Israel “Likely” Used U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Violation of International Law. That’s OK, Though, State Department Says.
Israel “Likely” Used U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Violation of International Law. That’s OK, Though, State Department Says.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s report identifies “incidents that raise concerns,” but says Israel is not blocking humanitarian aid.
In a long-awaited report, the State Department lays out numerous suspected international humanitarian violations by Israel in its war on Gaza, yet suggests no changes in policy or consequences.
The Biden administration concludes it is likely that Israel used U.S.-supplied weapons in “incidents that raise concerns” about the country’s legal compliance, while crediting Israel for investigating them.
The report also concludes Israel is not currently blocking humanitarian aid, despite “deep concerns” about “action and inaction” by the government resulting in aid delivery to Gaza that “remains insufficient.”
Israel is not blocking humanitarian aid and yet hundreds of aid lorries wait at the border crossings?
Is it just me or does the report state that Israel is blocking aid? The legalese might make a distinction between 'technically blocking aid' and 'doing everything in your power to slow, delay, and otherwise mitigate aid'... but that's exactly what a layperson would call blocking aid.
They have to choose words carefully lest they accidentally trigger some process. But they did just describe what a smarmy country does to block aid while maintaining plausible (big stretch of the word) deniability.
I do not understand this either
I read " yes Israel committed war crimes but also we are not sure if Israel committed war crimes."
What does Israel have on the US?
Every president since it’s been created has done anything they have asked.
They're geopolitically an important Ally in the region. Sure the United States has bases Etc everywhere. But in the region only other group even remotely as friendly is the house of saud. Whose country nearly all of the 9/11 attackers were from. And who helped train and fund them. Not nearly as reliable and Ally as Israel has historically been.
There has been some reporting that Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad agent honey trapping politicians in the US. It was reported on RT but I’ve been wondering the same thing.
"Reported on RT" is an oxymoron
This is the most obviously made up piece of Russian disinformation I've ever heard (excluding anything said by Medvedev, of course).
Israel is a more-or-less democracy in a region where that is quite scarce. For a long time, most of the Arab league was aligned with the Soviet Union, and Israel was the only and primary counterbalance.
That kind of inertia takes a long time to unwind, even though the Soviet Union no longer exists, and several of those Arab League members have made permanent peace with Israel.
In conclusion, I don't think Israel "has anything" on the United States. I think the plight of a few million stateless Palestinians is not enough to override the various realpolitik concerns that the United States has in the region.
The middle east, it's energy resources and trade links are vital to the stability of the 'rules based order' - what washington calls the US empire. Israel is a vital partner in this region. They need our security architecture to exist and we benefit greatly from having a dependable and depend ally supporting our imperial presence. Israel knows how important they are to US imperial policy in the region.
There are also strong cultural and person-to-person ties between the US and Israel. The US received a steady influx of Europe's Jewish population, fueled in part by frequent 19th and (notably) 20th century pogroms. US Jews vote Democrat by ~3:1 - 71% D vs 26% R since 1968. Republicans have apocalyptic Christians in their base who support Israel for bonkers Revelations reasons, but the image of the US as a glorious crusader attacking infidel Arabs still resonates with the wider christian base as well.
The only thing Israel 'has' on the US is the reality of US foreign policy and domestic politics.
"Who's going to stop us?" International laws are meaningless if there isn't a way to enforce it.
We may have committed some light genocide.
It wouldn't be the first time, likely won't be the last.
The US is an active, willing and enthusiastic partner in these war crimes and in all likelihood many others that haven’t been reported yet. Let’s not pretend that the state department has any authority to investigate Israel’s actions.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In a long-awaited report, the State Department lays out numerous suspected international humanitarian violations by Israel in its war on Gaza, yet suggests no changes in policy or consequences.
The memorandum — known as “NSM-20” — required the State and Defense departments to obtain “credible and reliable written assurances” that Israel was not using any U.S.-supplied weapons in violation of international law.
In recent weeks, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and a coalition of humanitarian organizations flagged numerous incidents to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
As the deadline for the administration’s report approached, officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, joined by parts of the State Department, urged Blinken to find Israel’s commitments were not credible or reliable when it comes to allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The killing of nearly 32,000 people, of which the GOI (Government of Israel) itself assesses roughly two-thirds are civilian, may well amount to a violation of the international humanitarian law requirement,” USAID wrote in a submission to Blinken, according to reporting from Reuters.
“I guess there was a little hope for me that Blinken would rule that the assurances from Israel weren’t credible,” said an official at USAID who spoke with The Intercept on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
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