Some parts of the US State Department do not find Israel’s assurances that its forces are using US weapons in accordance with international law to be “credible and reliable,” a department official said Sunday.

The State Department is divided over whether Israel is using American-provided weapons in accordance with international law ahead of a fast-approaching deadline next week for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make a determination to Congress.

There is not unanimity about whether to accept Israel’s assurances about this as “credible and reliable,” a department official said. Israel was required to make those assurances to the US under a national security memorandum issued by President Joe Biden in February.

The memorandum requires all countries receiving US weapons to make assurances that they are using them “in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

Under that memorandum, Blinken must tell Congress by May 8 whether he has certified the assurances to be credible and reliable.

  • FuglyDuckEnglish
    47•8 months ago

    wait… there’s people that believe that Israel is using US weapons in accordance with relevant international law?

    • @small44English
      25•8 months ago

      No, they just act like they believe it

      • @tortillaPeanutsEnglish
        -1•8 months ago

        At least when it comes to bombs I believe that Israel is following international law. Selecting valid targets while making some calculation considering civilian casualties is a pretty low bar especially when your enemy is operating in civilian areas without wearing any uniforms. Prisons and individual soldiers are another matter but idk what US weapons are involved in that.

  • @XenonEnglish
    32•8 months ago

    It must have come as a real shock to the Israelis to learn that someone in the state department knows what international law is.

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    4•8 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Israel was required to make those assurances to the US under a national security memorandum issued by President Joe Biden in February.

    Several hundred officials from Western countries, including some from the US, have previously raised concerns that their governments may be complicit in war crimes in their support of Israel’s fight against Hamas.

    “We don’t comment on leaked documents, especially those purporting to contain classified information,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

    Progressives are growing increasingly frustrated with Biden’s support for Israel, as protests over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza spread across the US, most notably on college campuses, where protesters have decried the stance of “Genocide Joe.” But the president on Sunday again reaffirmed his “ironclad” commitment to Israel in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    The White House could slow military provisions, curtail monetary assistance, or drastically ratchet up the public pressure on Netanyahu if the US concludes Israel is impeding aid to Gaza and not adhering to human rights laws.

    During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that to his knowledge, “we don’t have any evidence of genocide being created” by Israel during its war in Gaza.

    The original article contains 746 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!