US Report: Israel’s Use of American Weapons Likely Violated International Law
The Biden administration assessed that Israel’s use of American weapons likely violated the international humanitarian law, but said it had no hard proof of Israeli violations.
In a report provided to Congress on Friday, the US State Department said it is “reasonable to assess” that Israeli forces have used US weapons in Gaza in ways that are “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law, noting that investigations into potential violations are ongoing.
This report came days after President Joe Biden’s decision to pause the delivery of 3,500 bombs to Israel and his blunt warning that his administration would halt more weapons shipments if the Israeli military invaded Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
US Assessment
The report was mandated by Biden in February after Congress members charged that Israel’s military operations in Gaza had killed and injured too many civilians and that Israel was blocking international aid.
It aims to include assessments and analysis regarding Israel’s use of US defense assistance in a manner that adheres to international humanitarian law and established best practices for civilian harm mitigation, as well as its cooperation with US humanitarian assistance efforts, as established by the National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20).
Possible Violations
The report said that given the nature of the conflict in Gaza, “it is difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents. Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on US-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.”
In what seems to be a contradiction, the report added that the US “does not have complete information to verify whether US defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or international human rights law during the period of the report.”
Civilian Harm
The report criticized the toll of Israel’s military campaign. It said that Israel “has the knowledge, experience and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations.”
However, “the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions” as to whether the Israeli forces are using them effectively in all cases, the report added.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the conflict has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 34,700 Palestinians, an estimated 78,200 injured and has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis, the report said.
Humanitarian Situation
Regarding the access of humanitarian aid, the report didn’t find that Israel has withheld humanitarian aid to Gaza in violation of US law.
Despite citing concerns that Israel did not fully cooperate with US government efforts and US government-supported international efforts to maximize humanitarian assistance flow to and distribution within Gaza, it noted that Israel has increased humanitarian access and aid flow into Gaza in recent months.
“While the US has had deep concerns during the period since October 7 about action and inaction by Israel that contributed significantly to a lack of sustained and predictable delivery of needed assistance at scale, and the overall level reaching Palestinian civilians – while improved – remains insufficient, we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance within the meaning of section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act.”
Avoiding Action
The findings of the report caused disappointment among some Congress Democrats. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, who led the push behind creating such report, said the report fell short of making difficult determinations about Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
“The administration ducked all the hard questions about making the actual determination. I think what they’re trying to do is make clear that they recognize how bad the situation is, but they don’t want to have to take any action to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for what’s happening,” he told reporters Friday evening.
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN that the report is “a massive diplomatic dodge.” He said: “On the one hand, it says that it’s very reasonable to conclude that there’s been restriction of aid, it’s very reasonable to conclude that our weapons have been used in violation of international law and then it proceeds to say that we just don’t want to give an answer on that yet.”
“It is frustrating because it’s so important at this moment that we use the leverage we have to persuade Israel to change its conduct,” Merkley added.
In a similar vein, Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer now with International Crisis Group, told the New York Times that the report “bends over backwards” to avoid concluding that Israel violated the law, noting that this conclusion would add more pressure on Biden to restrict arms shipments to Israel.
Finucane described the report as “more forthcoming” than he had expected, but he believed that it was still “watered down” and heavily “lawyered.”
