"This reporting casts serious doubt on the integrity of the
process in the Biden administration for reviewing whether the
Netanyahu government is complying with international law in
Gaza," Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement.
The Reuters report found that some senior State Department
officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that
they do not find "credible or reliable" Israel's assurances that
it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with
international humanitarian law.
Blinken must tell Congress by May 8 whether he finds Israel's
assurances credible. According to an internal State Department
memo, several bureaus within the agency did not find Israel's
statements credible, citing military actions that raised
questions about potential violations of international
humanitarian law.
Van Hollen said the Reuters report had found that the
recommendations of those bureaus "were swept aside for political
convenience."
"The determination regarding compliance with international law
is one of fact and law. The facts and law should not be ignored
to achieve a pre-determined policy outcome. Our credibility is
on the line," he said.
Van Hollen and some other Democratic lawmakers have pressed
President Joe Biden to impose conditions on military assistance
to pressure Israel to limit civilian deaths in the Gaza
conflict. So far, the administration has not done so.
The war, now in its seventh month, was triggered by an attack by
Hamas militants that left approximately 1,200 people in Israel
dead and where 253 hostages were taken.
Israel has responded with a military operation that has killed
more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health
authorities. The war has displaced most of the 2.3 million
people who called the area home and has laid to waste much of
the densely populated enclave.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing
by Mark Porter)
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