J. Rapp, who served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues from 2009 to 2015, said he was disturbed by Trump's threats to Iran if it does not reopen theStrait of Hormuzand agree to end the war the United States and Israel launched a month ago.

"It makes us a rogue state," said Rapp, who served as chief of prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal forRwanda from 2001 to 2007and the chief prosecutor of the Special Court forSierra Leonefrom 2007 to 2009. He and two other experts in international law who spoke to NBC News said Trump's threats alone could represent a possible war crime.

On Monday, Trump said that if an agreement was not reached and if the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route through which 20% of the world's oil supply passes, was not immediately reopened, he would destroy civilian energy infrastructure "and possibly all desalinization plants," which he said the U.S. had "purposefully not yet 'touched."

"Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet "touched,"" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Tehran has denied progress in talks.

Oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz (Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)

Trump said the attacks would be carried out "in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime's 47 year 'Reign of Terror'."

Asked for a response to some experts' assessments that Trump's comments about targeting civilian infrastructure risk turning the U.S. into a "rogue state," a White House official said, "The terrorist Iranian regime has brought upon egregious human rights abuses for 47 years, including brutally killing its own people for merely speaking out against its oppressive rule. By achieving the military objectives stated under Operation Epic Fury, President Trump is making the entire region safer and more stable by eliminating Iran's short- and long-term threats to our country and our allies."

Trump, who is expected to address the nation Wednesday night for an update on the war, said Tuesday that the U.S. planned to leave Iran within two or three weeks, with or without a deal, though it was not clear whether he planned to uphold his threat to destroy civilian infrastructure.

On Wednesday, he claimed Iran was seeking a "ceasefire" in the war, which he said the U.S. would consider once Hormuz was reopened. Tehran did not immediately respond to this assertion either.

'Not much question'

To attack desalination plants, upon which millions of people across the Middle East rely for drinking water, Rapp said, "would definitely be a war crime."

"Not much question about that," he said.

Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, agreed, adding in separate comments: "Even attacks on power plants are war crimes."

He noted that Iran has a unified electrical grid, meaning its military uses the same electricity as civilians.

"The harm to civilians ... is clearly disproportionate to any military benefit," he added.

A woman speaks on the phone as emergency workers sift through rubble. (Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)

Underinternational humanitarian law, civilian sites cannot be made the "object of attack or of reprisals." The only exception is if they are used for military purposes, but attacks must still adhere to the principles of international law.

In his threat, Trump said that such attacks on civilian infrastructure would be carried out as "retribution" for the deaths of U.S. military members, with at least 13 service members killed in the war, while two more have died of noncombat causes.

More than 3,000 people have been killed across the region in the war, with at least 1,900 people estimated killed in Iran under Israeli and American strikes and more than 1,300 killed in Lebanon, while 19 people have died in Israel.

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Human rights groups have said that in addition to the U.S., Israel and Iran have committed possible war crimes during the monthlong conflict.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on criticisms of Trump's threats to target civilian infrastructure in Iran.

During a news conference Tuesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to try to downplay Trump's threats.

Hailing the U.S. military as "the most professional force in the world," Caine said it had "numerous processes and systems to carefully consider the whole range of considerations, from civilian risk to legal considerations."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt separately said Monday that the U.S. military would always operate within the "confines of the law."

David J. Scheffer, who served as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues and led the American delegation to the United Nations talks for establishing the International Criminal Court, said he wouldn't necessarily call America a "rogue state."

However, the "entire international community" will be watching the conduct of U.S. forces in the Iran war — "and will reach conclusions that could easily identify the United States as a nation that is not complying with international law," he said.

The U.S., Israel and Iran are not signatories to the International Criminal Court, which investigates and tries crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israeli airstrike hits Sakesakiye: 4 Killed and Multiple Buildings Destroyed in Southern Lebanon (Murat Sengul / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Threats as war crimes

International law experts also said that under international law, threatening to carry out a war crime can be considered a war crime in and of itself, although threats alone were unlikely to be prosecuted.

