According to an internal US State Department document seen by Reuters, some senior officials told Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that they did not find "credible or reliable" Israel's assurances that it uses the weapons provided by the US in accordance with international humanitarian law, BTA reported.
Other officials have supported the position of the Israeli mission, however, the agency said.
Under the National Security Memorandum issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel's assurances that the use of American weapons does not violate American or international law.
As of March 24, at least seven State Department directorates had submitted their materials for an initial version of an internal departmental document to be presented to Blinken. The presented materials give an idea of the disagreements in the State Department about whether Israel is violating international humanitarian laws in Gaza, commented Reuters.
"Some divisions within the department prefer to accept Israel's assurances, others reject them, and still others take no position," said a US official.
In the joint opinion of four directorates – "Democracy, Human Rights and Labour", "Population, Refugees and Migration", "Global Criminal Justice" and "International Organizations" - "serious concerns about non-compliance" are expressed; of international humanitarian law by Israel during the Gaza war.
The assessment by the four directorates said Israel's assurances were "neither credible nor reliable". It cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that officials said raised "serious questions"; regarding potential violations of international humanitarian law.
Examples include repeated strikes on protected sites and civilian infrastructure, "unreasonably high levels of harming civilians in order to gain military advantage", insufficient action being taken to investigate violations or to hold accountable those responsible for inflicting significant harm on the civilian population, as well as "killing aid workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate".
The four bureaus' assessment also cites 11 instances of Israeli actions that officials say "unreasonably restrict humanitarian aid," as well as instances of "artificial restrictions" being imposed. of inspections and repeated attacks on humanitarian sites that should not be struck.
Information included in the document from the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, however, said the office rated Israel's assurances as reliable and credible, another US official told Reuters.< /p>
The State Department's Legal Directorate "has not taken a substantive position" about the credibility of the Israeli assurances, a source familiar with the matter said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the department does not comment on leaked documents. "On complex issues, the secretary of state often hears a variety of opinions within the department and takes all of those opinions into consideration," Miller said.