Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a written report to Congress on Friday about Israel’s war effort in Gaza, claiming its military may have potentially violated international humanitarian law. However, the State Department did not find any specific instances of Israel misusing American weapons to back those allegations.
While Israel has been accused of violating humanitarian law since the Hamas attack on October 7, the U.S. said it doesn’t have “complete information” on whether Israel misused its defense aid. The report covered Israel’s military actions from January 2023 to April 2024.
“Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles . . . have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” the report says, according to CBS News.
Though it did not find any reason to believe Israel is actively “prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance,” the assessment concluded that the Israeli government “did not fully cooperate” with the U.S. in initially permitting access to humanitarian aid in Gaza following October 7. The report noted, however, that there has been a “substantial increase” in Israel’s humanitarian efforts recently.
Still, according to the report, the level of aid designated for Palestinian civilians remains “insufficient.” High numbers of civilian casualties also “raise substantial questions,” the document states, as to whether Israel is doing its best to mitigate damage in Gaza.
The State Department released the findings two days after missing its initial deadline. On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters there was a slight delay because U.S. officials were taking “deliberate care to make sure that we get everything” in the first-of-its-kind assessment “absolutely correct.”
President Joe Biden mandated the report in February through a national-security memorandum to ensure that the U.S. was complying with humanitarian law in providing military aid to Israel. International humanitarian law is largely based on the Geneva Conventions. Last month, Congress passed $17 billion in such aid to Israel as part of a $95 billion national-security package that Biden ultimately signed into law.
The report’s findings, according to the New York Times, are unrelated to Biden’s decision on Wednesday to withhold arms shipments from Israel. The president paused the transfer of 3,500 bombs and the review of other weapons shipments after Israel started invading the southern Gaza city of Rafah to root out Hamas earlier this week.
The military offensive initially began as a limited operation, but the Israeli war cabinet later voted to expand its scope in Rafah. The expansion is not expected to cross Biden’s “red line,” Axios reported Friday. Biden first spoke of his red line in March, warning Israel to not attack Rafah. Israel says its ground offensive is necessary to end the war, claiming Rafah is the last stronghold for Hamas.
The State Department’s conclusions come after an independent task force released a separate report last month, alleging Israel is showing “systematic disregard” for international law by restricting humanitarian aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have also accused Israel of doing the same.