On Friday, the Biden administration said that it was feasible to conclude that Israel has used US-supplied weaponry in ways that are inconsistent with its international humanitarian law obligations.
However, the administration stated that it still believed Israel’s assurances that it would use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law because it lacked complete information to verify that US weapons were used in specific actions that were alleged to violate international humanitarian law.
The US State Department was instructed to report to Congress, under a new National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in early February, whether it believes Israel’s assurances that its use of US weaponry does not violate US or international law.
In a report to Congress, the US State Department stated, “Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of the report”.
“Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm”, the report reads.
Israel’s military action has come under growing scrutiny, with its forces killing 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Amnesty International stated in a report released in late April that weapons supplied by the United States to Israel have been used in serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, citing specific cases of civilian deaths and injuries as well as examples of the use of unlawful lethal force.
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