White House 'reviewing' civilian deaths in Gaza as it urges sending $14bn in military aid to Israel
The US is reviewing reports of whether Israel has harmed civilians in its war in Gaza, as part of a years-old policy the Biden administration implemented to ensure countries receiving American weapons do not violate international humanitarian law.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the State Department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG) is being used to assess incidents of civilian deaths in the war in Gaza, as the Palestinian death toll climbs higher.
A State Department spokesperson told MEE that the review was part of its "regular work and normal processes", adding "we seek to thoroughly assess reports of civilian harm by authorized recipients of US-origin defense articles around the world, including under CHIRG".
At least 28,473 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the war broke out on 7 October, according to Gaza’s health ministry, including more than 12,300 children and some 8,400 women.
More than 68,146 Palestinians have also been wounded, while at least 7,000 are missing under rubble and assumed dead as a result of air strikes.
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For decades, the US has reviewed arms sales and transfers to its allies, but it's unclear whether that has had a tangible impact on approving weapons sales.
The Biden administration’s rollout of CHIRG last year added to existing mechanisms like the decades-old Leahy Law, which prohibits the transfer of arms to countries violating human rights.
The Biden administration has come under pressure from some progressive lawmakers and increasingly, its European allies, to review its arms transfers to Israel.
In January, UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he was “worried” Israel may have breached international law in Gaza, and other European states have halted some arms transfers to Israel.
On Monday, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to suspend shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, saying they “might be used in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law”.
Miller’s comments come a week after the White House unveiled a new national security memorandum tasking the departments of defence and state to ensure that all weapons transferred to US security partners are being used “in a manner consistent" with international humanitarian law.
The review process, however, doesn’t appear to be standing in the way of the US’s continued transfer of military supplies to Israel.
On Tuesday, President Biden called on the House of Representatives to “move…with urgency” to pass a $95bn national security funding bill that includes $14bn in military aid to Israel.
That plea came even as Biden says that Israel is conducting an “indiscriminate” bombing campaign in Gaza which has been “over the top”.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell took a veiled swipe at what he portrayed as a dichotomy between Biden’s comments and US actions on Monday, asking why the US was continuing to provide arms to Israel “if you believe that too many people are being killed”.
That gap has extended to some Democratic lawmakers as well.
On Tuesday, US Senator Chris Van Hollen, one of Israel’s harshest critics in the Senate, voted for billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, along with aid to Ukraine and Taiwan after he accused Washington’s ally of conducting “a textbook war crime” in Gaza.
Earlier this month, a US federal judge dismissed a case introduced by human rights groups against Biden alleging he was assisting Israel in genocide against the Palestinians but said it was “plausible” that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and called on the White House to review its military support.
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