"Even if the threat is not deemed a war crime in itself, it would be evidence of criminal intent, as opposed to an erroneous misfire, if the attack is carried out," according to Roth.

While Rapp said Trump's comments could be put down to "bluster," he felt the president was "tearing up" Washington's historic role in leading efforts to prosecute war crimes on the world stage, including in the Nuremberg trials, which saw top Nazi leaders prosecuted for their crimes during the Holocaust.

Meanwhile, he warned that Trump's threats also risked creating a "permission structure for others to threaten or commit similar crimes."

Pete Hegseth And Dan Caine Hold Pentagon Press Briefing On Operation Epic Fury (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Shadow of Gaza

Three former U.S. officials who resigned from the Biden administration over America's support for Israel's war in the Gaza Strip said the gravity of Trump's threats should not be downplayed.

Josh Paul, whoresigned from his roleas director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in 2023, said there appeared to be a growing "willingness to commit" possible war crimes, "whether by the U.S. or certainly by some of its partners."

TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-GAZA (Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images)

"The fact that Trump feels he can use this in what almost seems like an idle threat, I think is part of what's so alarming about it ... given the context of Israel's absolute destruction of almost all civilian infrastructure in Gaza," said Annelle Sheline, whoresigned the following year from the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor for the same reasons as Paul and whose work focused on the Middle East.

Another expert expressed a similar view.

"Once, you know, hospital after hospital, school after school, got bombed, journalist after journalist got killed, it became so normalized," said Hala Rharrit, a U.S. diplomat and veteran foreign service officer whostepped down from the State Departmentin 2024.

"Now, when Trump makes the threat of attacking civilian infrastructure, many people don't even bat an eye."

Israel rejects allegations that it has committed war crimes in Gaza, where at least 72,285 people have been killed across two and a half years of war, according to figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Trump's Iran threats alarm war crimes experts

Donald Trumprisks turning America into a "rogue state," a former U.S. ambassador for war crimes issues warned W...
Death of refugee found after being released by Border Patrol determined to be homicide

The manner of death of anearly blind refugeewho didn't speak English and was found dead in February in New York state days after he was left outside a coffee shop by Customs and Border Protection officers was homicide, a state medical examiner's office said Wednesday.

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Nurul Amin Shah Alam's manner of death was determined to be a homicide with cause of death being "complications of a perforated ulcer precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Poloncarz said the cause of death "refers to the disease or injury that initiates the lethal sequence of events."

The county executive said his office was barred by state law from publicly releasing the official autopsy and report on the death. Poloncarz said he wished he could release it.

Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein said Wednesday that Shah Alam had a "stress ulcer" that burst open.

"If that is not repaired in a short period of time, it can cause death, which is what we have, we felt we've seen in this instance," she said, later adding, "It's a medical emergency."

She said Shah Alam experienced "severe stress" and that "stress was felt to be hypothermia, being in very cold temperatures, and dehydration, so no access to liquids."

Nurul Amin Shah Alam. (Buffalo Police Dept.)

Burstein said homicide as a manner of death "refers to death resulting from volitional or through a choice or decision or an act of another and so this includes negligent acts or omissions or inaction."

Burnstein said "the designation of homicide does not imply intent to cause harm or death" and "they do not indicate criminality, which is the purview of the judicial system."

The officials declined to comment on whether the findings meant that CBP's actions on the night they released Shah Alam contributed to the death.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to request for comment on the medical examiner's findings.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement ahead of the news conference that Shah Alam "fled genocide to build a life in this country. Instead, he was abandoned and left to suffer alone in his final hours."

"No New Yorker should be treated this way. My office is continuing our review of the circumstances and treatment that led to Mr. Shah Alam's death," she said.

