Rafah, US weapons, UNRWA: How Biden defends support for Israel amid war in Gaza | Israel War in Gaza News

Washington DC – “It’s wrong,” US President Joe Biden said last week about the ongoing Israeli offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, vowing to stop supplying offensive weapons if the attack proceeds.

A week later, however, Israeli forces seized the Rafah border crossing and invaded the city, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering. Still, US media reported on Tuesday that Biden plans to move forward with a $1 billion arms transfer to Israel, including tank shells.

Supporters say the apparent contradiction – between pressuring Israel to stop its offensive and then offering more weaponry – is part of a broader pattern in which the US says one thing but does another.

“We have a situation where rhetoric does not match action,” said Hassan El-Tayyab, legislative director for Middle East policy at the advocacy group Friends Committee on National Legislation. “It is obviously distressing to see US complicity in these horrific war crimes.”

Biden’s statements a week earlier signaled to some advocates that Washington may finally use its influence to pressure Israel to end its abuses against Palestinians.

In an interview with CNN, the president said he would prevent the transfer of artillery shells to Israel in the event of an invasion of Rafah, and his administration ended up withholding a shipment of heavy bombs during the attack.

But advocates say media reports about the $1 billion transfer raise questions about Biden’s commitment to protecting civilians in Rafah — and to standing up to Israel, his longtime ally.

Here, Al Jazeera looks at how the Biden administration presents its policies to overcome legal and political questions about its unconditional support for Israel.

Rafah invasion

Claim: The US government says Israel has not launched a major invasion of Rafah.

“We believe that what we are seeing now is a targeted operation. This is what Israel told us. We have not seen a major operation moving forward,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.

Fact that: The Israeli offensive in Rafah has so far displaced 450,000 Palestinians from the city and further hampered the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, raising fears of catastrophic consequences.

Although Israeli troops have not entered the dense urban center of Rafah, Israeli tanks have penetrated deeper into the city. Last week, the State Department acknowledged that theoretically “a series of limited operations” could constitute “one major operation.”

“It is not credible to say that the Rafah offensive has not yet started. From what we can see, the Rafah invasion is underway. And it should have already crossed the red line,” El-Tayyab told Al Jazeera.

Stop fire

Claim: The Biden administration says it is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, often blaming Hamas for rejecting proposals to reach a deal to stop the fighting.

“Israel has put on the table a groundbreaking proposal for a ceasefire and hostage agreement,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. “The world should call on Hamas to come back to the table and accept a deal.”

Fact that: The US vetoed three separate draft ceasefire resolutions in the United Nations Security Council and voted against two in the General Assembly.

Hamas accepted an agreement presented by Qatar and Egypt that would lead to a lasting ceasefire and the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza and several Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The Israeli government rejected it.

“What we need is a permanent ceasefire now to end these mass killings, and we need to move towards a resolution of the deeper issues of this horrific conflict,” said El-Tayyab.

Violations of international humanitarian law

Claim: The US says it cannot definitively determine whether Israel is using American weapons to violate international law.

The Biden administration released a report last week saying Israel has provided “credible and credible” assurances that U.S. weapons are not being used to commit abuses.

Fact that: Human rights groups have documented numerous violations of international humanitarian law by the Israeli military, which uses US weapons extensively. These reports include evidence of indiscriminate shelling, torture and attacks on civilians.

“There is a version of reality that this administration would like people to believe. And then there is a version of reality that people have been watching for months in Gaza, with horrific images of the murder of civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure. , the hunger of an entire population,” Palestinian-American analyst Yousef Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

“And these two realities do not align at all. And so, I don’t know what audience this theater is aimed at. But I can’t imagine that’s really persuasive to anyone.”

Leahy Law

Claim: The Biden administration says it applies the “same standards” to Israel in enforcing the Leahy Act, which prohibits assistance to foreign military units that commit abuses.

Last month, the US State Department said it would not suspend aid to any Israeli battalion, despite acknowledging that five units had been involved in serious human rights violations.

Washington said four of the battalions have taken corrective measures to address abuses and that the US is talking to Israel about the fifth unit.

Fact that: Experts say the US has a special process in applying the Leahy Act to Israel, giving the country more time and leeway to deal with allegations of abuse.

“They determined that the unit had been involved in serious violations that the host country had failed to remedy,” Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), told Al Jazeera last week.

“And they haven’t cut that unit yet. This is an admission that the Secretary of State is violating U.S. law.”

UNRWA defunding

Claim: The Biden administration says it has cut funding to the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) to “comply with the law.”

The law in question is a government funding bill that Congress passed in March, prohibiting aid to UNRWA.

The UN agency provides vital services to millions of Palestinians across the Middle East and has played a leading role in providing aid in Gaza.

Fact that: Biden supported the funding legislation and signed it into law. Washington also suspended its assistance to the agency weeks before the bill’s passage, following Israeli allegations of links between UNRWA and Hamas.

Last month, an independent review of UNRWA, commissioned by the UN, concluded that Israel had not provided credible evidence to support its accusations.

“Our political process has chosen to cut off U.S. funding to literally the only entity that can address the level of suffering and the scale of suffering that is happening in Gaza right now,” said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), to Al. Jazeera earlier this year.