US says Israel may have violated international law with use of arms in Gaza
In a long-awaited report, the US says wartime conditions in Gaza prevented officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes, ITV News' Caroline Lewis reports
Israel may have breached international humanitarian law with US weapons in Gaza, a long-awaited report by the US government has found.
The state department report, delivered to Congress on Friday, stopped short of officially saying Israel violated the law, arguing there was not enough evidence to immediately link specific US weapons to individual strikes by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Any evidence that could link arms to specific strikes could give the administration leeway in any future decision on whether to restrict US provisions of offensive weapons to Israel.
The US government's findings come after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid restrictions that have claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
US President Biden has tried to walk an ever-finer line in his support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Hamas while facing growing anger at home and abroad.
Tensions have been heightened further in recent weeks by Netanyahu’s pledge to expand the Israeli military’s offensive in the crowded southern city of Rafah, despite the opposition from world leaders.
The Democratic administration took one of the first steps towards conditioning military aid to Israel in recent days when it paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs out of concern over Israel’s threatened offensive on Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are living, many having evacuated other areas.
Any findings against Israel could also endanger Biden’s support in this year's presidential elections from some voters who keenly support Israel.
Israel launched its offensive after the October 7 assault into Israel by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people.
Two thirds of the Palestinians killed since then have been women and children, according to local health officials.
US and UN officials say Israeli restrictions on food shipments since the war began have brought on full-fledged famine in northern Gaza.
In December, Biden said “indiscriminate bombing” was costing Israel international backing.
After Israeli forces targeted and killed seven aid workers, including three Britons, from the World Central Kitchen in April, the US signalled for the first time it might cut military aid to Israel if it didn’t change its handling of the war and humanitarian aid.
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