SE Hoya Containment Thread (aka Politics)

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. [There are] “deep concerns” about “action and inaction” by the government resulting in aid delivery to Gaza that “remains insufficient.”

The State Department said it’s “reasonable to assess” that Israeli forces have used U.S. weapons in ways “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law or “best practices for mitigating civilian harm.” [and that] “that Israel could do more to avoid civilian harm.”

“While Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases.”

The 46-page report includes a section addressing the Leahy Law: a 1997 law that prohibits U.S. assistance to “any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.” The 14-some pages regarding Israel specifically make no mention of the law, or whether Israel is in compliance with it.

FRIDAY’S REPORT WAS submitted under a national security memorandum issued by the Biden administration in February. 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. Israel provided these assurances in mid-March.

NSM-20 also required the administration to report to Congress on whether there were any “credible reports or allegations” that undercut Israel’s assurances. In recent weeks, Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and a coalition of humanitarian organizations flagged numerous incidents to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Last month, 26 Democrats — including one of President Joe Biden’s campaign co-chairs — questioned U.S. assertions at the time that Israel was using U.S. weapons in accordance with international law, given “mounting credible and deeply troubling reports and allegations that Israel has used U.S arms in ways that violate U.S. and international law.” This followed a similar letter sent from 17 Senate Democrats in March.

After the report’s publication, an independent task force called it “at worst intentionally misleading in defense of acts and behaviors that likely violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.” The task force includes two former senior State Department officials, Charles Blaha and Josh Paul, and human rights attorney Noura Erakat. “Once again, the Biden Administration has stared the facts in the face — and then pulled the curtains shut.”

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.

But Friday’s report concludes that Israel is not “prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance,” at least within the meaning of U.S. law.

In an “options memo” compiled for Blinken in recent weeks, some State Department bureaus came to the same conclusion, Reuters reported last month. In a joint submission, four bureaus raised “serious concern over non-compliance” with humanitarian law, including “unconscionably high levels of civilian harm to military advantage” and “killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate.”

This week, Biden admitted for the first time that Israeli forces have used U.S. bombs to kill civilians. In December, he stated that Israel was losing support over its “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.

“For over 216 days, the world has watched Israel use weapons provided by the United States to commit mass atrocities and gross violations against Palestinians in Gaza. Civil society organizations, watchdogs, and former administration officials have documented and verified countless examples that have shown Israel’s assurances were never credible nor reliable,” said Mohammed Khader, action policy manager at the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. “The report is grossly incomplete and is far from holding Israel accountable for violating U.S. and international law.”

State Department confirms 20 American doctors stranded behind Israeli siege and facing dehydration

UPWARD OF 20 American doctors are trapped in Gaza as a result of Israel’s post-invasion closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to sources with knowledge of the plight of two ill-fated medical missions.

Israel has blocked fuel, food, and water from entering Rafah for over a week, leading to severe dehydration among the general population, as well as among the doctors on mission.

Relatives of the doctors were told by the State Department that rescue efforts were underway, including through coordination with the United Nations and the Israel Defense Forces. Yet on Monday, the Israeli military fired on a United Nations vehicle that was traveling to the European Hospital in Khan Younis, near Rafah, killing a U.N. employee and injuring another.

Among the stranded doctors is Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army veteran from New Jersey. While serving in Iraq, he was on duty when now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s mangled body was brought to the hospital after her helicopter was shot down. She credits him with saving her life. Hamawy’s friend Sami Shaban has been in touch with him the past several days and said that he is physically doing well. “He’s a tough dude,” said Shaban, who has lost 35 members of his own family in Gaza. “Now we just need to get him home. We funded the bombing of every single hospital there. You have to at least let the relief people in and out.”

“While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” he said. “The bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for the degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder.”

Butker later addressed the women in the audience, arguing that their “most important title” should be that of “homemaker.”

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you," Butker said. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”