The guarantees given by Israel that US weapons are used in accordance with international law are not “credible or trustworthy”

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, was informed, through an internal State Department document, that the weapons supplied by the United States to Israel may not be being used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, announced the Reuters news agency.

The suspicion was written in the document signed by senior US officials, to which Reuters had exclusive access. The news agency, citing the document, emphasizes that the guarantees advanced by Israel are not “credible or reliable”.

The document says that it is necessary to evaluate “all current and future sales to other countries in the region”.

The information is crucial, as US President Joe Biden must inform Congress, by May 8, about the final understanding for evaluating guarantees that Israel is not acting illegally before the international law, in the offensive on Gaza.

By March 24, at least seven State Department offices had sent their input to an initial “options memorandum” to Blinken. Portions of the memo, which have not been previously released, have been classified by the United States. Reuters, citing a US official, says that “some members of the department were in favor of accepting Israel’s guarantees, some were in favor of rejecting them, and some were not taking a position.”

According to the agency, the joint presentation of four departments – Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Population, Refugees and Migration; Global Criminal Justice and International Organization Affairs – raised “serious concerns about non-compliance” with international humanitarian law during Israel’s prosecution of the Gaza war.

The assessment by these departments cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that, according to the authorities, raise “serious questions” about possible violations of international humanitarian law: repeated attacks on protected sites and civilian infrastructure (“unjustifiably high levels of civilian damage for the benefit of of military advantages”); few measures to investigate violations or hold those responsible for significant civilian harm and “murdering aid workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate.”

The assessment by the four departments also cited eleven cases of Israeli military actions that authorities said “arbitrarily restrict humanitarian aid,” including the rejection of aid trucks due to a single “dual-use” item, “artificial” limitations on inspections, as well as repeated attacks on humanitarian sites that should not be targeted.

On the other hand, the document draws attention to the effects of any suspension of arms sales. It would invite “provocations” by Iran and militias, the FBI said.

Contributors to the memo from the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said they assessed Israel’s assurances as credible and trustworthy, a second US official told Reuters.

The State Department’s legal office, known as the Office of Legal Counsel, “has not taken a substantive position” on the credibility of Israel’s assurances, a source close to the matter said.

The White House did not respond to a request for reaction made by Reuters. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to comment to the news outlet, saying knowledge of the memo was a leak, but explained that “on complex issues, the secretary often hears from a wide range of views from within the Department and takes all such views into consideration.” Matthew Miller also considered that there may not be a conclusion until the report is presented to Congress.

An Israeli official contacted by Reuters said that “Israel is fully committed to its commitments and their implementation, including the guarantees given to the US government”.

If Israel’s guarantees are called into question, Biden will have the option to “remedy” the situation through actions ranging from seeking new guarantees to suspending new US arms transfers, according to the memo.