According to the Guardian, analysis of debris found at the scene of the attack shows that Israel used US weapons in an airstrike in March that killed seven medical workers in southern Lebanon, but Human Rights Watch claimed that the airstrike was a violation of international law.
On March 27, seven volunteer paramedics aged between 18 and 25 were killed in an attack on an emergency center belonging to the Lebanon Aid Society in the town of al-Khabariyeh in southern Lebanon.
The Guardian examined the remains of a 500-pound Israeli-made MPR bomb and a US-made Joint Directional Attack Munition (JDAM) recovered from the scene of the attack by first responders. Photographs of the debris sent by the Guardian were further verified by Human Rights Watch and independent weapons experts.
JDAM is a guidance kit manufactured by American aerospace company Boeing that attaches to a 500- to 2,000-pound “dumb bomb” to transform it into a GPS-guided precision missile. They are key to Israel’s war efforts in Gaza and Lebanon, and are among the most requested munitions from the United States.
The shrapnel recovered from the al-Khabariyeh attack included fragments with markings identifying them as “MPR 500 bombs,” as well as the remains of the JDAM parts and motor that held the bomb in its guidance system.
Human Rights Watch said its own investigation concluded that the attack on the medical center was illegal and should impact U.S. military assistance to Israel.
“Israel’s assurances that it is using U.S. weapons legally cannot be trusted. Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon continue to violate international law, and the Biden administration should immediately halt arms sales to Israel.” ,” said Ramzi Qais, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Five days after the attack on medical workers in Lebanon, Israel killed seven more aid workers employed at the World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip. The attack sparked global outrage and Israel called it a “grave mistake.”
The revelation of Israel’s use of US weapons in illegal attacks comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reports to Congress on May 8 on whether he accepts Israel’s credible assurances that the use of US weapons is not a violation. The meeting was held in the midst of plans to submit the following documents. U.S. or international law.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the attack on al-Khabariye should be reflected in Mr. Blinken’s report to Congress.
“These reports are deeply disturbing and require a thorough investigation by the Biden administration, whose findings will be submitted to Congress on May 8,” Van Hollen said in an email. “This will definitely be included in the upcoming NSM-20 report.”
The U.S. attack on Israel comes as more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli military operation in Gaza launched in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. There is growing public pressure to limit or halt arms transfers.
In Lebanon, the attack on al-Khabaria shocked the country, with hundreds of people paying their respects at the young medical worker’s funeral. Abdulrahman Al Shaar, 19 years old. Mohammad Hammoud, 21 years old. Mohammad Al Farouk Artwi, 23 years old. Abdullah Artwi, 24 years old. and Baraa Abu Qais (24).
An ambulance center was set up in a small village in southern Lebanon in late October as cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began to escalate.
The airstrike took place without warning between 12:30 and 1 a.m., when volunteers were on standby for their night shift. No fighting was reported in the area that day.
The 500-pound bomb destroyed a two-story building, and the force of the explosion threw four of the volunteers from the center, leaving three others trapped under the rubble.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the airstrike in al-Khabariyeh killed a “prominent terrorist affiliated with Jamaah Islamiyah.” Jamaah Islamiyah is a Lebanese Islamist political group that also has armed forces that have been fighting alongside Hezbollah against Israel since October 7.
A Jamaah Islamiyah representative said some of the emergency workers belonged to the group, but none were members of its armed wing.
The Guardian asked the Israel Defense Forces which of the killed emergency workers were extremists and what measures the Israeli Defense Forces had taken to minimize civilian casualties from the airstrikes. , there was no reply.
Three first responders and a witness who witnessed the rescue efforts said only seven bodies, including those of medical volunteers, were recovered from the rubble.
“We searched every centimeter for body parts and belongings. We didn’t see anything military related. We knew [the victims] I was able to personally identify their bodies,” said Sameer Hadan, director of the local Lebanese Civil Defense Center, who took part in the rescue operation.
The volunteers, most of them young college students, joined the emergency services after the war began out of what their parents said was a sense of duty to the community.
“I told them it was dangerous to do this kind of work, but they accepted the risk. I don’t know what Israel was thinking, but they wanted to help others. They were very excited,” said Qasem al-Shahr, whose twin sons Ahmad and Hussein died in the airstrike.
Under the Leahy Act of 1997, the U.S. Department of Defense and State Department are prohibited from providing assistance to foreign security forces if there is “credible information” that the foreign security forces have committed serious human rights violations. .
The Guardian reported in January that the State Department’s internal affairs policy exempted Israel from the law.
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said it was aware of reports about the attack on al-Khabariyeh and was in contact with the Israeli side to obtain further information.
“The United States is always committed to ensuring that U.S.-provided defense articles are used in accordance with applicable domestic and international laws. If our investigation reveals violations, we will take action,” the spokesperson said. said.
Josh Paul, a nonresident fellow at the democracy and human rights nonprofit Democracy for the Arab World Now and a former State Department official involved in the arms transfer process, said Arms transfers, including ammunition, are approved with little scrutiny. .
“The State Department approved some of these transfers within 48 hours. There are no policy concerns about weapons to Israel other than white phosphorus and cluster bombs,” Paul said.
Israel relies heavily on U.S. transfers of large dam bombs, particularly the 500- to 2,000-pound MK series, and associated JDAMs to combat Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Paul said the JDAM is part of a list of “critical items” that Israel has requested from the United States over the past six months.
Human rights groups have expressed concern about Israel’s use of these dam bombs and the possibility that the United States could exploit the weapons by modifying their guidance kits.
During December, amnesty international He called on the US to halt arms transfers to Israel after JDAM remnants were discovered in two attacks in Gaza that killed more than 43 people.
Since October 7, Israel has killed 16 medical workers in Lebanon, including 10 in a single day at the end of March. Healthcare workers are protected under international law and targeting them is considered a war crime.
During the same period, 380 people were killed in Lebanon, including 72 civilians. On the Israeli side, 11 soldiers and eight civilians were killed.
“My sons wanted to do humanitarian work and wanted to know what happened to them. If the United States was not standing behind them, Israel would dare to I would not have done something like that,” Al Shaar said.
