State Department confirms US request to Israel for letter on international law compliance

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The State Department confirmed Wednesday a request to Israel to sign off on a letter provided by the Biden administration that includes a written assurance that it will use US-supplied weapons in compliance with international law.

The letter does not single out Israel, and is instead the result of a Feb. 8 memorandum signed by President Joe Biden that requires countries that receive US military assistance to give Washington "credible and reliable written assurances" that the arms will be used in compliance with "international human rights law and international humanitarian law."

"There is a process that we are engaged in with every country that receives military assistance from the United States to make sure they are aware of the requirements of the national security memorandum, make sure that they are aware of the timeline that is outlined in the national security memorandum," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. "So we're going about that process now."

All countries that were actively engaged in hostilities when the memo was signed were given a 45-day window in which to provide the assurance. That would apply to Israel, which has been at war in Gaza since October.

If no assurances are provided the memorandum mandates that "the transfer of defense articles and, as applicable, defense services, shall be paused until" they are obtained.

The letter was first reported by online news outlet Axios.

Israel launched its war on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in which some 1,200 are estimated to have been killed. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 30,000 people, and injured over 70,000 amid mass destruction throughout the coastal enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

The conflict has continued to rage, however, and aid deliveries have remained woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.