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said late last month that the death of Shah Alam was preventable and "deeply disturbing and a dereliction of duty by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

"A vulnerable man — nearly blind and unable to speak English — was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location," Ryan said in a statement Wednesday, adding that CBP's behavior in the incident was "unprofessional and inhumane."

CBP previously said in a statement to NBC News that the Buffalo Police Department on Feb. 19 alerted Border Patrol about a noncitizen in their custody. CBP determined Shah Alam had entered the U.S. as a refugee in December 2024 and "was not amenable to removal" and could not be deported. Border Patrol agents offered Shah Alam a ride, "which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station."

"He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance," the agency said.

The agency declined to answer if Shah Alam's family or friends were notified of his release and when it would take place, as well as what country the man was from.

"Nobody told me or my family or attorney where my dad was dropped off,"Mohamad Faisal, one of Shah Alam's children, told Reuters. Faisal told the news agency that their family were Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Shah Alam's death caused alarm among New York state officials and advocates who criticized CBP for leaving him outside a coffee shop, which closed at the time,according to the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo.

"The death of a loved one is never easy and the national and international attention focused on Mr. Alam, his life and his death are an added burden to this family, and my thoughts are with them, especially today," Burstein said.

Death of refugee found after being released by Border Patrol determined to be homicide

The manner of death of anearly blind refugeewho didn't speak English and was found dead in February in New York state...
Homeland Security pauses plan to purchase warehouses for detention centers

The Department of Homeland Security is temporarily pausing plans to buy warehouses to detain undocumented immigrants,according tomultiple reports, with the move coming less than two weeks into recently confirmed Secretary Markwayne Mullins' tenure.

USA TODAY

In an emailed statement to USA TODAY, DHS said that "As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals." It's not clear whether Mullin intends on moving forward with the agency's plan to convert already acquired warehouses into detention centers.

The former Oklahoma senator has previously expressed some hesitancy, noting at his confirmation hearing last month that "it's important that we're talking to the communities" where such centers would be constructed and maintained.

DHS' estimated$38.3 billion plan to buy 24 commercial warehousesand boost its detention capacity to more than 92,000 beds in a few months had received criticism from some local officials and residents in the potential locations, according to previous reporting by USA TODAY. Local authorities have voiced concerns that the facilities could overwhelm public sewage and water systems.

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The pushback contributed to the collapse of at least 11 deals, but as of early March, the federal government had purchased at least 10 warehouses.

Some proposed warehouses are expected to hold more than 8,000 individuals at a time. PresidentDonald Trump's deportation crackdown was a cornerstone of his 2024 reelection bid and first year of his second term.

DHS is currently shut down as Congress islockedin a battle over the department's funding, particularly over immigration enforcement after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal officers in Minnesota. But Republican lawmakers announced April 1 that the House is set to pass a Senate bill tofund most of the department, minus Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:DHS, Mullin pauses purchasing warehouses for detention centers

Homeland Security pauses plan to purchase warehouses for detention centers

The Department of Homeland Security is temporarily pausing plans to buy warehouses to detain undocumented immigrants,a...
Jalen Hurts has long resisted change. A new play caller will force him to adapt

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts faces far more uncertainty in 2026 than a player with his résumé should warrant. But after a rocky season — in which the Eagles fell to 19th in scoring and endured multiple bouts of frustration from star wideout A.J. Brown — there's some pressure on Hurts to get the offense back to its elite ways.

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That's going to require change, something theteam signaled when it firedlast season's offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and replaced him with Sean Mannion. While Mannion is unproven as a coordinator, he's expected to run an offense that features motion and under-center play-action passes, something the Eagles have not embraced during the Hurts era.

In order for that to be a success, it's going to require change on the quarterback's end as well, something he's been hesitant to take on since joining the NFL, per Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, who spoke to multiple sources about Hurts' 2025 season.

While some anonymous quotes still showed support for Hurts, others painted the quarterback as a player whoresists change and won't step outside his comfort zone, even in cases where it might make the team's offense more functional.

