Biden administration won’t conclude Israel violated terms of US weapons agreement, AP sources say

WASHINGTON — A forthcoming review by the Biden administration of Israel’s use of US-supplied weapons in the war in Gaza does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms of their use, three people briefed on the matter said.

The report is expected to sharply criticize Israel even though it does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms of the US-Israeli arms deals, a US official said.

The Biden administration’s first-of-its-kind assessment of its closest ally’s wartime behavior comes after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid cuts that have claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

A presidential directive agreed to by the White House under pressure from congressional Democrats and others mandated a review of whether Israel had complied with international law in its use of US-supplied weapons and other security support during the war.

Two US officials and a third person briefed on the findings of the national security memorandum to be submitted to Congress by Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the matter before the report was released. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public.

A senior Biden administration official said the memorandum is expected to be released later Friday but declined to comment on the findings.

Axios first reported on the memorandum’s findings.

Lawmakers and others calling for the review said President Joe Biden and previous U.S. leaders have followed a double standard in enforcing U.S. laws governing how foreign militaries use U.S. aid, an accusation the Biden administration denies. They had urged the government to make a simple legal determination of whether there was credible evidence that specific Israeli airstrikes on schools, busy neighborhoods, medical personnel, aid convoys and other targets, and restrictions on aid shipments to Gaza, violated the laws of war and human rights.

Their opponents argued that a U.S. finding against Israel would weaken the country at a time when it is battling Hamas and other Iranian-backed groups. Any sharply critical findings about Israel will certainly increase pressure on Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to the Israeli army and further increase tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government over the conduct of the war against Hamas.

Any finding against Israel could also jeopardize Biden’s support in this year’s presidential election from some voters who strongly support Israel.

The Democratic administration took one of the first steps toward conditioning military aid to Israel in recent days when it halted a shipment of 3,500 bombs out of concern about Israel’s looming offensive on Rafah, a southern city packed with more than a million Palestinians. official said.

The presidential directive, agreed in February, required the Departments of Defense and State to “conduct a review of any credible reports or allegations that such defense articles and, if applicable, defense services have been used in a manner not in accordance with is in accordance with international law. including international humanitarian law.”

The agreement also required them to tell Congress whether they believe Israel has acted to “arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise prevent, directly or indirectly, the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian assistance to Gaza for the starving civilians there to obstruct.

At the time the White House agreed to the review, it was working to counter moves by Democratic lawmakers and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to limit arms shipments to Israel.

Israel launched its offensive after an October 7 attack on Israel led by Hamas that killed about 1,200 people. According to local health officials, two-thirds of the Palestinians killed since then have been women and children. US and UN officials say Israeli restrictions on food shipments since October 7 have led to a full-blown famine in northern Gaza.

Human rights groups have long accused Israeli security forces of committing abuses against Palestinians and accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account. In January, the U.N. highest court, in a case brought by South Africa, ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent death, destruction and genocide in Gaza, but the panel did not order an end to the military offensive.

Israel says it follows all US and international laws, that it is investigating allegations of abuses by its security forces and that its campaign in Gaza is proportionate to the existential threat Hamas says it poses.

Biden said in December that “indiscriminate bombing” was costing Israel international support. After Israeli forces attacked and killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in April, the Biden administration signaled for the first time that it could cut military aid to Israel if it changes its approach to the war and humanitarian aid. change.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, in the 1980s and early 1990s, were the last presidents to openly withhold weapons or military funding in an effort to push Israel to change its actions in the region or toward the Palestinians.

A report to the Biden administration by an unofficial, self-formed panel made up of military experts, academics and former State Department officials detailed Israeli attacks on aid convoys, journalists, hospitals, schools and refugee centers and other locations. They argued that the number of civilian casualties in these attacks — such as an Oct. 31 attack on an apartment building that reportedly killed 106 civilians — was disproportionate to the blow against any military target.