Amnesty submission to US government’s own accountability process highlights pattern of unlawful attacks by Israeli forces in Gaza

Incidents include a January attack in Rafah which killed at least 95 civilians, including 42 children, with evidence of the use of a Boeing-manufactured bomb

‘President Biden must end US complicity with the government of Israel’s grave violations of international law’ - Amanda Klasing

US-supplied weapons provided to Israel have been used in serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and in a manner that is inconsistent with US law and policy, said Amnesty International USA after it sent information about such misuse to the US government in a new report.

In a 19-page report submitted to the US authorities yesterday as part of a US government accountability process known as ‘Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defence Articles and Defence Services’, Amnesty has detailed civilian deaths and injuries with US-made weapons, as well as other cases that highlight an overall pattern of unlawful attacks by Israeli forces.

The report also details behaviour by Israeli forces inconsistent with best practices for mitigating civilian harm and provides clear examples of the misuse of equipment, torture and the use of unlawful lethal force.

Amnesty’s report cites a number of examples of violations of humanitarian law using US-manufactured weapons, including:

*US-made “joint direct attack munitions” used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful airstrikes on homes full of civilians in Gaza in October that killed 43 civilians -19 children, 14 women and ten men. These airstrikes were either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects, or indiscriminate attacks, and should be investigated as possible war crimes.

*The use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon by Israeli forces in October in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law which requires necessary precautions be taken to protect civilians. One attack on the town of Dhayra on 16 October must be investigated as a possible war crime because it was an indiscriminate attack that injured at least nine civilians and damaged civilian objects.

*Four Israeli attacks - three in December after the Gaza humanitarian pause ended, and one in January, which killed at least 95 civilians, including 42 children - in Rafah at a time when it was supposedly the “safest” area in Gaza. The January incident included evidence of a GBU-39 small diameter bomb, a precision-guided weapon made in the US by Boeing. In all four attacks, there was no indication that the residential buildings hit could be considered legitimate military objectives or that people in the buildings were military targets, raising concerns that these strikes were direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects and must therefore be investigated as possible war crimes.

Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA’s Government Relations Director, said: 

“The evidence is clear and overwhelming: the government of Israel is using US-made weapons in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, and in a manner that is inconsistent with US law and policy.

“It’s shocking that the Biden administration continues to hold that the government of Israel is not violating international humanitarian law with US-provided weapons when our research shows otherwise and international law experts disagree.

“President Biden must end US complicity with the government of Israel’s grave violations of international law and immediately suspend the transfer of weapons to the government of Israel.”

Other attacks 

Amnesty’s report also detailed unlawful strikes by Israeli forces in Gaza that killed and injured Palestinians where Amnesty was either unable to identify the make and origin of the weapons used, or identified weapons that were not US-made. These include an Israeli military strike on a group of seven journalists in south Lebanon on 13 October, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others, which was likely to have been a direct attack on civilians that - again - should be investigated as a possible war crime. Amnesty also documents practices by Israeli forces that are inconsistent with preventing and mitigating civilian harm. These include 24-hour mass evacuation notices and ineffective - or non-existent - advanced warnings of attacks.

Biggest arms supplier 

The United States is the Israeli military’s biggest supplier, accounting for more than two-thirds (69%) of its total arms imports between 2019 and 2023. This includes the full range of conventional arms and ammunition, from combat aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles, guided bombs, bomb guidance kits and small arms. Israel also enjoys privileged access to US defence exports, including advance financing, expedited congressional review periods and the use of US stockpiles of missiles, armoured vehicles and artillery ammunition located inside Israel. The US is formally committed to maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge” over its neighbours in terms of the technical sophistication of its military systems. US defence companies have strong historical ties with the Israeli defence industry, and multi-billion-dollar defence cooperation agreements extend well into the future.