The State Department said that Israel's military campaign in Gaza may have violated international law.
The State Department said that Israel's military campaign in Gaza may have violated international law.
A State Department report says U.S. weapons might have been used in violating humanitarian law, but does not make a specific enough finding to trigger punitive action against Israel.
The Biden administration has concluded it is “reasonable to assess” that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has violated international law, but has not found specific instances that would justify the withholding of military aid, the State Department told Congress on Friday.
In the administration’s most detailed assessment of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the State Department said in a written report to Congress that Israel “has the knowledge, experience and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations.”
But it added that “the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions” as to whether the Israel Defense Forces are using them sufficiently.
May have?
Our State Dept seems to be a few months behind.
74I feel the same way
But in terms of international politics such accusations must be made carefully and with substantial evidence
I feel they could have had that evidence awhile ago but I'm hoping they took this long to make sure to get as many as possible correctly in the net of "Violating International Law". For example substantial evidence that goes very high up the chain of command of the Israeli military.
26If they didn't find any evidence it means they weren't looking for it. Or even were actively avoiding widely reported incidents.
18Or we're going to find out this was dated in October and buried until now
4
This is big
31No it's not.
Nevertheless, the report, mandated by President Biden, deems that assurances Israel provided in March that it would use U.S. arms consistent with international law are “credible and reliable” and thus allow the continued flow of U.S. military aid.
What a joke.
6For the US state department to say this publicly? Oh yeah, it’s a big deal.
US’s Israel policy doesn’t shift adroitly— considering it has never shifted, not ever.
So, yeah, this means things have changed. That was the point of all those protests, right?
Edit: think it hasn’t shifted enough? Keep protesting!!! it works!
34
I know some specific instances if they need appendices. There’s a bunch of mass graves with bullet holes in people’s heads where the dead were wearing hospital clothes and had a different injury. They bombed basically all the civilian infrastructure. We all watched starvation as a tactic happen. They killed more journalists and aid workers than any war I can recall.
31They're also allowing mask-off genocidal statements in their public sphere. It doesn't sound like much but it's a pretty damning one and well documented.
17
27M A Y ????
27yes, 11th of May. y u ask?
10State Department. So diplomatic signals.
Foreign affairs is a constant negotiation. So there's signals. and more negotiations. Tomorrow there will be more signals and negotiations.
Because that's how the whole thing works. As much as the TikTok crowd might want Israel to not exist (which is a little disturbing) the reality is that Israel is going to continue to exist and the negotiations will continue to happen in perpetuity. Screaming "YOU ARE TEH GENOCIDaL MONstARRRR" is not a good play when negotiating, and a failure at negotiating costs lives. And that's Palestinian lives it anyone cares about them beyond making a performance about it.
So the State Department (the diplomats) will make these signals to effect actual change as opposed to the juvenile outbursts we see at college campuses... which accomplishes nothing.
Speak softly while carrying a big stick versus speak loudly with your dick in your hand.
-1I agree that the diplomats have a lot of things to consider and need to make careful nuanced discussions that lead to effective decisions. However, I think student protests help sway the public opinion and give more backing to such diplomatic decisions.
And US students obviously can't make foreign policy decisions with Isreal, so what else are they supposed to do? Clearly, months of smaller actions haven't seemed to change the situation.
15
but has not found specific instances that would justify the withholding of military aid
So after 6 months of "wait for the report" they have come to the conclusion that all the bombs that were used to commit war crimes with exploded so they can't be investigated or something.
Genocide Joe still on that Ethnic Cleansing Grind.
9I mean, at this point an "ideal" solution (such as it is) would be for the US to stop stonewalling UN Security Council resolutions so that the other members can greenlight a peacekeeping operation a la Kosovo, that would stop the fighting, open up aid flows, and create an avenue for effective enforcement of the 1948 treaty boundaries on the way towards implementing a functional two-state solution. But that seems pretty unlikely right now.
2
You know, I had this really odd thought a couple months ago. That Israel kept fucking up in continuation with how they have been. To the point that US had to play world police again and invade Israel to enforce a dmz around Palestine. Much to the “excuse me, fucking what?” of the entire Arabic world. This headline is in no way aligning with said odd thought but here we are.
7I mean, at this point an "ideal" solution (such as it is) would be for the US to stop stonewalling UN Security Council resolutions so that the other members can greenlight a peacekeeping operation a la Kosovo, that would stop the fighting, open up aid flows, and create an avenue for effective enforcement of the 1948 treaty boundaries on the way towards implementing a functional two-state solution. But that seems pretty unlikely right now.
15
Pop it on the list
6I don't understand how they think citizens can be so stupid as to take these statements at face value.
The government gets away with things because it simply can.
🤬
5It’s not the statement itself. It’s the fact that the US State department has made its first change and its policy with Israel in ever.
That’s a big deal
3I didn't pick up what you're saying in this particular article.
If so, it seems painfully too little and far too late. More needs to be done and it needs to be done now.
I understand why the relationship between Israel and the US is important. What I don't understand is why the US can't hold them to account at the same time.
It boggles my mind how the government of the United States so easily facilitates atrocities. They can do better. They can be better.
When I hear "Make America Great Again", it seems everyone has lost their minds in terms of what "greatness" truly is.
3