[Hurts] has pushed back on changes that would diversify the scheme, sources said, including when it comes to him going under center more. He has shown a reluctance to let it rip at times, particularly against zone coverage. He diverts from the game plan and changes playcalls to what some feel is an excessive degree. His strong preferences, coupled with the coaches' efforts to play to his strengths, which include his deep-ball accuracy and throws to the perimeter, limit the breadth to which the offense can expand -- or at least that's the way it has gone in the past.

That's Mannion's problem now. The former quarterback-turned-coach came up under Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, who is a member of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. Shanahan's offense is heavily reliant on motion and under-center play-action, meaning Hurts is going to have to be uncomfortable if he's going to run Mannion's offense.

It's unclear how that will go. While a source close to Hurts told ESPN the quarterback isn't opposed to running plays with "motions and shifts," others said Hurts "continually fights" playing under center and doesn't like to "turn his back on the defense," something Patullo reportedly wanted Hurts to do more of during the 2025 season.

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Patullo and Hurts seemingly never got on the same page, leading to the Eagles' offense disappointing in 2025. After finishing seventh in points scored in 2024, the team fell all the way to 19th in 2025. It still made the playoffs, but those offensive shortcomings were exposed in a 23-19 loss to the San Fransisco 49ers — a team coached by Shanahan.

The man at the center of the team's offensive production in 2024 — then-offensive coordinator Kellen Moore — reportedly was able to compromise with Hurts that season, getting the team to rank 11th in motion plays. But Moore's relationship with Hurts was reportedly "tense," per ESPN.

If there was tension between the two, it didn't simmer long enough to come to a head. Following a successful year as the team's offensive coordinator, Moore left to be the head coach for the New Orleans Saints. In his first season in New Orleans, Moore's Saints ranked sixth in the NFL in motion plays.

In order to prevent similar issues between Hurts and Mannion, the quarterback will need to embrace concepts he's reportedly bristled at in the past. It might be the perfect time for that to happen, as the quarterback is reportedly "as open as he's ever been" to change, per ESPN.

Despite the team's offensive struggles in 2025, Hurts still managed to put up strong numbers. While his completion percentage dropped, Hurts threw for more yards and passing touchdowns in 2025 compared to 2024.

Hurts' stats have rarely been the issue. The quarterback is a three-time Pro Bowler who seems to elevate his game when it matters most. Hurts turned in two phenomenal performances in the Eagles' Super Bowl appearances, winning the game's MVP award afterleading the Eagles to a 40-22 winover the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the 2024 NFL season.

A quarterback of that caliber shouldn't enter 2026 on shaky footing, but that speaks to how poorly things went for the Eagles last year. After a disappointing season, much-needed change is coming to the Eagles in 2026. Whether the team can get back to its elite ways on offense could depend on whether Hurts is ready to embrace concepts he's seemingly shied away from in the past.

Jalen Hurts has long resisted change. A new play caller will force him to adapt

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts faces far more uncertainty in 2026 than a player with his résumé should warra...
Israeli death penalty law targeting Palestinians sparks global outcry as far right celebrates

TEL AVIV — Far-right supporters of a controversial Israeli death penalty law were popping champagne corks as itcleared the Knesseton Monday night, but its passage has sparked a global chorus of condemnation from allies and international human rights groups.

NBC Universal Israel Palestinians (Itay Cohen / AP)

The new law effectively makes death by hanging the default punishment for murderers who kill "with the intent to deny the existence of the State of Israel" — language that targets Palestinian militants but amounts to a de facto exclusion ofIsraelis who kill Palestinians.

Because the law would accelerate lethal punishments for Palestinians and is almost impossible to apply to Israeli murderers, human rights groups say it's likely to inspire far more outrage and violence than it prevents.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türksaid in a statementTuesday that the measure is a "particularly egregious violation of international law" and warned its application to residents of the occupied West Bank and theGaza Strip"would constitute a war crime."

