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The Biden administration said Friday it was “reasonable to assess” that U.S. weapons were used by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip in a manner “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law, but that Israel had violated the law. It was not possible to make an official statement.
The report prepared by the State Department said that an investigation into possible violations was ongoing, but that the United States would not “verify” whether U.S. weapons were “specifically used” in suspected violations of international humanitarian law. “We don’t have complete information to do so.”
“Given the nature of the conflict in Gaza, including Hamas’s attempts to hide behind civilians and infrastructure and expose it to Israeli military action, and the lack of U.S. personnel on the ground, “It is difficult to reach conclusions regarding individual cases.” Nevertheless, given Israel’s heavy reliance on US-made defense articles, defense articles covered by NSM-20 have been subject to IHL obligations or It is reasonable to assess that it is being used when it is inconsistent with established best practices for mitigation. caused harm to civilians,” the report said.
The report, which covers the period from the outbreak of war with Hamas on October 7 to late April, does not find that Israel withheld humanitarian aid from Gaza in violation of U.S. law.
The report says Israel has not violated any of the terms of the memorandum, but harshly criticizes the costs of Israeli military operations. The report’s findings come in another tough moment for U.S.-Israel relations in the same week that President Joe Biden threatened to limit arms transfers if Israel carries out a major attack in Rafah. It shows that
Still, the end result that Israel’s assurances made under the National Security Memorandum are “credible and reliable” has already drawn scrutiny among some lawmakers and among human rights and humanitarian organizations. is causing a sense of distrust.
This report does not oblige the Israeli government to take any action or trigger any policy changes. The administration has largely avoided restricting military aid to Israel, but there was a big change ahead of the report’s release, with Biden saying in an interview with CNN this week that Israel had moved ahead with a major offensive in Gaza City. He publicly declared that he would limit military aid if the situation arises. Transfer of certain offensive weapons to Israel.
The high-stakes report was declassified; It was sent to the Capitol on Friday afternoon. The administration was required to make decisions on the two issues under a national security memorandum issued by Biden in February under pressure from Democratic lawmakers. The U.S. government has criticized Israel’s actions in the seven-month war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began with the terrorist group’s brutal attack on October 7 that left more than 34,000 people dead and many civilians killed. It was the first time I had to make an evaluation. Coastal enclaves were destroyed.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, an architect of the national security memorandum, expressed disappointment in the report.
“The administration dodged all difficult questions about making actual decisions,” the Maryland Democrat told reporters Friday night. “What they’re trying to do is make it clear that they recognize how bad the situation is, but they don’t want to take any action to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for what’s going on. I think so.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, echoed Van Hollen’s remarks, telling CNN the report was a “massive diplomatic evasion.”
“On the one hand, stating that it is very reasonable to conclude that aid has been restricted; stating that it is very reasonable to conclude that our weapons were used in violation of international law; And then they keep saying we just don’t want the aid.’ I can’t answer that yet,” Merkley said on “Erin Burnett Outfront.”
The Oregon Democratic congressman is one of the few to set foot in Rafah, visiting in January.
“Obviously there’s politics involved and there’s strategy involved, but it’s frustrating because at this point it’s really important to use the leverage we have to persuade Israel to change its behavior.” he said.
Earlier Friday, Van Hollen also said that “the purpose of this report is not to provide a snapshot in time” and that the administration has He accused Israel of taking guarantees “at face value.”
However, a senior State Department official said this was always intended to be retrospective and a process to evaluate ongoing activities is underway. There are no deadlines for reaching a conclusion under these processes.
“In any conflict involving a foreign partner, a prompt and final assessment and determination of whether certain U.S. defense articles or military services are being used in a manner inconsistent with international law cannot be made,” the report said. “It is often difficult.”
“However, there have been enough incidents reported to raise serious concerns,” the ministry said.
“Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices to reduce harm to civilians in military operations, but the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, are “All cases raise significant questions about whether the Israel Defense Forces are effectively utilizing them in military operations,” the report states.
A senior State Department official said the report was a useful tool for the Biden administration to visit the Israeli government to obtain information and advocate for changes in behavior. The official said the report would be shared with the Israeli government.
Biden administration officials have been urging Israel for months to do more to curb the civilian death toll and allow more aid to Gaza. Regarding humanitarian assistance, the report found that the U.S. government had “failed to provide needed assistance on a large-scale, sustained, and predictable manner in the period since October 7, leading to significant declines in the overall level of assistance reaching Palestine.” “We were deeply concerned about Israel’s actions and inactions that contributed to this.” Civilians, while improved, remain inadequate. ”
However, the report states, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government prohibits or restricts the transportation or provision of U.S. humanitarian assistance within the meaning of section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act.” , any perceived intentional aid to the government is prohibited. Limiting aid.
The report calls “the impact of Israeli military operations on humanitarian aid workers” a particular area of concern, citing a series of incidents including a deadly attack on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy.
After last month’s airstrike, Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that Israel must do more to address the humanitarian situation or U.S. policy would change. In recent weeks, U.S. officials have said that Israel has taken important steps following the talks, but that more steps still need to be taken. But access to humanitarian aid has been sharply reduced again after Israel launched a “limited” military operation in Rafah, where millions of Palestinians have fled.
The report was the subject of intense debate throughout the administration for months. Human rights groups have assessed Israel’s military operations as violating humanitarian law.
Late last month, Amnesty International assessed that weapons provided by the United States to Israel were being used “in gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and in a manner inconsistent with U.S. law and policy.”
An Amnesty International official said Friday: “This report is like an international version of ‘thoughts and prayers.’ It acknowledges there are problems, but it does nothing meaningful to prevent further loss of life.” No,” he said.
“Despite President Biden’s vague comments earlier this week, the administration today made its position loud and clear: “We strongly condemn and take swift action, but the Israeli government treats us as above the law.” “Despite recognizing the overwhelming evidence that the United States of America’s government has failed,” said Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA’s national director of government relations and advocacy.
“It’s hard to believe that the U.S. government has less information than organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam,” Van Hollen said Friday.
A State Department official said he could not discuss the criteria for the evaluations conducted by these organizations, but said the U.S. government’s process was very thorough and took into account accountability measures taken by the Israeli government.
The president also acknowledged to CNN that the U.S.-supplied bombs “resulted in civilian deaths.” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday that Mr. Biden was talking about the “tragic loss of civilian life throughout this conflict,” not a legal decision under international humanitarian law.
Humanitarian organizations also questioned the report’s findings.
“We are perplexed and disappointed by the Biden administration’s report to Congress, particularly its finding that Israel is not preventing aid from being provided to Gaza,” said Kate, Mercy Corps vice president of global policy and advocacy. Phillips Barrasso said.
“Humanitarian organizations have repeatedly publicly detailed a series of obstructions by Israel over the past seven months that have made it impossible to provide humanitarian aid to the 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip whose lives depend on it. “I’ve done it,” she said.
“But even more convincing than the testimony of aid organizations is the dire situation of Gazans trapped in conflict zones and facing starvation,” she continued. “If humanitarian aid had been properly facilitated, as the NSM calls for, 1.1 million people would not have faced catastrophic starvation within miles of available food. The very fact that the U.S. government expended so much effort and resources to transport aid by air and build floating piers for sea-based deliveries means that officials have already said that aid delivery could be “directly or indirectly” impeded. This shows that they had come to the conclusion that ”
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
