In an internal memo, some US officials say Israel may be violating international law in Gaza, World News reported

WASHINGTON – Some senior U.S. officials have told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find “credible or reliable” Israel’s assurances that it will use U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, an internal report shows. State Department memo, reviewed by Reuters. .

Other officials reaffirmed their support for Israel’s representation.

Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Mr. Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel’s assurances that the use of American weapons does not violate American or international law.

By March 24, at least seven State Department agencies had sent their contributions to an initial “options memo” to Mr. Blinken. Parts of the memo, which have not previously been reported, have been classified.

The contributions to the memo provide the most comprehensive picture yet of the divisions within the State Department over whether Israel may be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

“Some parts of the department favored accepting Israel’s promises, some favored rejecting them, and some took no position,” a U.S. official said.

A joint submission from four agencies – Democracy Human Rights & Labour; Population, refugees and migration; Global Criminal Justice and International Organization Affairs – has raised “serious concerns about non-compliance” with international humanitarian law during Israel’s prosecution of the Gaza war.

The four agencies’ assessment found that Israel’s assurances were “neither credible nor reliable.” It cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that officials said raise “serious questions” about possible violations of international humanitarian law.

These include repeated attacks on protected sites and civilian infrastructure; “unreasonably high levels of civilian harm at the expense of military advantage”; taking little action to investigate violations or holding accountable those responsible for significant harm to the civilian population and “killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate.”

The four agencies’ assessment also cited 11 cases of Israeli military actions that officials said “arbitrarily limited humanitarian assistance,” including denying entire trucks of aid over a single “dual-use” item, “artificial” restrictions on inspections and repeated attacks on humanitarian locations that should not be hit.

In another contribution to the memo reviewed by Reuters, from the Bureau of Political and Military Affairs, which handles U.S. military aid and arms transfers, Mr. Blinken was warned that suspending U.S. weapons would limit Israel’s ability to counter potential threats outside its airspace and would require Washington to reevaluate “all current and future sales to other countries in the region.”

((nid:681657))

Any suspension of U.S. arms sales would invite “provocations” by Iran and militias aligned with it, the agency said in its submission, illustrating the push and pull within the department as it prepares to report to the Congress.

The submission did not directly address Israel’s guarantees.

Inputs in the memo from the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said they assessed Israel’s assurances as credible and reliable, a second U.S. official told Reuters.

The State Department’s legal office, known as the Office of the Legal Adviser, “did not take a substantive position” on the credibility of the Israeli guarantees, a source familiar with the matter said.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the agency does not comment on leaked documents.

“On complex issues, the Secretary often hears a wide range of views across the Department, and he takes all of those views into consideration,” he said.

May 8 report to Congress

When asked about the memo, an Israeli official said: “Israel is fully committed to its obligations and their implementation, including the guarantees given to the US government.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they have not found that Israel is violating international law.

Mr Blinken has seen all of the agency’s assessments of Israel’s promises, the second US official said.

Mr. Miller said on March 25 that the department had received the commitments. However, the State Department is not expected to provide its full credibility assessment before the May 8 report to Congress.

Further discussions between the ministry’s agencies are underway ahead of the report’s deadline, the US official said.

USAID also provided input for the memo. “The killing of nearly 32,000 people, about two-thirds of whom the Indian government itself estimates to be civilian, may well amount to a violation of the requirements of international humanitarian law,” USAID officials wrote in the submission.

USAID does not comment on leaked documents, a USAID spokesperson said.

The warnings about Israel’s possible violations of international humanitarian law by some senior State Department officials come as Israel vows to launch a military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, home to more than a million people who have been displaced by the war. war, despite repeated warnings from Washington not to do so.

Israel’s military behavior has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the enclave’s health authorities.

Israel’s attack was launched in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, which Israel said killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

The National Security Memorandum was issued in early February after Democratic lawmakers began questioning Israel’s compliance with international law.

The memorandum did not impose any new legal requirements, but asked the State Department to require written assurances from countries receiving US-funded weapons that they will not violate international humanitarian law or block US humanitarian assistance.

((nid:681645))

It also required the administration to submit an annual report to Congress to assess whether countries are adhering to international law and not impeding the flow of humanitarian aid.

If Israel’s guarantees are called into question, Biden would have the option to “remediate” the situation through actions ranging from seeking new guarantees to suspending further US arms transfers, the memorandum said.

He can suspend or impose conditions on US arms transfers at any time.

So far, he has resisted calls from rights groups, left-wing Democrats and Arab-American groups to do so.

But earlier this month, for the first time, he threatened to impose conditions on the transfer of US weapons to Israel if the country does not take concrete steps to improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.