On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told” Face the Nation” on CBS that Israel has n’t acted in a way that is in line with international humanitarian law during the conflict with Hamas.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s admission that his forces killed more citizens than Hamas users, the death toll in Palestine is heartfelt. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is from the State Department, joins us for the day. Great night, Mr. Secretary. According to military experts, Gaza is the most difficult and complex battlefield there has ever seen. But back in December, President Biden said Israel conducted uncontrolled bomb. In February, he said Israel’s rude was over the best. And then this past month, he was asked on CNN about pausing the distribution of 3, 500 weapons. How’s what he said.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Due to those weapons and other methods of their pursuing community centers, citizens have been killed in Gaza. I made it clear that if they enter Rafah, I wo n’t be providing the weapons that have previously been used to combat Rafah, but rather to combat the issue of cities.
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BRENNAN: Mr. Secretary, is Israel living up to international humanitarian law requirements?
BLINKEN: Also first Margaret, good night, and as you know, we put out a complete report on that. But let me start by saying this. President Biden has vowed to help Israel in its fight against itself and to prevent another October 7 from occurring. He has also made it abundantly clear that Israel must shield citizens and ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered to those in need. And that’s what we’ve been doing from time one. The document we released details some of the issues we’ve encountered during this time in terms of humanitarian aid, especially in the days leading up to October 7. And when it comes to the use of weapons, worries about situations where given the sum of the destruction that’s been done to kids, women, men, it was acceptable to examine that, in certain instances, Israel acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law. Additionally, it’s important to point out that Israel has internal controls over this. Since October 7, there have been hundreds of continuous inquiries looking at a variety of incidents. In contrast to most other nations in the world, where judicial investigations are ongoing, Israel has the means, the methods, and the self-correction skills to succeed. But we have spent our entire lives doing this.
BRENNAN: So you can safely say that Israel has broken US laws and agreements regarding the posting of weapons?
BLINKEN: No. We’ve concluded is in the case of the the use of arms, as you said, this is an incredibly complicated martial atmosphere in which you have an army, Hamas, that committed the most horrible terrorist attacks on Israel, October 7, and then retreats to Gaza, masks behind and underneath civilians, in hospitals, schools, mosques, apartment buildings. And that makes it difficult to ascertain exactly what happened, especially when war breaks out, and draw any conclusions from any one incident. In order to get the best possible assessment, we have a number of incidents that we are still looking at. The Israelis themselves engage in similar behavior. Our assessments will be ongoing. But as I said, given the totality of what we’ve seen in terms of civilian suffering, in terms of children, women, men caught in this crossfire Hamas is making who’ve been killed or been injured. It’s reasonable to assess that in a number of instances. Israel has not followed international humanitarian law in its actions.
BRENNAN: So I understand you’re still collecting evidence but on the policy, can you clarify? Because the House Armed Services leader Democrat claims it’s unclear. Beyond the 3,500 so-called “dumb bombs,” is the US now slowing down the delivery of any weapons to Israel?
BLINKEN: So let me be clear about this too. First, let’s take a moment to reflect that no president has done more to defend Israel than Joe Biden when it matters most. He was the first American president to visit Israel while it was at war in the days following October 7. When Iran mounted an unprecedented attack on Israel launching 300 projectiles, including ballistic missiles, the United States for the first time ever participated in Israel’s active defense. And we assembled a group of nations to stand up to the Iranian attack. However, we’ve been very clear about our concerns regarding a significant military operation in Rafah for a number of months. As you know, Margaret, most of the population from Gaza, displaced from the north, and from Central Gaza, has gone to Rafah, there are about 1.4 million people there. And we said to Israel that we cannot, will not support an operation in Rafah, a major military operation, in the absence of a credible plan to protect civilians.
