Since last October, when Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack on Israeli territory, the Jewish state has had a firm foothold in the leadership of the United States, despite the fact that this commitment could cost Joe Biden some voters just months before the election.
A shining example of this is the current pro-Palestinian protests at American universities and the declining support of the president among young people.
The announcement of the US State Department on Monday confirmed to many that the US does not intend to ease its current approach to this Middle Eastern country.
The authority found five units of the Israeli army responsible for “gross violations of human rights”, but the country’s military aid to Israelis does not stop with this fact.
The reason Israeli troops continue to be eligible for US military support is said to be that the country’s leaders have taken corrective action for four of them. “Regarding the remaining unit, we continue to consult and negotiate with the Israeli government, which has provided us with additional information regarding this unit,” ministry spokesman Vedant Patel said.
The United States was said to be one step away from cutting military aid to the unit, but newly supplied information from Israel changed the situation.
All the incidents that the troops were supposed to have taken place outside the Gaza Strip, more precisely in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Allegedly, they were also supposed to take place in recent years, but not after the fateful October 7, when the situation in the Middle East escalated.
American aid to Israel
As reported by the US Congress in March of this year, Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of military aid to its allies since World War II. Over the past decades, the United States has provided Israel with bilateral aid and military financing worth 158 billion dollars, i.e. more than 3.6 trillion crowns.
As for 2023, the US has earmarked $3.8 billion for Israeli military funding. This is part of a ten-year agreement signed during the administration of former US President Barack Obama, which committed to allocating a total of $38 billion in military aid to the Middle Eastern country between 2019 and 2028.
However, much other information is not known, so the question mark still hangs over what actually happened on the part of the units, what kind of correction was made and whether it was effective or which units are actually involved. Therefore, there are claims that the ministry did not just give in under political pressure.
Laws too weak?
The so-called Leahy Laws talk about the possibility of withdrawing American military aid to foreign troops that commit gross violations of human rights without effective accountability. They specifically mention that aid funded by US taxpayers should not be given to units that have committed atrocities such as extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances or rape.
However, there is an exception for the suspension of military aid. If the US State Department is convinced that the government of the country in question has handled the cases properly and established justice, for example in the form of bringing individuals to justice, the support can continue. This seems to be the case with Israeli soldiers as well.
However, as already mentioned, the specific details of the cases are not known. In addition, Leahy’s laws have faced some criticism, with some saying they are too weak or not enforced strongly enough.
The Hague is also following the events in the Gaza Strip
The events surrounding Gaza’s main hospitals may become part of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which hears criminal cases against individuals for war crimes.
Although the cases reported by the US Department of Defense are not related to the current events in the Gaza Strip, there are many voices who claim that similar acts are being committed by Israeli soldiers there.
For example, a coalition of nearly a hundred American and foreign lawyers, including those who work in the president’s administration, called on Biden to stop the US from funding Israel.
The letter with arguments, reported by Politico, is expected to be sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and general counsel throughout the administration in the coming days. In it, lawyers say Israel likely violated US laws including the Arms Export Control Act and the Leahy Act, as well as the Geneva Conventions banning disproportionate attacks on civilian populations.
According to Israeli authorities, the October strike by Hamas claimed 1,200 lives and a further 253 people were kidnapped by the movement. In the only ceasefire so far, at the end of November, more than a hundred hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The massive Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the subsequent ground operation have claimed nearly 34,500 Palestinian lives since October, according to Hamas-controlled authorities.
In recent weeks, people have been following the events in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s military operation in Rafah is about to take place. The Israelis are pressing ahead with plans for the offensive despite warnings of potentially catastrophic humanitarian consequences for the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in the area.
