The Biden administration has received nearly 500 reports of Israel using U.S.-supplied weapons for attacks that killed and maimed civilians in the Gaza Strip, but it has failed to comply with its own policies requiring swift investigations of such claims. That’s according to The Washington Post, which reports some of the cases presented to the State Department likely amount to violations of U.S. and international law. State Department policy requires officials to complete an investigation and recommend action within two months of launching an inquiry. Despite that requirement, none of the hundreds of reports has generated an active response, and most cases remain open. Many claims are awaiting a response from the Israeli government, which the State Department consults to verify each case’s circumstances.
On Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller defended the delays, calling it “incredibly difficult” to determine whether U.S. weapons were being used by Israel to commit war crimes. Miller also criticized Israel for failing to facilitate food and other humanitarian aid delivery to Palestinians in Gaza.
Matthew Miller: “The situation still remains not at a level that we find acceptable. And that’s not just about the level of aid that is making it to Gaza, but also the distribution inside Gaza. And we continue to see breakdowns in communication between Israeli forces and U.N. agencies.”
Despite the admission, the U.S. has not taken any action against Israel for blocking the distribution of aid.