Joe Biden Administration: USA Has Stopped Supplying Weapons to Israel.
The Joe Biden administration admitted on Friday that Israel probably utilized U.S.-manufactured weapons to cause an excessive amount of civilian casualties in Gaza, which is considered unacceptable. However, it stopped short of stating that the close ally had violated U.S. weapons policy or international humanitarian law.”
The State Department determined that it is ‘reasonable to assess’ the possibility of violations, with hundreds of ongoing investigations. However, it could not conclusively confirm whether violations had indeed taken place, as stated by a senior State Department official who requested anonymity to discuss the unclassified document.
Covering the period up to late April, the report was delivered to lawmakers on Friday afternoon.
just a reminder, my training data goes until January 2022, so I can’t provide real-time updates.
Several countries and international organizations designate as a terrorist organization Hamas, including the United States, the European Union, Israel, and others.
However, considering Israel’s substantial dependence on U.S.-manufactured defense equipment, it is justifiable to conclude that defense articles specified under NSM-20 have been utilized by Israeli security forces since October 7 in ways inconsistent with its obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or established best practices aimed at reducing civilian casualties,” the report stated
According to the State Department official, while the report itself was not anticipated to immediately prompt changes, it has provided an opportunity for the U.S. to engage with Israel and request detailed information. The official also mentioned that there are still gaps in information that the U.S. is urging Israel to address.
The release of the report comes after several days of delay and a warning from President Biden to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden cautioned that the U.S. would enact an indefinite pause on the supply of weapons that have been employed in civilian areas.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby stated separately on Friday afternoon that President Joe Biden is “apprised of the contents” of the report and has been “fully briefed on it.” However, he did not disclose the specific timing of when the commander in chief was informed.
The State Department failed to meet the initial deadline of Wednesday for submitting the report to Congress. President Biden had committed to delivering an initial report by May 8 regarding U.S. weapons transfers, as outlined in a national security memorandum issued in February. Subsequent reports are scheduled to be submitted annually thereafter.
In a summary of the report’s main findings, the State Department emphasized that the distribution of humanitarian aid remains a significant concern. Nonetheless, it refrained from concluding that the Israeli government was deliberately exacerbating the crisis or contravening U.S. law.
The U.S. has maintained significant concerns since October 7 regarding actions and inactions by Israel, which have notably hindered the consistent and predictable distribution of essential aid on a large scale to Palestinian civilians. While acknowledging an improvement, the overall level of assistance reaching Palestinian civilians remains inadequate. However, we do not presently assess that the Israeli government is actively impeding or constraining the transportation or delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid as defined in section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act,” the summary stated.
In his February memorandum, President Biden instructed the Secretary of State to secure specific credible and dependable written assurances from foreign governments receiving U.S. weapons. Additionally, he committed his administration to issuing periodic congressional reports to facilitate substantial oversight.
Amidst pressure from Democratic lawmakers, the Biden administration made the commitment to urge Israel to address the treatment of civilians in Gaza.
Aside from Israel, the State Department indicates that it has also “sought and obtained credible and reliable assurances” from the governments of Colombia, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Ukraine, affirming that they too were meeting the specified criteria.
While certain countries have experienced situations during the reporting period that give rise to significant concerns, the U.S. government currently evaluates.
The report stated that the assurances given by each recipient country are deemed credible, thereby permitting the continuation of providing defense articles covered under NSM-20.
