Humanitarian groups urge Austin to halt aid to 'Israel' over Gaza

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Politico
21 Dec 2023 00:08
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Humanitarian groups say the US has not taken the required step of cutting off any Israeli units from security assistance under the Leahy Act.

A Palestinian police officer carries a severely wounded child due to a brutal Israeli airstrike on a residential building into a hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (Mahmoud Essa/AP)

A coalition of prominent humanitarian organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, urging him to suspend military and other aid to "Israel" due to its aggression on Gaza, which they acknowledged has resulted in staggering civilian harm, Politico reported.

The letter also calls for refraining from providing explosive weapons to "Israel" for use in Gaza, in alignment with US law and policy. Copies of the letter were also sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

The organizations contend that Austin has not adhered to the comprehensive restructuring of the Pentagon's initiatives aimed at minimizing harm to civilians in US military operations, as outlined in the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan.

“The Department’s response to the devastating harm in Gaza has failed to live up to – and actively undermined – the commitments set by the CHMR-AP,” the organizations expressed in the letter, using the acronym for the action plan.

"To protect civilians in Gaza and live up to the aspirations of the CHMR-AP, administration rhetoric on the protection of civilians must be backed by action and leverage,” they added.

The correspondence coincides with a meeting between Austin, Gen. C.Q. Brown, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Israeli officials this week.

Austin has recently recommended to Israeli leaders a shift from major combat to a more precise and targeted campaign against the Palestinian Resistance. As a result of the Israeli aggression, much of northern Gaza has been flattened, over 1 million people have been displaced, and 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, as reported by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

“Protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral duty and a strategic imperative,” Austin stated on Monday in "Tel Aviv".

Although the organizations acknowledged their appreciation for Austin's comments, they appended that his statements “appear detached from the ongoing reality of Israel’s operations, which continue to cause devastating levels of civilian harm and destruction and inhibit the provision of life-saving humanitarian aid – all using U.S. support" in its devastating assault in Gaza, where the Israeli occupation claims it is eradicating Hamas, something a Wednesday report by The Washington Post reveals is not even close to being accomplished.

In the process of going after an inherent Resistance, the Israeli occupation has ravaged the Strip, forcefully displaced close to 90 percent of the population, flattened entire neighborhoods, caused a dire humanitarian disaster, and found itself flailing in a losing battle for global public opinion.

Amid mounting pressure on "Israel" from its allies to conduct more "surgical" operations in the Strip, Israeli President Isaac Herzog pushed back and went as far as saying, "We intend to take over the entire Gaza Strip and change the course of history."

In the letter, the organization highlighted just that, saying, “The result is civilian harm at a massive scale amidst a humanitarian crisis."

Additional organizations supporting the letter included Airwars, Anera, Center for Civilians in Conflict, Humanity & Inclusion, InterAction, Doctors Without Borders USA, Norwegian Refugee Council USA, Oxfam America, PAX, Refugees International, Save the Children US, and Zomia Center.

Open letter to Secretary Austin: Act now to protect civilians in Gaza

Today we joined @CivCenter @hrw @amnestyusa and other orgs in calling on @SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III to take urgent steps to ensure the protection of civilians in US-supported Israeli military operations in… pic.twitter.com/ZI6vIOzrcV
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) December 20, 2023

In the letter, the organizations highlighted that the United States is the "largest provider of security assistance and arms" to "Israel", providing $3.8 billion annually. They contend that the US has a "responsibility" to ensure that this assistance does not contribute to human rights violations.

US must withhold aid to 'Israel' over human rights violations in Gaza

The group argued that any human rights violations by Israeli forces in Gaza should lead the US to withhold security assistance, as per US law and policy. They pointed out that President Joe Biden's Conventional Arms Transfer policy prohibits the transfer of weapons when it is "more likely than not" that they will be used to violate human rights.

Moreover, the letter points out that despite "well-documented and credible allegations of gross violations of human rights" by the Israeli military, the US has not taken the required step of cutting off any Israeli units from security assistance under the Leahy Law.

Additionally, section 6201I of the Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US security assistance to any party where the government "prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance."

The organizations highlighted Austin's "comprehensive reform of the Pentagon's approach to minimizing civilian harm" unveiled in the fall of 2022. The Pentagon is anticipated to disclose the specifics of the strategy's implementation soon, as indicated by an anonymous source familiar with the discussions. One of the plan's goals reportedly involves integrating civilian harm risk assessments and "tailored conditionality" into US security cooperation, as emphasized by the groups.

They called on Austin to strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks that don't differentiate between civilian and military targets, the hindrance of humanitarian assistance, and the implementation of siege tactics to deny the civilian population essential survival items. The organizations referenced Biden's recent statements, accusing "Israel" of "indiscriminate bombing", asserting that such practices unequivocally breach international humanitarian law.

The letter denounced assertions by US officials that there are "no conditions" attached to US assistance to "Israel", along with statements indicating that the administration is not presently evaluating Israeli adherence to international humanitarian law (IHL).