US review of Israel’s war conduct raises ‘serious concerns’

The US has concluded there is a “reasonable assessment” that Israel has violated international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,000 people have been killed in the seven-month war, but the investigation found no specific examples. Therefore, no definitive finding of wrongdoing could be reached. of violation.

A long-awaited State Department report released Friday examines whether Israel violated international law and U.S. humanitarian law, and examines how the Israeli military conducts its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “There have been sufficient reports to raise serious concerns,” the statement said. Gaza.

These include “credible reports of alleged human rights violations by Israeli security forces, including arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and serious human rights violations in conflict situations,” the State Department said.

“Given Israel’s heavy dependence on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that the defense articles are covered by U.S.-made defense articles.” [the national security memorandum] Israeli security forces have been using it since October 7 in cases of violation of its provisions. [international humanitarian law] must comply with established best practices to mitigate harm to civilians,” the officials wrote in the memo.

Still, U.S. officials acknowledged that it was “difficult to assess individual cases or reach definitive findings,” and the report found conclusively that Israel violated some law. It seems like he is being prevented from expressing himself.

The report suggests that if Biden suspends heavy bomb shipments to Israel and the Israeli military launches a major operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have been displaced, more The announcement was made after the United States declared that it possessed offensive weapons.

State Department inspectors were ordered by Biden in February to assess whether Israel violated international humanitarian law or U.S. law with U.S.-supplied weapons.

The investigation also looked into whether Israel had obstructed the shipment of humanitarian aid.

The White House announced earlier Friday that Biden had been briefed on a report examining Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which led to earlier this week withholding the transfer of thousands of heavy bombs. He did not say whether that influenced Biden’s decision.

The State Department sent the report to Congress on Friday.

“The president has been briefed and is clearly aware of the content,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on Friday. “I’m not going to go into the details of when he was briefed and how it happened, but he’s been fully briefed on that.”

The report was required to be submitted by National Security Memorandum 20The document was released by Biden in February under pressure from Congressional Democrats to scrutinize Israel’s use of American weapons in its war against Hamas.

The report was due to be submitted to parliament on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Biden suspended the transfer of more than 3,000 heavy bombs to Israel. And the president said in an interview with CNN airing Wednesday that if Israel launches a major attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, considered Hamas’ last stronghold and home to more than 1 million displaced people, the president said The United States warned that it could restrict further arms transfers if it did so. Palestinian.

Kirby said the White House is closely monitoring Israeli military operations in Rafah, including the occupation of the border with Egypt.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that what we’ve seen in the last 24 hours suggests or suggests a widespread, large-scale invasion or a large-scale ground operation. It appears to be occurring near an intersection. ” Kirby said, adding that the White House was watching with “concern.”

Kirby called on Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing to allow humanitarian supplies to reach the Strip.

“If that crossroads becomes unavailable and unavailable for humanitarian aid, it will cause more suffering day by day, and that is of deep concern to us. We once again urge the United States to immediately open its borders,” he said. “That assistance is desperately needed and, as always, we will continue to work with them as carefully, accurately and discriminatively as possible to ensure they do not put innocent lives at greater risk than ever before.” However, we are monitoring this closely. ”

Israel began a war with Hamas following the October 7 attack, which left 1,200 people dead and more than 250 hostages taken, with approximately 133 people still being held in the area.

Biden has supported Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, but has grown frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war efforts. It has also sparked protests across the United States denouncing the staggering death toll and the horrific humanitarian crisis.

Efforts to secure an agreement between Hamas and Israel to ensure the release of the hostages and implement a six-week ceasefire stalled during discussions in Cairo this week.

First published at 4:07 p.m.