Washington: In another strong criticism that may further strain ties between the US and Israel, the Biden administration on Friday said Israel's use of US-supplied weapons may have violated international law during its military operation in Gaza. However, the US stopped short of a definitive assessment, saying the wartime conditions prevented officials from verifying specific instances of breaches during airstrikes.
The assessment came in a first-of-its-kind 46-page unclassified State Department report to Congress required under a new National Security Memorandum (NSM) that President Joe Biden issued in early February. The findings risk further souring ties with Israel at a time when the allies are increasingly at odds over Israel's plans to strike Rafah, a move Washington opposes on humanitarian grounds.
"Given Israel's significant reliance on U.S.-made defence articles, it is reasonable to assess that defence articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm," the State Department said in the report.
Contradictions in the US report
However, the US State Department had several contradictions. It listed numerous credible reports of civilian harm and said Israel did not at first cooperate with Washington to boost humanitarian assistance to the enclave, but in each instance, it said the US could not make a definitive assessment of whether any breaches of law had occurred.
"Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether US defence articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of the report," it said. As a result, the Biden administration found Israel's assurances that it is using US weapons in accordance with international law to be credible.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said the administration had "ducked all the hard questions" and avoided looking closely at whether Israel's conduct should mean military aid is cut off. "This report contradicts itself because it concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe violations to international law have occurred, but at the same time that says they're not finding non-compliance," he told reporters.
Additionally, the report, Washington has decided to declassify, said individual violations do not necessarily disprove Israel’s commitment to international humanitarian law, as long as it takes steps to investigate and hold violators accountable. It said Israel had acted to improve aid delivery since the US warned it would withhold arms supplies if the humanitarian situation did not improve.
Pressure on Israel over 'excessive' civilian harm
Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny with the soaring death toll and the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip. The US has already paused a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (900 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (225 kg) bombs, over concerns that it was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on Rafah against the wishes of the US.
Later, US President Joe Biden explicitly warned that he would stop supplying weapons if Israeli forces launched a major invasion in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. In a defiant response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would "stand alone" if necessary and would "fight with our fingernails".
The US government reviewed numerous reports that raise questions about Israel’s compliance with its legal obligations and best practices for mitigating harm to civilians, the report said. Those included Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure, strikes in densely populated areas and others that call into question whether “expected civilian harm may have been excessive relative to the reported military objective.”
At least four bureaus inside the US Department of State have raised serious concerns over Israel's conduct in Gaza, according to Reuters. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s seven-month-old assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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