President Biden was briefed on a State Department report examining Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the White House said Friday, but did not indicate whether the report influenced his decision to contain the transfer of thousands of heavy bombs. earlier this week.
The State Department transmitted the report to Congress on Friday. The report was expected to assess Israel’s written assurances that US-supplied weapons were being used in accordance with international law and that Israel was not impeding the provision of humanitarian assistance.
The report is not public. Media reports indicate that U.S. officials have issued sharp criticisms of Israel’s conduct of warfare in the Gaza Strip, but have avoided saying that the Israel Defense Forces violated laws that would restrict U.S. weapons transfers to the country.
“The president has been briefed and is obviously aware of the contents,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Friday.
“I’m just not going to go into detail about when he was informed and how it happened, but he was fully informed about it.”
The report was mandated by National Security Memorandum 20which Biden issued in February under pressure from congressional Democrats to scrutinize Israel’s use of US weapons in its war against Hamas.
The report was delivered to Congress on Wednesday.
News agencies briefed by U.S. officials on the report’s content and conclusions described its conclusions as highly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, but said they stopped short of saying Israel violated U.S. terms of use of weapons.
Biden earlier this week halted the transfer of more than 3,000 heavy bombs to Israel. And the president warned in a CNN interview – broadcast on Wednesday – that the US could curb more arms transfers if Israel launched a major offensive on Rafah, the southern Gaza city believed to be Hamas’ last stronghold, but which houses more than 1 million displaced people. Palestinians.
Kirby said the White House is closely monitoring Israel’s military operations in Rafah, and that includes the seizure of a crossing with Egypt.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that what we’ve seen in the last 24 hours connotes or indicates a broad, large-scale invasion or major ground operation. It appears to be located near the intersection,” Kirby said, but added that the White House is watching “with concern.”
Kirby called on Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing for humanitarian assistance deliveries across the strip.
“Every day that this passage is not available and is not usable for humanitarian assistance, there will be more suffering and this is a deep concern for us. And so, once again, we urge the Israelis to immediately open this passage to humanitarian assistance,” he said. “This assistance is desperately needed, and we urge them, as we have done in the past, to be as careful, precise and discriminating. as much as they can here, so as not to put innocent lives at greater risk than they already are. But we are watching this very closely.”
Israel launched its war against Hamas following the October 7 attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, with approximately 133 still detained in the strip.
Biden has supported Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, but has grown increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war process. .
Efforts to secure a deal between Hamas and Israel to secure the release of hostages and implement a six-week ceasefire collapsed this week amid arguments in Cairo.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
