Biden administration acknowledges possible Israeli weapons misuse in report to Congress

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration acknowledged Friday that Israel likely used U.S.-made arms to inflict a higher number of civilian casualties in Gaza than is broadly deemed acceptable but stopped short of saying the close ally had violated U.S. weapons policy or international humanitarian law.

The State Department found that it is "reasonable to assess" that there are possible violations with hundreds of investigations open. But it could not definitively assess violations occurred, a senior State Department official who requested anonymity to discuss the unclassified document said.

The report covers the period through late April. It was transmitted to lawmakers on Friday afternoon.

In the report the Biden administration argued that a lack of U.S. government personnel on the ground and Hamas' penchant for hiding behind civilian populations made it "difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings onindividual incidents."

"Nevertheless, given Israel’s significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instancesinconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm," the report said.

The report itself was not expected to force changes but the State Department official said it has allowed the U.S. to go to Israel and ask for specifics. There are still information gaps that the U.S. is pushing Israel to close, the official said.

The report's release follows several days of delay and a warning from Biden to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. would put an indefinite pause on weapons that have been used in civilian populations.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday afternoon that President Joe Biden was "aware of the contents" of the report and was "fully briefed on it" but would not say when the commander in chief was read in.

The State Department missed an original deadline of Wednesday to submit the report to Congress. Biden had pledged to provide an initial report by May 8 on U.S. weapons transfers in a national security memorandum he issued in February. Reports are due once annually after that.

Biden's memo in February called on the secretary of state "to obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments" receiving U.S. weapons and pledges his administration will "provide periodic congressional reports to enable meaningful oversight."

The pledge came amid a push from Democratic lawmakers for the Biden administration to press Israel on the treatment of civilians in Gaza.

In addition to Israel, the State Department says it "sought and obtained credible and reliable assurances" from the governments of Colombia, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Ukraine that they were meeting the criteria, too.

"While in some countries there have been circumstances over the reporting period that raise serious concerns, the (U.S. government) currently assesses the assurances provided by each recipient country to be credible and reliable so as to allow the provision of defense articles covered under NSM-20 to continue," the report said.

Biden said Wednesday that he would not send heavy payload bombs, artillery shells and other offensive weapons to Israel that have been used in population centers in Gaza with Netanyahu's government considering a major ground invasion in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had taken refuge. The southern Gaza city was facing a mass exodus on Friday as the Israeli military and Hamas militants battled on its edges.

His administration has vowed to continue providing Israel with defensive weapons.

Human rights experts have accused Israel's military of crossing the line in its war against Hamas. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 34,500 Palestinians have died since the war began on Oct. 7.

Amnesty International assessed in a late April report that Israel had used U.S.-supplied weapons to engage in "serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and in a manner that is inconsistent with U.S. law and policy." The organization called on the Biden administration to suspend the transfer of weapons to Israel over the alleged misuse and denials of humanitarian assistance to civilians.

A former State Department official, who quit last year over concerns the U.S. stance on the Israel-Hamas war, is helping to lead an independent task force. The group sent a report to the Biden administration last month accusing Israel of a "systematic disregard for fundamental principles of U.S. and international law."

State addressed the allegations in its Friday report, writing that while Israel asserts that it has taken steps to protect civilians, human rights groups deemed "Israeli civilian harm mitigation efforts as inconsistent, ineffective, and inadequate, failing to provide protection to vulnerable civilians who cannot or chose not to relocate."

"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 report stated.

The distribution of humanitarian aid also continues to be a serious problem, the State Department said in a summary of the report's key findings. However, it did not assess that the Israeli government was intentionally fueling the crisis or violating U.S. law.

"While the U.S. has had deep concerns during the period since October 7 about action and inaction by Israel that contributed significantly to a lack of sustained and predictable delivery of needed assistance at scale, and the overall level reaching Palestinian civilians – while improved – remains insufficient, we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance within the meaning of section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act," the summary said.

The Center for American Progress, which typically agrees with Biden but has broken with the administration on Israel policy, chided the State Department over the findings in a statement Friday from its president and CEO Patrick Gaspard.

"It’s hard to believe that the administration sees what’s happening in Gaza yet fails to conclude that Israel has violated the terms for use of American weapons," Gaspard said.

Senator Jim Risch, R-Idaho, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused Biden's administration of "trying to have it both ways" in a statement.

“NSM-20 is aimed squarely at Israel in the near-term, but the additional highly politicized reporting requirements will eventually be aimed at other American allies and partners across the globe, further impeding the delivery of security assistance and undermining our ability to deter China and Russia," Risch said.

Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who was behind the push by lawmakers for written assurances, also told reporters the report "contradicts itself." It acknowledges that there is evidence that Israel broke the law but "the administration ducked all the hard questions" about whether action is needed, Van Hollen said.

"If this conduct complies with international standards, God help us all, because that would set a very low bar for what is allowed," he added. "I think what they're trying to do is make clear that they recognize how bad the situation is, but they don't want to have to take any action to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for what's happening."

Contributing: Riley Beggin

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden admin acknowledges possible Israeli weapons misuse in report