Some in State Department don’t believe Israel is using US weapons in accordance with international law, source says

Some parts of the US State Department do not find Israel’s assurances that its forces are using US weapons in accordance with international law to be “credible and reliable,” a department official said Sunday.

The State Department is divided over whether Israel is using American-provided weapons in accordance with international law ahead of a fast-approaching deadline next week for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make a determination to Congress. There is not unanimity about whether to accept Israel’s assurances about this as “credible and reliable,” a department official said. Israel was required to make those assurances to the US under a national security memorandum issued by President Joe Biden in February. The memorandum requires all countries receiving US weapons to make assurances that they are using them “in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.” Under that memorandum, Blinken must tell Congress by May 8 whether he has certified the assurances to be credible and reliable. Human rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes and abuses during the war in Gaza. Several hundred officials from Western countries, including some from the US, have previously raised concerns that their governments may be complicit in war crimes in their support of Israel’s fight against Hamas. The State Department official Sunday did not give further details about which parts of the department are in favor of accepting Israel’s assurances, which are in favor of rejecting them, and which took no position.