A confidential assessment by a US government oversight body has concluded that Israeli forces carried out "many hundreds" of possible breaches of US human rights law in Gaza and that examining them would take the State Department "multiple years," according to two American officials.
The findings of the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General mark the first time a US government report has acknowledged the scale of Israeli crimes in Gaza that fall under the scope of the Leahy Laws, US statutory provisions that prohibit the government from providing security assistance to foreign military and police units credibly implicated in committing "gross violations of human rights,” The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The US officials, who spoke anonymously because the report is classified, said the findings raise concerns about accountability, given the volume of incidents and a review process that largely defers to the Israeli military.
"What worries me is that accountability will be forgotten now that the noise of the conflict is dying down," said Charles Blaha, a former State Department official who oversaw Leahy Law reviews and was briefed on the findings.
The report was finalised shortly before Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed to a ceasefire that included the release of remaining Israeli hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, a limited Israeli troop pullback and the partial return of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
'Israel exception'
The Leahy Laws, named after their principal sponsor, former Senator Patrick Leahy, were created to prevent US assistance from going to foreign military units implicated in torture, extrajudicial killings or other grave human rights violations.
The Biden administration previously noted cases in a report to Congress, saying it had not reached "definitive conclusions" on whether US weapons were involved.
The United States provides Israel with at least $3.8 billion in annual aid plus tens of billions more in supplemental aid and arms sales in recent years, making it the largest long-term recipient of US assistance.
The two US officials said the classified report details a special vetting system for Israel used by both Republican and Democratic administrations that gives it more favourable treatment than other countries and requires higher-level approval.
Josh Paul, a former State Department official, said that while one objection can block aid for most militaries, for Israel, officials must "come to a consensus on whether a gross violation of human rights has occurred."
"To date, the US has not withheld any assistance to any Israeli unit despite clear evidence," Paul said.
The Biden administration has faced criticism for continuing assistance to Israeli units accused of serious abuses, including one linked to the 2022 death of Palestinian-American Omar Assad after being detained at an occupied West Bank checkpoint.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 68,500 people since October 2023, has intensified scrutiny over the US government’s application of the Leahy Laws.
