US contradictory report on Israeli arms: credibility vs. inconsistency
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The New York Times reports that the United States concluded that the US weapons used by "Israel" to destroy Gaza were not used in violation of international humanitarian law.
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Israeli occupation soldiers are seen near the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, May 7, 2024 (AP)
Between “credible and reliable” Israeli assurances that it will use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, thus allowing for the further transfer of American arms to "Israel" amid its war on Gaza, and saying it was “reasonable” to assess that "Israel" did use US-supplied weapons that were “inconsistent” with its international humanitarian law obligations, the US seems lost for words when it comes to "Israel's" use of its arms.
According to the American administration, the Israeli occupation has most likely violated international standards when it came to the protection of civilians in Gaza, the United States Department of State told Congress on Friday, as reported by The New York Times.
While the Israeli occupation is violating international standards, the US argued that there was no justification for withholding military aid.
The State Department report said the Israeli occupation "has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations." However, "Israel" is still not being held accountable for not doing so.
Read next: Internal US memo suggests 'Israel' violating int'l law: Reuters
"The results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions" as to whether the Israeli occupation forces are making sufficient use of said tools, the report acknowledged.
Still, the report, in one of its many contradictions, said the US had no hard proof of Israeli violations in Gaza.
It underlined difficulties faced by Washington in collecting reliable information from Gaza, especially since the Israeli occupation was yet to share complete information to verify whether weapons it had been given by the US were used in specific incidents involving human rights violations.
Finally, somehow, the report differentiates between the broader potential for the Israeli occupation to have breached international law and drawing conclusions based on specific incidents that could substantiate what has been proven as factual time and time again.
For now, it seems that the Biden administration finds assurances given by "Israel", i.e., mere word of mouth, that it would use US arms consistently with international law, sufficient.
'Israel' killed civilians with US bombs
This comes as President Joe Biden admitted on Wednesday that the Israeli occupation killed civilians in Gaza using bombs supplied by the United States, marking the first instance of such an admission by any US official since the genocidal war on the Strip began last October.
His remarks came during an interview for CNN, where he also commented on the recent Israeli invasion of Rafah.
Read more: To send political message to 'Israel', US holds bomb shipment
Earlier this week, the US administration paused a shipment of more than 3,000 heavy bombs, citing concerns that they could be used on Rafah.
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden told CNN's Erin Burnett during the interview.
In 215 days, nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of whom are women and children, in the ongoing aggression on Gaza.
