GAZA –– A classified US government report has identified Israeli military units as responsible for hundreds of potential violations of US human rights in Gaza during the two-year genocide.
According to an exclusive report by The Washington Post, the State Department’s inspector general completed the assessment shortly before the ceasefire, according to two US officials.
The findings mark the first official US acknowledgement of the scale of Israeli actions potentially violating the Leahy Laws, which prohibit American security assistance to foreign forces accused of serious abuses.
The Leahy Laws are named after former senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vermont), who sponsored legislation to impose consequences on foreign military units that receive funding from the United States and commit extrajudicial killings, torture and other atrocities.
US officials said the watchdog findings raised doubts about the prospects for accountability for Israel’s violations.
“What worries me is that accountability will be forgotten now that the noise of the conflict is dying down,” said Charles Blaha, a former State Department official.
Officials said reviewing the incidents could take “multiple years”. The report also revealed a special review process for Israel requiring consensus amongst senior officials, unlike standard procedures, where a single objection can halt assistance to other countries.
America provides Israel at least $3.8 billion in annual aid, making the country the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid in the world. That increased substantially following October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its assault on Gaza.
But Washington has refused to apply the laws to Israel, with both Trump and his predecessor, former US President Joe Biden, continuing to funnel military assistance to Israel despite widespread reports of abuses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. — QNN
