Israel’s tactics in prosecuting its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip has reportedly been actively gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies with reports passed to lawmakers.
Politico reports while American officials say they withholding judgments in real-time about Israel’s observance of the laws of war, the gathered intelligence might allow it to make such assessments post-conflict as to the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in relation to international law.
The Politico report sets out:
The U.S. has collected intelligence and formulated detailed assessments related to both Israel and Hamas military movements and tactics in Gaza since the war began in October, according to two people familiar with the intelligence. That has included data on targeting by both sides, the weapons they appear to be using and the potential number of people killed in their ranks.
That information has been shared with members of Congress in several briefings, including with the members of the intelligence committees, the people said. Both individuals were granted anonymity to detail a sensitive issue.
The outlet goes on to relate State Department officials are also collecting reports of alleged, potential Israeli violations through a system unveiled in August called the Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, or CHIRG, according to Josh Paul, who quit the department over concerns about its approach to the war.
Paul alleged some officials within the department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs have asked State’s legal wing to “provide information about their potential international law exposure as a result of approving these sales.”
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When President Joe Biden alleged Israel was using “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza — a breach of international humanitarian law — he was likely speaking about information he had, Politico surmised.
“Here you have the president of the United States essentially accusing Israel of committing war crimes, while his administration refuses to conduct a thoroughgoing assessment of whether or not Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is consistent with the law of war,” said Brian Finucane, previously a State Department lawyer who now advises the International Crisis Group.
