While Israel was bombarding the northern Gaza Strip with air strikes last October and ordering the evacuation of more than a million Palestinians from the region, a senior official in the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) issued a clear warning to the White House.
Dana Stroul, then deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, wrote in an email dated October 13, 2023, to senior aides to President Joe Biden that the mass exodus would constitute a humanitarian catastrophe and could constitute a violation of international law, which could lead to charges against Israel of committing crimes. War crimes. Stroll stated in the letter that she was conveying an assessment of the International Committee of the Red Cross that “froze the blood in her veins.”
Reuters reviewed 3 groups of messages exchanged via email between senior officials in the US administration, dating back to the period from 11 to 14 October 2023, that is, a few days after the outbreak of the crisis.
The emails, which were not previously reported, reveal early concern at the State Department and the Pentagon that the rising death toll in Gaza might violate international law and jeopardize American relations with the Arab world.
The messages also show internal pressure in the Biden administration to change its message from showing solidarity with Israel to talking about sympathy for the Palestinians and the need to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Three senior American officials who participated in the decision-making process said that Washington was slow in dealing with the suffering of the Palestinians. Although the ground invasion was ultimately delayed by about 10 days, the three officials attributed that delay to the IDF’s operational preparations more than to American pressure.
Emails reviewed by Reuters show persistent attempts within the Biden administration to warn the White House of the impending crisis, and initial resistance from the White House to a ceasefire during the chaotic first days of the war. The exchange of the three sets of emails began on October 11, 2023, that is, on the fifth day of Israeli air strikes after the Hamas attack.
Loss of credibility
Early on, concerns grew within the administration about the image of the United States in the eyes of its Arab allies. After Israeli air strikes targeted hospitals, schools and mosques in Gaza.
The State Department’s top public diplomacy official, Bill Russo, told senior department officials that Washington was “losing credibility among Arabic-speaking audiences” by not addressing the humanitarian crisis directly, according to an email sent on October 11, 2023. She stated Health authorities in Gaza that day estimated the death toll at about 1,200 people.
While Israel defended the strikes, saying Hamas was using civilian buildings for military purposes, Russo wrote that American diplomats in the Middle East were monitoring Arab media reports accusing Israel of waging “genocide” and Washington of complicity in war crimes.
Russo also wrote that “the United States’ lack of response to the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinians is not only ineffective and counterproductive, but we are also accused of complicity in possible war crimes by remaining silent about Israel’s actions against civilians.”
At that time, emergency teams were struggling to rescue residents buried under the rubble due to Israeli air strikes, and the sympathy of countries began to shift from the dead Israelis to the trapped Palestinian civilians.
As Rousseau addressed senior State Department officials, he urged action quickly to change the administration’s stated position of unconditional support for Israel and its military operation in Gaza. “If this course is not quickly reversed, not just through messaging but through action, there is a risk of damaging our position in the region for years to come,” he wrote.
Rousseau resigned last March, citing personal reasons, and declined to comment. Barbara Leaf, the US State Department’s chief diplomat for Middle East affairs, forwarded Rousseau’s message via email to White House officials, including Brett McGurk, Biden’s chief Middle East adviser.
She warned that the relationship with Washington’s Arab partners “who would have been loyal supporters in other circumstances” was at risk due to the concerns raised by Rousseau.
McGurk responded that if the question is whether the administration should call a ceasefire, the answer is “no.” But he went on to say that Washington “100 percent supports” supporting humanitarian corridors and protecting civilians.
McGurk and Liff declined to comment for this report, but after Russo’s email, the stated US position saw little change over the next two days, a review of public statements shows. American officials continued to emphasize Israel’s right to defend itself and plans to provide it with military aid.
Reduce speed
On October 13, 2023, two days after Rousseau’s letter, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over northern Gaza ordering one million residents of the Strip to leave their homes. Netanyahu gave residents 24 hours to flee, while Israeli forces backed by tanks began a ground offensive inside the Hamas-run enclave, which has a population of 2.3 million. Netanyahu pledged to eliminate Hamas because of its attack.
The evacuation orders have alarmed relief agencies and the United Nations. By then, Israeli air strikes had wiped out entire neighborhoods.
The International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva issued a statement saying that the Israeli order “does not comply with international humanitarian law” because it would cut off food, water and other basic needs from Gaza.
In a phone conversation that day with Strohl, Fabrizio Carbone, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s regional director for the Middle East, was more blunt, emails show.
“The International Committee of the Red Cross is not prepared to say this publicly, but in private it is raising the alarm that Israel is close to committing war crimes,” Stroul said in her October 13 letter, in which she described their conversation.
