Crucial State Department report expected to absolve Israel of breaking international law in Gaza

A State Department report is expected to find that Israel has not violated the terms of a US weapons agreement, according to the Associated Press.

The investigation could have required the US to stop sending weapons to its ally if it found Israel had broken US and international humanitarian law while conducting its war against Hamas in Gaza.

While the report is expected to be critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, it did not find that it breached the terms of a US-Israel agreement governing arms sales, the AP reported, citing a US official.

The report was the result of a presidential directive that came following pressure from Democrats to force the administration to rule on whether US-made weapons sent to Israel were being used lawfully.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, who spearheaded the push for the investigation, told The Independent earlier this week: “This report will be a test of the Biden administration’s credibility as to whether or not they’re willing to look at all the facts and apply the law to the war in Gaza.”

In recent days, President Joe Biden explicitly threatened for the first time to withhold the delivery of weapons to Israel if it launched a major ground operation in the border city of Rafah.

Mr Biden made the declaration in an interview with CNN during a visit to Wisconsin on Wednesday, telling anchor Erin Burnett that he won’t stop the flow of defensive weapons like the interceptors used for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system even if he cuts off the flow of munitions such as the shipment of 2,000 lb bombs he acknowledged putting a hold on.

“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,”