WASHINGTON — For months, the Biden administration has said Israel should be doing more to minimize civilian harm and expand humanitarian aid access in the Gaza Strip, but it stopped short of accusing its top ally in the Middle East of violating international law.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Oxfam submitted to the administration a joint memorandum they hope will force the White House to take a position on what they and other rights groups say is a mountain of evidence indicating Israel is obstructing the delivery of aid and using American weapons to violate international humanitarian law in the Palestinian enclave.
Their submission comes just over a month after President Joe Biden issued a directive requiring that recipients of US arms provide “credible and reliable” written assurances that they are adhering to international protections for civilians.
The Feb. 8 memorandum applies to all foreign governments that receive US military aid, not only Israel. But it came as the Biden administration faced pressure from prominent Democrats concerned that US weaponry was contributing to the civilian toll in Gaza. The Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave said Tuesday more than 31,800 people — most of them women and children — have died in the war that Israel launched in retaliation for the Hamas-led killing of about 1,200 people on Oct. 7.
