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  "path": "/post/208953/us-rules-engagement-iran-schools-hospitals",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-10T16:53:21.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Republican Party",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Department of Defense",
    "Pete Hegseth",
    "Rules of engagement",
    "Iran",
    "War",
    "Schools",
    "Children",
    "Israel",
    "Strikes",
    "Hospitals",
    "Health Care",
    "The New York Times",
    "six grave violations",
    "preliminary inquiry",
    "ripped through",
    "bragged",
    "dismantled"
  ],
  "textContent": "It seems that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made good on his promise to sidestep those pesky rules of engagement: The United States and Israel have reportedly attacked schools and hospitals in Iran—a serious war crime.\n\nAt least 22 schools and 17 health care facilities have been damaged as a result of Donald Trump’s reckless five-week war in Iran, according to an analysis published Thursday by The New York Times.\n\nMost of the damage was caused by strikes in crowded neighborhoods, namely Tehran, the nation’s capital, which is as densely populated as New York City, according to the _Times_. In most instances, the target of the strike was unclear. It is also unclear exactly which strikes were American or Israeli.\n\nThe outlet acknowledged that this may only be a sliver of the total damage. The Iranian Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian organization, reported that at least 763 schools and 316 health care facilities had been damaged or destroyed as of April 2.\n\nAttacking schools and hospitals is one of the six grave violations identified by the United Nations Security Council to protect children from armed conflict. Under international law, both schools and hospitals are protected as civilian objects.\n\nTrump’s war began with the U.S. conducting a missile strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab that killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers. A preliminary inquiry found that the use of outdated intelligence caused the school to be labeled as a military target. On the same day, a missile strike ripped through a boys’ elementary school, killing one child.\n\nTwo students were killed in another strike on a high school in Tehran, and six people, including four children, were killed in a strike on a sports hall where a girls’ volleyball team was practicing at the time, according to Iranian state media.\n\nDr. Mohammad Hassan Bani Assad, the president of Gandhi Hospital in northern Tehran, told Iranian state television that bombings near health facilities forced medical staff to evacuate their patients. “We have newborn babies,” he said. “We had eight patients in the ICU, two in critical condition. Women giving birth. Embryos in our fertility department.”\n\nHegseth has previously accused Iran of “moving rocket launchers into civilian neighborhoods near schools, near hospitals to try to prevent our ability to strike.” But he has provided no evidence for this claim, and the Pentagon declined to comment on it.\n\nAt the same time, Hegseth has openly bragged about sidestepping the “stupid rules of engagement,” and dismantled the legal guardrails that would prevent the U.S. military from committing horrific war crimes.",
  "title": "U.S. Ignored Rules of Engagement in Iran, New Study Shows"
}