An independent American committee said that the United States evaded its legal obligations in the report, which it submitted to Congress last Friday, which scrutinizes how Israel uses American weapons.
The committee, which consists of a number of former US State Department officials and experts in international law, added that the administration of President Joe Biden must realize that providing Israel with lethal weapons is a legal problem, not a political one.
The committee noted that the Biden administration’s report is, at best, incomplete, and at worst, is intentionally misleading in defending actions and behaviors that likely violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.
The report of experts and former officials indicated that more than 34,000 Palestinians, including 14,000 children, were killed in the Gaza Strip, most of whom were killed by American munitions.
US State Department report
Earlier, a US State Department report, published on Friday evening, stated that it is reasonable to assess that Israel used American weapons in the Gaza Strip in cases that conflict with its obligations under international law.
Although the report criticized the way Israel used American weapons during its ongoing war on Gaza, it spoke of the lack of sufficient evidence that it violated international law.
The publication of the report comes a day after US President Joe Biden acknowledged that US bombs had caused the deaths of civilians in Gaza, warning that his country would not supply Israel with specific types of weapons if it launched a large-scale attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The US State Department indicated that there were cases in which Israel used American weapons in contravention of its obligations under international law, despite what it called “credible assurances” from Israel that it uses these weapons in accordance with international law.
The report stated that Israel’s heavy reliance on American weapons makes it likely that they will be used in operations that are inconsistent with international law.
It also stated that “we do not have complete information to verify that American weapons were used in acts that violated international law,” and that the results on the ground raise questions about whether the Israeli army is using the best methods to reduce harm to civilians.
