Published October 05,2024
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The US fast-tracked arms gross sales to Israel regardless of inner issues in regards to the misuse of American-made bombs and human rights violations at the same time as civilian casualties within the Gaza Strip surged, in accordance with an investigation by ProPublica.
In the months earlier than and after the Oct. 7 assault by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, State Department officers urged the halting or limiting arms gross sales to Israel, citing legal guidelines towards arming nations with a sample of human rights violations. Top officers, nonetheless, repeatedly overruled these appeals, in accordance with the report, which cited leaked cables, emails and interviews
In late January, because the demise toll reached 25,000 in Gaza, US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew pushed the State Department to approve a request from Israel for 3,000 extra bombs, together with GBU-39s, regardless of inner warnings of civilian casualties and Israeli strikes on properties, together with these of Palestinian embassy employees.
Top Biden administration officers, together with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, acknowledged civilian struggling in Gaza at the moment however defended Israel’s proper to defend itself following the assault by Hamas.
A State Department spokesperson defended the arms transfers as being performed with enter from numerous businesses and insisted that Lew prioritized minimizing civilian hurt whereas working towards a cease-fire, in accordance with ProPublica.
An Israeli authorities spokesperson criticized the “biased” article as portraying regular diplomatic relations between Israel and US officers as improper, it added.
The investigation additionally revealed that the US Embassy in Jerusalem prioritized defending Israel from scrutiny and facilitating arms gross sales, resisting investigations into human rights abuses.
“In most places our goal is to address human rights violations,” former diplomat Mike Casey, was quoted within the article.”We don’t have that in Jerusalem.”
Lobbyists for US army contractors have persistently pressured lawmakers and officers to maintain arms shipments flowing to Israel and allies like Saudi Arabia.
The report included a picture of wine instances — reportedly a present from the Israeli Embassy to employees within the State Department’s arms transfers bureau in Washington, D.C., who labored “overtime, often after hours and through weekends, to process Israeli requests for more arms.”
A State Department spokesperson didn’t deny the instances of wine to ProPublica however stated, “Employees are allowed to accept gifts from foreign governments that fall below a certain dollar threshold, and called the allegations “insulting.”
An Israel authorities spokesperson stated that the “embassy routinely sends individual bottles of wine (not cases) to many of its contacts to cordially mark the end of the year holidays.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr