A long-awaited State Department report said that Israel likely violated norms on international law in its use of US weapons, but it did not find enough evidence to block shipments.
The report said it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel, which receives some $3 billion (€2.7bn) 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.
Mr Biden, facing a furore over the war from within his Democratic Party months before elections, had in February 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 7 October – 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, which was submitted to Congress.
“The nature of the conflict in Gaza makes it difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents,” it said.
“Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made defence articles, it is reasonable to assess that defence 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,” it said, referring to international humanitarian law.
