US weapons used in civilian deaths in Gaza: Washington receives reports, fails to act

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, three American officials reported that the US State Department has identified approximately 500 incidents that may have harmed or killed civilians during the Israeli offensive on Gaza, involving weapons supplied by the United States, however, no actions have been taken regarding these incidents.

The officials indicated that these incidents, some of which could constitute violations of international humanitarian law, have been documented since October 7, 2023, when the conflict in Gaza erupted.

The information on these incidents is being collected using the "Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidelines," a formal mechanism established by the State Department to track and assess any misuse of American-origin weapons.

State Department officials have gathered information from both public and private sources, including media reports, civil society organizations, and communications with foreign governments.

An internal memo from the State Department noted that this mechanism was implemented in August 2023 and applies to all countries receiving US weapons. It comprises three stages: incident analysis, policy impact assessment, and coordination of departmental response, with the memo dated December of the following year.

A former American official familiar with the matter stated that "none of the Gaza-related cases have reached the third stage of the process yet," adding that "options may range from working with the Israeli government to help mitigate harm, to suspending existing arms export licenses, or withholding future approvals."

The Washington Post was the first to report on the nearly 500 incidents.

The State Department declined to comment on this issue. Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson for the department, stated in August that Washington is reviewing reports of international law violations "closely" and has included the civilian harm response process as one of the policies at its disposal.

The Biden administration has long asserted that it has not definitively assessed any incident in which Israel violated international humanitarian law during its operations in Gaza.

John Raming Chapel, legal advisor at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, remarked that the Biden administration "has continuously deferred to Israeli authorities and has refused to conduct its own investigations."

He added, "The US government has not made sufficient efforts to investigate how the Israeli military uses US-manufactured weapons, which are funded by American taxpayers."

Another US official told Reuters that "the US embassy in Jerusalem has raised several incidents with Israel per the guidelines."

The official, who requested anonymity, noted that the measures not only address potential violations of international law but also any incident that results in civilian casualties involving American weapons.

The procedures also assess whether such incidents could have been avoided or mitigated.

The official stated that reviewing an incident could lead to recommendations for specific Israeli military units regarding additional training or different equipment, along with other more severe consequences that may arise from the review.

The actions of the Israeli military are under increasing scrutiny, with health authorities in Gaza reporting that Israeli forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in the region since October 2023.