Israel likely used US weapons inconsistent with intl law, Biden admin says

The Biden administration has assessed that Israel likely used US-provided weapons in a manner inconsistent with humanitarian law, according to a report sent to Congress late Friday.

The US government also said that there was no evidence to show that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza. “This is an ongoing assessment, and we will continue to monitor and respond to any challenges to the delivery of aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza moving forward,” said the report, which is mandated by Congress and was due on Wednesday.

Israel has bombarded Gaza and reduced it to rubble in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed around 1,200, making it one of the deadliest in the country.

Over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, with most estimated to be civilians.

“It is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since Oct. 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” the report said.

The report added that Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, but the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the Israeli army was using them effectively in all cases.

The US revealed this week that it had paused one shipment of weapons, consisting of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs due to Israeli failure to address certain American concerns about a military operation in Rafah. In recent weeks, Israel has threatened to invade Rafah, but the US has publicly and privately said it is opposed to such an operation with what it has said needs to be a credible plan to safeguard civilians.

The Israeli army ordered an estimated 100,000 Palestinians to flee Rafah ahead of an anticipated military invasion. Rafah is believed to be home to over 1 million Palestinians who are seeking refuge and safety from Israeli bombardment.

“Smashing into Rafah… will not advance that objective,” a White House official said Thursday, adding that the US believed there were better ways to go after “what is left of Hamas in Gaza” than a major ground invasion. The Us has also warned that if Israel goes into Rafah “in a big way,” the US president would make other decisions about the kind of support that the US is providing Israel. “We hope they will do what they’ve said to us about what they’re going to do in Rafah, which is something of limited scale, scope, size, duration,” National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said.

Civilians killed

The report said that an estimated 34,700 Palestinians had been killed and an estimated 78,200 injured during the conflict, which has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis.

These numbers are based on the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas. They do not differentiate between militants and civilians.

“Israel has had to confront an extraordinary military challenge: Hamas has embedded itself deliberately within and underneath the civilian population to use civilians as human shields,” the report said.

While the US has supported Israel’s right to defend itself from the continuing threat it faces from Hamas and in the broader region, Washington has made it clear that Israel must protect humanitarian workers, facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and minimize civilian casualties.