The Biden administration on Friday said Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Gaza may have violated international humanitarian law.
The findings came in a U.S. State Department report to Congress, which noted that due to wartime conditions, officials had not found specific instances that showed Israel had violated terms of U.S. weapons agreements.
The report was mandated by President Joe Biden and comes after his recent decision to pause the shipment of bombs to Israel and review future military shipments. The findings of the report are not related to that decision, which Biden said he made as a response to Israel's move to invade the Gaza city of Rafah.
According to the report, Israel has "the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations," but added that "the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is using them effectively in all cases."
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Israeli government's press office via email on Friday night for comment.
On October 7, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking over 200 hostages. Israel subsequently launched a war against Hamas in Gaza that has killed over 34,000 people, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing Gaza health officials.
Since the October attack, a war between Israel and Hamas has continued, with the U.S. supplying Israel with several military aid packages before Biden's recent pause on weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Biden's decision to halt the bombs shipment to his country during an interview with "Dr. Phil" McGraw.
"We are doing everything we can to let the people leave, with amazing efforts. But, I think also that this is precision—precision weapons. So, in fact, if you want to avoid civilian casualties, you need these weapons, rather than imprecise weaponry," Netanyahu said.
The AP noted that the State Department report's finding there is "reasonable" evidence to conclude Israel had violated international humanitarian law "was the strongest statement that the Biden administration has yet made on the matter."
"But the caveat that the administration wasn't able to link specific U.S. weapons to individual attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza could give the administration leeway in any future decision on whether to restrict provisions of offensive weapons to Israel," the AP added.
The Friday report has already drawn some scrutiny, including from Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who said the administration had "ducked all the hard questions" about making a determination regarding Israel's use of U.S. weapons.
"This report contradicts itself because it concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe violations to international law have occurred, but at the same time says they're not finding non-compliance," he told members of the press, according to Reuters.
Texas Representative Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized the report's mere existence.
"Now is the time to stand with our ally Israel and ensure they have the tools they need," McCaul said in a statement, per the AP.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
