US: Israel Is Not Breaking The Rules

Washington: A long-awaited US State Department report on the Gaza War has concluded Israel likely violated norms on international law in its use of American weapons – but it did not find enough evidence to block shipments.

The report said it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel, which receives some US$3 billion in US weapons a year, has used the arms in ways inconsistent with standards on humanitarian rights but that the United States could not reach “conclusive findings.”

The report had been held up for several days amid debate within the State Department on whether to reprimand Israel, a historic US ally which has faced growing criticism over the toll in the seven-month Gaza war.

The State Department finally submitted its report two days after President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells if Israel goes ahead with an assault on the packed city of Rafah.

The report does not affect that decision, with the White House reiterating that it was concerned about Israeli military action around the southern Gaza city, where some 1.4 million Palestinians have taken shelter.

Biden is facing a furore over the war from within his Democratic Party, just months before elections, with many Muslim voters wanting to “punish” him by refusing to vote, even though that would hand power to Donald Trump – who has promised to “ban” Muslims from migrating to America.

In February, Biden issued a memorandum known as NSM-20 that asked countries that receive US military aid to make “credible and reliable” assurances they are complying with human rights laws.

Israel, which launched a war against Hamas after the militants staged the deadliest ever attack on the country on October 7, made assurances to the United States and “identified a number of processes for ensuring compliance that are embedded at all levels of their military decision-making,” said the public version of the report.

“The nature of the conflict in Gaza makes it difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents,” it said.

Despite some “serious concerns,” the report said that all countries receiving US military aid had made assurances credible and reliable enough “to allow the provision of defence articles covered under NSM-20 to continue.”

The report also stopped short of finding Israel in violation on another key concern –- humanitarian aid.

It said the United States had “deep concerns” over “action and inaction by Israel that contributed significantly to a lack of sustained and predictable delivery of needed assistance” to Palestinians.

But it said that the United States does not “currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance.”

The United Nations has warned of risks of famine in the Gaza Strip. It comes amid claims that Hamas is taking much of the aid for itself to make the crisis seem worse, and then selling it to civilians.