Israeli bombing of Rafah can be seen from inside southern Israel. Israel entered Rafah and took over the Keren Shalom crossing this week in what appears to be a “limited” ground offensive against Hamas. Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI | License Photo
May 10 (UPI) — The Biden administration on Friday said it is “reasonable to assess” that Israel used U.S. weapons to violate international law in Gaza, but it stopped short of issuing a full verdict.
A report by the State Department said investigations into potential violations are ongoing but there is not yet enough evidence to verify whether Israel used U.S. weapons in violation of international humanitarian law.
“Given Israel’s significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense 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 report said.
The report also did not find Israel is blocking the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
“If not for sustained engagement by the United States with the Israeli government at the highest levels, the humanitarian crisis that has persisted for the past several months would have been even more dire,” the report said.
The report covers the period between the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 to late April. While it did not find Israel in violation of either terms of the memorandum, it was not sparing in its critique Israel due to the death toll of the Hamas war.
The report noted the United States’ limitations in accessing information from Israel. While Israel has given some information related to targeting decisions and battlefield damage assessments “on request,” more details are needed to make a formal judgment.
“In any conflict involving foreign partners, it is often difficult to make swift, definitive assessments or determinations on whether specific U.S. defense articles or services have been used in a manner not consistent with international law,” the report said, while noting “there have been sufficient reported incidents to raise serious concerns.”
The report was submitted to Congress Friday afternoon, and Biden is required to make a determination under a February national security memorandum, which he issued under pressure from Congressional Democrats.
This has been the first time the United States had to make an assessment about Israel’s conduct since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
The State Department said the assessment is still ongoing.
“We will continue to monitor and respond to any challenges to the delivery of aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza moving forward,” the department said.
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