Her email was addressed to senior officials in the White House, including McGurk, along with senior officials in the Departments of State and Defense (the Pentagon). “Their main concern is that it is impossible for a million civilians to move so quickly,” Stroul wrote.
One US official said in the email chain that it would be impossible to carry out such an evacuation without causing a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
Publicly, the White House was expressing measured support for Israel’s plans. A White House spokesman told reporters that such a massive evacuation represented a “difficult task,” but Washington would not criticize Israel. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also confirmed that US military aid will continue to flow to Israel.
Egypt did not open its borders with the Gaza Strip as part of its long-term policy of preventing the resettlement of Palestinians in large numbers. Some Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza were killed when Israel bombed cars and trucks.
In an email response to Stroul, McGurk said Washington might be able to persuade Israel to extend the Palestinian evacuation deadline beyond 24 hours, saying the administration “can buy some time.” But he wrote that the Red Cross, the United Nations and relief agencies should work with Egypt and Israel to prepare for the evacuation.
McGurk, a long-time Iraq expert, likened the situation to the US-led military operation against Islamic State militants in Mosul from 2016 to 2017, an attack that left the Iraqi city in ruins.
He said that the military and humanitarian strategy in the Mosul attack were planned side by side. Two officials responded in the email chain that it would be impossible to prepare the necessary infrastructure in such a short time.
One of them reminded McGurk that the Mosul operation resulted from planning that lasted much longer. Humanitarian organizations have had months to prepare and provide support to displaced civilians.
“Our assessment is that there is simply no way for this scale of displacement to occur without causing a humanitarian catastrophe,” Paula Toffro, the White House’s senior official for humanitarian response, wrote in an email. It will take “months” to put in place the structures necessary to provide “essential services” to more than million people.
She asked the White House to ask Israel to slow down its attack. “We need the government of Israel to slow down the speed at which people are being pushed south,” Tovro wrote.
Andrew Miller, who was deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the time, urged his colleagues to act quickly. “If we are inclined to intervene with the Israelis to dissuade them from seeking mass evacuations, we will have to do so soon, at a high level and across multiple touchpoints,” Miller wrote. Miller resigned in June, citing family reasons.
Acceleration of armament
While US officials assessed the humanitarian crisis, Israel pressured Washington to obtain more weapons. According to emails, a senior official at the Israeli Embassy in Washington urged the US State Department on October 14, 2023, to expedite the shipment of 20,000 automatic rifles to the Israeli police.
That day, Israeli Defense Advisor Uri Katsav apologized in an email to his State Department counterpart for disturbing her over the weekend, but said the rifle shipment was “very urgent” and must be approved by the United States.
Christine Minarich, an official in the Defense Items Trade Controls Department, the department responsible for approving arms sales at the State Department, told Katsav that the rifles would not be approved within the next 24 to 48 hours. Such large arms shipments can take a long time, requiring State Department approval and notification of Congress.
Jessica Lewis, then Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, forwarded Menarich’s letter and Israel’s request for the rifles to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Labor, and Human Rights. The office reviews potential US arms sales to ensure that they are not sent to armies involved in human rights violations.
According to the emails, Lewis asked the office to expedite its review and to “urgently” explain any opposition to specific arms deals to Israel. Lewis resigned in July.
Christopher Lemon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Labor, and Human Rights, recommended rejecting more than a dozen arms deals, including grenade launchers, spare parts, and rifles. In his response to Lewis, he cited concerns about the “conduct” of certain Israeli police units, such as the Border Patrol Unit (YAMAM), a special forces unit.
Le Mon wrote that there were “numerous reports” that Yamam’s unit was involved in “serious human rights violations.” The Office of Democracy, Labor and Human Rights raised objections to 16 separate arms deals to Israel, according to the email and a knowledgeable source.
The source said that almost all deals went ahead despite the office’s objections. The Yamam unit’s missions included rescuing 4 Israeli hostages on June 8, a mission that health officials in Gaza say resulted in the deaths of more than 200 Palestinians.
Two American officials who reviewed an updated list of arms shipments said that Washington has been sending ammunition to Israel in large numbers since the start of the war in Gaza, including more than 10,000 highly destructive bombs weighing approximately 907 kilograms and thousands of Hellfire missiles.
Several American officials familiar with the matter also said that Washington has been sending large numbers of munitions to Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, including thousands of precision-guided missiles and bombs weighing 907 kilograms, which can destroy densely populated areas and were used to destroy tunnels and bunkers.
Some human rights groups say the use of these weapons is to blame for the deaths of civilians. Amnesty International reported at least three incidents between October 10, 2023, and January 2024, involving weapons provided by the United States, which the organization said killed civilians, including women and children, in “serious violations” of international humanitarian law.
Last July, the organization warned of US complicity in what it said was Israel’s illegal use of American weapons to commit war crimes.