Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday rejected the accusation that the US is trying to avoid holding Israel accountable for its military campaign, amid criticism of the State Department’s recent report on Israeli conduct of war.
In a long-awaited report released last week, the State Department concluded that it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel violated international humanitarian law, while stopping short of determining wrongdoing, as it found no specific cases of violations.
When asked on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” whether the U.S. is trying to avoid holding Israel accountable for its actions, Blinken said, “No. We don’t have double standards.”
“We treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, as we would any other country, including in assessing something like international humanitarian law and its compliance with that law,” Blinken said, later adding: “The report also makes it clear that this is an incredibly complex military environment. We have an enemy that intentionally embeds itself in civilians, hiding under and inside schools, mosques, apartment buildings, firing at Israeli forces from those locations.
The report pointed to the rising death toll in Gaza, which now stands at more than 35,000, according to local health officials, and said there had been “enough reported incidents to raise serious concerns” about how Israel conducted its campaign during the war. against Hamas.
“What the report concludes is that based on the totality of the damage that has been done to the children, to the women, to the men who are caught in this crossfire created by Hamas, it is reasonable to conclude that there are cases where Israel has acted in a ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law,” Blinken said. “At the same time, Kristen, we continue to observe and investigate each of these incidents, but critically, so does Israel.”
The report received notable criticism from Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who called it “woefully inadequate.”
“If this conduct complies with international standards, God help us all,” Van Hollen said last Friday. “Because that would set a very low standard for what is permitted, it would set a very low standard for the rules of war, it would set a very low standard for what is necessary to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance.”
Responding to Blinken’s Sunday comments made on several talk shows, Van Hollen said, “So while I appreciate the fact that, as Secretary Blinken said, the administration determined that it was reasonable to conclude that violations of international law occurred, I think that There’s enough on the books to be able to point to specific cases and make specific decisions, and in that sense, the administration didn’t ask the hard questions.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
