US said to be investigating Israeli strikes for possible breaches of international law

The US is investigating several Israeli airstrikes that killed civilians as part of a broader probe into the use of American-supplied weapons in the war against Hamas, according to the Wall Street Journal.

One of the incidents being investigated by State Department is a 31 October is an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza with a 2,000lb bomb, which may have been provided by the US, that killed more than 125 people, according to US officials.

The United Nations said that strike, among others, could constitute a war crime. The investigation is said to be concerned with assessing whether Israel has complied with international law.

News of the investigation comes as president Joe Biden comes under increasing pressure from within his own party over his unconditional support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The president has described Israel’s campaign, which has killed some 28,000 Palestinians, as “over the top,” but his officials have ruled out conditioning future US support to Israel to influence Israel’s conduct.

It is unclear, however, whether the probe will lead to any meaningful US policy change or consequences for one of America’s closest allies. State Department spokesman Matt Miller said on Tuesday that the process was “not intended to function as a rapid response mechanism.”

“Rather, it is designed to systematically assess civilian harm incidents and develop appropriate policy responses to reduce the risk of such incidents occurring in the future,” he said, according to the WSJ.

The strike on the Jabalia is ranked as one of the worst civilian casualty events of the entire war, which was launched by Israel in response to a Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 people. Israeli’s retaliation has