A report from the administration of President Joe Biden has found that Israeli forces likely used United States-supplied weapons in a manner “inconsistent” with international law, but it stopped short of identifying violations that would put an end to the ongoing military aid.
In the report, released on Friday after a delay, the US State Department indicated Israel did not provide adequate information to verify whether US weapons were used in possible violations of international law during its war in Gaza.
The Biden White House had issued a national security memorandum, NSM-20, in February requiring Israel and other countries receiving military aid to provide written assurances that all US-supplied weapons were used in a manner consistent with international law.
The US would then make a decision about future military aid based on those written assurances. Friday’s report is a byproduct of that memorandum.
“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 [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” the report said.
The report nevertheless adds that the Biden administration believes Israel is taking “appropriate steps” to address such concerns.
That war, however, has spurred international outcry as humanitarian concerns mount.
Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, many of them women and children, and the head of the United Nations World Food Programme has declared a “full-blown famine” in the northern part of the narrow enclave.
Still, Israel’s siege on Gaza continues, with access to food, water and electricity severely limited. UN experts have repeatedly warned of a “risk of genocide” in the territory.
As a result, the Biden administration has faced pressure, particularly from the progressive flank of the Democratic Party, to address the humanitarian concerns by placing conditions on military aid to Israel.
After the report’s release on Friday, progressive lawmakers expressed disappointment with its conclusions.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, for instance, stated it “fails to do the hard work of making an assessment and ducks the ultimate questions that the report was designed to determine”.
Meanwhile, Republicans blasted the report as undermining Israel in its campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas.
Senator Jim Risch, for instance, called the document “politically damaging” and said it would do long-term harm to US allies beyond Israel.
“NSM-20 is aimed squarely at Israel in the near-term, but the additional highly-politicized reporting requirements will eventually be aimed at other American allies and partners across the globe, further impeding the delivery of security assistance and undermining our ability to deter China and Russia,” he wrote in a statement.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