Australia, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom voiced concerns over its "de facto discriminatory character" in ajoint statement, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in aposton X that it was "another step toward apartheid."

The Trump administration has so far avoided joining critics, with a State Department spokesperson saying it "respects Israel's sovereign right to determine its own laws," adding: "We trust that any such measures will be carried out with a fair trial and respect for all applicable fair trial guarantees and protections."

Advocates of the law within Israel have pointed toviolent attacksperpetrated by Palestinian militants over the years.

For Micah Avni, his support for the law is deeply personal, having watched the Palestinian militant who murdered his father, Richard Avni, a decade agowalk free from an Israeli prisonas part of an exchange for Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

"I wish it had been in place earlier and I'm glad it's in place now," Avni, 56, said in a phone call Tuesday. "That terrorist who murdered my father showed absolutely no remorse. I'm quite certain, based on the statistics, that he's out there planning his next terror attack."

Micah Avni, right, and his father, Richard Lakin, left. (Family handout)

The law's critics say the new legislation is unlikely to dissuade Ghanem or anyone else from killing Israelis.

"This sends another message to Palestinians that there is no place for compromise," said Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician and leader of the Palestinian National Initiative party. "This will not deter Palestinians but it will enhance their struggle for freedom from this oppressive system."

Under the new law, the death penalty will be administered by military courts that almost exclusively try Palestinians and have a 96% conviction rate, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group.

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Capital sentences will now require only a simple majority of sitting judges rather than unanimous agreement, the group said. And the punishment must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing without any possibility for pardons or commutations.

"It's just going to be another tool in the Israeli toolkit to kill Palestinians," said Shai Parnes, B'Tselem's public outreach director.

Funeral of Last Israeli Gaza Hostage in Boost for Peace Plan (Kobi Wolf / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The law would not apply to Palestinians already convicted of participating in theOct. 7 attacks. But those who haven't been convicted, including the estimated half of imprisoned Palestinians who have been jailed but not formally charged under Israel's so-called "administrative detention" for Palestinian offenders, could still be put to death.

Capital punishment is technically legal in Israel but only for crimes against humanity and treason.

The death penalty for murder was outlawed in 1954 and Israel has only executed two people in its 78-year history. Meir Tobianski was executed for treason in 1948 but was completely exonerated a year later. In 1962, Israel hanged Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the holocaust, after a widely watched trial in Jerusalem.

The punishment stipulated under the new law is death by hanging, after the Israeli Medical Association's ethics board said last year that its members would be prohibited from administering lethal injections, according toIsraeli media.

Supporters of the death penalty, particularly among the far-right politicians who championed it, describe the law as a much-needed correction to decades of lax punishments by progressive judges that only incentivized terror.

"The idea is to not allow them to continue to think that by taking hostages they're going to get a get-out-of-jail-free card because there's no death penalty," said Caroline Glick, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's international affairs adviser.

Among the more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners released as part of exchanges for Israeli hostages in Gaza, hundreds of them were serving life sentences for lethal crimes against Israelis.

International Quds Day in Gaza (Mohammed Talatene / DPA via Getty Images file)

Yahya Sinwar, the former head of Hamas and one of the primary architects of the Oct. 7 attacks, was released from Israeli prison in a similar deal in 2011.

"It's important from a deterrent perspective because one of the things that we find is that we give people multiple life sentences and they don't take it seriously," Glick said.

But some of the law's backers in parliament betrayed a certain macabre zeal for its intent. Some right-wing lawmakers wore gold nooses to Monday's session. After the bill passed, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir popped a bottle of champagne as television cameras rolled.

"Soon we will count them one by one," he said of the executions to come as he poured champagne into his colleagues' glasses. "From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the state of Israel will take their life."

Israeli death penalty law targeting Palestinians sparks global outcry as far right celebrates

TEL AVIV — Far-right supporters of a controversial Israeli death penalty law were popping champagne corks as itcleared th...

 

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