Statement: In Protest Against the Military Attack on Iran by the United States and Israel, and in Demand for Its Immediate Cessation
3rd March, 2026
Sayaka Higuchi, President
Chie Yamamoto, General Secretary
YWCA of Japan
The military attack launched against Iran on February 28, 2026, by the United States of America (hereinafter “the U.S.”) and Israel is in clear violation of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force by member states.
Following the U.S. bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of President Maduro in January 2026, the use of military force by nations possessing overwhelming military power in flagrant disregard of international law directly undermines the very framework of “international peace and security” for which the United Nations was established.
Amid the ongoing exchange of retaliatory strikes between the two countries and Iran, numerous casualties have already been reported — including multiple media reports that more than 100 children were killed in the bombing of a school in southern Iran. Attacks on civilian facilities such as these are explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law (the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions). The right to life is an inherent and inviolable fundamental human right belonging to all people, and the taking of civilian lives in such arbitrary use of force is absolutely impermissible.
It is women, children, and other vulnerable people who suffer most in war and armed conflict. The YWCA of Japan stands, in reflection of our past failure to stop our country’s militarism and aggression, and in commitment to never repeating the mistake of war, as a member of the World YWCA Movement, working toward the realization of Peace with Justice.
From that position, we strongly condemn the military attack by the United States and Israel, and call on all parties to immediately cease military hostilities and comply with international law.
We call on the Japanese Government to explicitly state the violations of international law committed by the United States and Israel. We further call on the Japanese Government to return to the perspective enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of Japan — which states that “we believe that no nation is responsible to itself alone” — and to strongly urge all governments involved to pursue peace through nonviolent means.
