WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration’s upcoming review of Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied weapons in the Gaza war will not conclude that Israel violated the terms of use, according to three people briefed on the matter. He says there is no. Regarding that matter.
One U.S. official said the report does not conclude that Israel violated the terms of the U.S.-Israel arms deal, but is expected to be harshly critical of Israel.
The administration’s findings on the close ally’s war effort are the first of its kind, forced by President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress, and come after seven months of airstrikes, ground combat and relief restrictions. Published after loss of life. Nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Biden is walking a finer line than ever before in supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Hamas. He has faced growing hatred at home and abroad over the soaring death toll among Palestinians and an outbreak of famine, largely caused by Israel’s restrictions on the movement of food and aid to Gaza. Tensions have further escalated in recent weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to expand Israeli military offensives in the populous southern city of Rafah, despite Biden’s staunch opposition.
Biden is in the final months of a tough re-election campaign against Donald Trump. He has been called on by many Democrats to cut off the flow of offensive weapons to Israel and faces criticism from Republicans who accuse him of hesitation in supporting Israel in its time of need.
Two U.S. officials and a third party who were briefed on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s national security memo to Congress discussed the findings before the report’s release. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not yet been made public.
Further details about the results of the government’s review were not immediately available. A senior Biden administration official said the memo was expected to be released later Friday, but declined to comment on its conclusions.
Axios was first to report the memorandum’s findings.
The Democratic administration in recent days, concerned about the threat of an Israeli attack on the southern city of Rafah, home to more than 1 million Palestinians, suspended the shipment of 3,500 bombs and moved to condition military aid to Israel. took one of the first steps. the official said.
A presidential directive agreed to in February requires the Departments of Defense and State to “evaluate credible reports or allegations that such defense articles and, where appropriate, defense services have been used in a manner inconsistent with international law.” ”. Also includes international humanitarian law. ”
The agreement also prohibits actions that “arbitrarily deny, restrict, or obstruct, directly or indirectly,” the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid to Gaza for starving civilians in the Gaza Strip. It also required Congress to report whether it considers Israel to have committed the act.
Lawmakers supporting the review said Mr. Biden and previous U.S. leaders had followed a double standard in enforcing U.S. laws governing how foreign militaries could use U.S. aid, a charge the Biden administration has rejected. is denied. They cited credible evidence that certain Israeli airstrikes against schools, crowded areas, medical personnel, relief convoys and other targets, and restrictions on the transport of relief supplies to Gaza, violated international law of war. It called on the government to make a direct legal determination as to whether or not the law exists. human rights.
Opponents argued that U.S. discoveries against Israel would weaken Israel at a time when it is fighting Hamas and other Iranian-backed groups. Highly critical findings about Israel would put pressure on Biden to curb the flow of arms and funds to the Israeli military and further escalate tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government over its war against Hamas. It is certain that it will become stronger.
If facts unfavorable to Israel are revealed, it could jeopardize Biden’s support from some voters who enthusiastically support Israel in this year’s presidential election.
At the time the White House agreed to the review, it was trying to thwart efforts by Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to begin restricting arms shipments to Israel.
Israel launched the offensive after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 left about 1,200 people dead. Local health officials say two-thirds of the Palestinians killed since then have been women and children. U.S. and United Nations officials said Israel has restricted food shipments since Oct. 7, creating a full-scale famine in northern Gaza.
Human rights groups have long accused Israeli security forces of mistreatment of Palestinians and accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account. In January, in a case brought by South Africa, the United Nations Supreme Court ordered Israel to do everything in its power to stop death, destruction and all kinds of atrocities in the Gaza Strip, but the commission ordered a halt to military attacks. It didn’t reach that point.
Israel maintains that it complies with all U.S. and international laws, investigates allegations of abuses by its security forces, and that operations in Gaza are proportionate to the existential threat posed by Hamas.
Biden said in December that “indiscriminate bombing” was costing Israel international support. For the first time, the Biden administration will cut military aid to Israel unless it changes its war and humanitarian response after Israeli forces targeted and killed seven aid workers in the world’s central kitchen in April. suggested that it was possible.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Ta.
A report to the Biden administration by an informal voluntary commission that included military experts, academics and former State Department officials detailed Israeli attacks on aid trucks, journalists, hospitals, schools, refugee centers and more. ing. They argue that the civilian death toll in these attacks (such as the Oct. 31 apartment strike that reportedly killed 106 civilians) is disproportionate to the blows against any military target. he claimed.
