Some senior U.S. officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find “credible or reliable” Israel’s assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, according to an internal State Department memo.

Other officials upheld support for Israel’s representation.

Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of U.S. weapons does not violate U.S. or international law.

By March 24, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial “options memo” to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified.

The submissions to the memo provide the most extensive picture to date of the divisions inside the State Department over whether Israel might be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

“Some components in the department favored accepting Israel’s assurances, some favored rejecting them and some took no position,” a U.S. official said.

  • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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    6 months ago

    Do you vote in non-election years…? You do know there’s other issues on your ballot than POTUS, right?

    • derbis@beehaw.org
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      6 months ago

      Don’t be deliberately dense. We’re talking about electing the president, and you asked about a comparison between Biden and Trump.

      • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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        6 months ago

        Lol, are you serious!? I replied with one question, you evaded, brought up a completely different issue, then failed to defend it…

        • derbis@beehaw.org
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          6 months ago

          Yeah, no. You said not voting for Biden is voting for a worse situation for Palestine, which is only true in swing states. Which, I suspect, you know. I didn’t change the topic; you brought up non-election years and other ballot issues.

          But if you need it spelled out (we both know you don’t:) if you don’t live in a swing state, your vote for president doesn’t matter.