Biden's weapons sales to Israel breach legal limits, former officials say
Source: Washington Post
Biden’s weapons sales to Israel breach legal limits, former officials say
While the administration has expressed alarm over civilian casualties in Gaza, former officials say it has sidestepped laws governing foreign arms transfers.
By Louisa Loveluck
May 10, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
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President Biden’s striking admission this week that American weapons are killing civilians in Gaza appeared to mark a turning point in U.S. policy toward Israel — coming days after the Israeli military made its first move on Rafah and before a highly anticipated government report on Israel’s adherence to the laws of war. ... While the Biden administration has repeatedly expressed alarm over civilian casualties in Gaza, some former officials say it has drawn out the implementation of laws and policies intended to prevent American weaponry from being used in violation of international humanitarian law.
The breaking point for Biden came Monday, when Israel’s military ordered the immediate evacuation of 100,000 civilians from the southern city of Rafah and seized the border crossing with Egypt, warning it would use “extreme force” against militants in the heavily-populated area. ... “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah … I’m not supplying the weapons,” Biden told CNN on Wednesday.
The United States has always been selective in how it invokes international law, experts say, and how it balances rights concerns with realpolitik. But its ongoing material support for Israel’s war in Gaza has led to a rare surge in public backlash from former officials, who say the administration is dragging its feet on enforcing laws meant to limit or condition military assistance to foreign allies.
Rights groups and humanitarian organizations have spent months documenting alleged violations of international law by the Israeli military in Gaza — many believed to have been carried out with U.S.-made weapons — including attacks on civilian neighborhoods, health facilities, journalists and aid workers. ... “Just from a legal perspective within U.S. domestic law, there’s a much wider body of rules that is being ignored right now,” said Josh Paul, who formerly worked on arms transfers at the State Department and is the most senior U.S. official to resign over the war in Gaza. “The arms are just continuing to flow.
{snip}
John Hudson and Michael Birnbaum in Washington contributed to this report.
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By Louisa Loveluck
Louisa Loveluck is a London-based correspondent, covering global crises. She was the paper's Baghdad bureau chief from 2019-2023, and before that, covered the war in Syria from Beirut. Twitter https://twitter.com/@leloveluck
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/10/israel-gaza-biden-weapons-rafah/
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