War conditions, however, prevent American officials from determining this with certainty.
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law, but that war conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining with certainty.
Announcing the existence of evidence “reasonable” allowing the conclusion that the American ally violated international law protecting civilians, in the manner in which it waged its war against Hamas, is the strongest that the Biden administration has made to date on this subject. It was published in the summary of a report which will be submitted to Congress on Friday.
However, the administration’s failure to link U.S. weapons to specific attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza could give it some leeway in any future decisions to restrict deliveries of offensive weapons to Israel.
This assessment, the first of its kind, was requested by elected Democrats in Congress. It comes after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid restrictions that have cost the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to local authorities.
Although U.S. officials were unable to gather all the necessary information on the specific strikes, the report said that given the “significant dependence” of Israel with regard to weapons manufactured in the United States, it is “reasonable to estimate” that they were used by Israeli security forces in circumstances “incompatible” with its obligations under international humanitarian law “or with best practices aimed at mitigating harm to civilians.”
The Israeli military has the experience, technology and know-how to minimize harm to civilians, but “the results on the ground, including the high number of civilian casualties, raise important questions about the effectiveness of their use by the Israeli military in all cases”the report says.
International human rights groups and an informal group of former government and military officials, academic experts and others have reported more than a dozen Israeli airstrikes that they said were There was credible evidence of violations of the laws of war and humanitarian law. The intended targets included aid convoys, medical workers, hospitals, journalists, schools, refugee centers and other sites enjoying broad protection under international law.
They argued that the number of civilians killed in numerous strikes in Gaza – such as the October 31 strike on an apartment building that reportedly killed 106 civilians – was disproportionate to the value of any military target.
Israel says it respects all U.S. and international law, is investigating allegations of abuses by its security forces, and that its campaign in Gaza is proportionate to the existential threat it says the Hamas.