Ethiopia has experienced a deadly two-year-long civil war, mainly between the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). During this civil war, in addition to lethal weaponry like drones, jets, missiles, and tanks, the combatant parties and their allies used hate speech as a weapon of war. The aim of this research is to unpack the severity of hate speech disseminated during the civil war and identify its major types that could have contributed to the escalation of the war and the incitement of human rights violations. To achieve this aim, the research used the qualitative content analysis method to analyse data gathered from hate speech broadcasts during the civil war. Furthermore, it applied the propaganda model, framing theory, social identity theory, ARTICLE 19's hate speech pyramid, and the Rabat Plan of Action’s six-part threshold test theoretical and analytical frameworks to analyse the data and discuss its major findings. The research found that the most severe types of hate speech, which aimed to incite genocide, discrimination, hostility, or violence, as well as racial hatred, were disseminated during the civil war. Moreover, it revealed violations of international and Ethiopian laws regulating hate speech. Based on the analysis of empirical data, it is concluded that severe types of hate speech disseminated during the civil war had the potential to escalate the war and incite documented human rights violations.