United States complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war



Israel has been accused of committing genocide in the Gaza war and the Biden administration has been accused of complicity in the genocide. The complicity accusation has been made in court, by federal staffers, human rights organizations and academic figures around the world. The US has also been accused of enabling the Gaza Strip famine.

Context
While Israel has denied the accusation, international law experts have said that the bombing of Gaza and restrictions on the entry of water, food and other humanitarian supplies could amount to genocide. The 1948 Genocide Convention, which the US ratified, states that "genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which [state parties] undertake to prevent and to punish". It also outlines that "complicity in genocide" is a punishable act. Biden has said that there is "no red line" when it comes to US support for Israel. The US State Department has said there is no need for a formal investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes.

The Biden administration has also been accused of enabling the Gaza Strip famine. An investigation by the Independent said that it failed to act on repeated warnings from its own experts and aid agencies.

Media coverage
A report by The Intercept found that terms like "war crime" and "genocide" were not allowed to be used on-air in CNN's coverage of the war. According to Rami George Khouri, a professor at the American University of Beirut, media organizations like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN and NBC "usually refer to blatant acts of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Gaza as 'evacuations', and claim Israel is 'defending itself ' against 'terror. After Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation, the American media were criticized for not mentioning Bushnell's reason for self-immolation, which was to oppose what he called the "Gaza genocide". Instead, they argued that allowing pro-Palestinian protests and statements on campuses promotes anti-Semitism. Some media even suggested that the acceleration of the ceasefire and the pro-Palestinian protests could be considered part of an attempt at genocide against American Jews. Prism, a US-based progressive news agency, writes "through journalistic sleight of hand – including the use of passive language, ever-shifting headlines, bothsidesism, and the myth of objectivity – reporters across the US are fuelling the genocide their newsrooms are refusing to acknowledge is taking place". On November 10, protesters staged a sit-in at The New York Times, declaring that the newspaper was complicit in "laundering genocide" by reporting on rape and sexual violence in the October 7 Hamas attacks.

American people


Pro-Palestinian protestors criticized US military and diplomatic support to Israel and Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip and its war conduct, which some called a genocide. On November 4, 2023, 100,000 to 300,000 people participated in the "National March on Washington: Free Palestine," marking the largest pro-Palestine protest in US history. "Ceasefire carols" were organized by activists throughout the United States and on 23 January 2024 in Manassas, Virginia chanted, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Genocide Joe." Protesters also demonstrated outside Antony Blinken's home accusing him of participating in genocide. A group of Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, including children of Holocaust survivors, were arrested outside Senator Chuck Schumer's home for protesting against the bombings in Gaza. Anti-war protesters outside the Virginia home of Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin chanted "No more money for Israel’s crimes."

On February 25, 2024, Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside of the Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. On Twitch recorded as he walked up to the Israeli Embassy: "'I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest but, compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.'"

PEN America
Several authors have requested that their names be removed from PEN America referring to dissatisfaction with the organization's position regarding the Gaza war; among them were Camonghne Felix nominated by Jean Stein, Eugenia Leigh a poetry finalist and Ghassan Zeineddine nominated for a short story. In a letter signed by Naomi Klein, Lorrie Moore, Tony Kushner and dozens of others protested that PEN had not “launched any substantial coordinated support” for Palestinians. In an interview with Haaretz, Kushner said that Israel's invasion of Gaza "looks like ethnic cleansing to me." He added that the history of Jewish suffering should not be used "as an excuse for a project of dehumanizing or slaughtering other people."

US authorities
In a speech on February 13, Senator Chris Van Hollen accused Israeli of committing war crimes in Gaza, stating, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals." In a letter to The Guardian, Congressman Andre Carson accused Israel of a "war crime," citing the Israeli Defense Forces' alleged use of white phosphorus and the deadly bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp. "I am very concerned that our taxpayer dollars may be used for violations of human rights", Carson wrote. Also, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez specifically cited the alleged use of white phosphorus, cited by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as a violation that bars Israel from receiving aid from the United States. "Deployment of white phosphorus near populated civilian areas is a war crime," she said. On February 7, 2024, US Senator Chris Murphy stated that he supports an amendment that would require arms sold internationally to be used in accordance with US law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict. A group of 40 White House interns have sent a letter to President Biden saying they will no longer remain silent about the genocide in Gaza.

US Republican Congressman and former aide to Donald Trump, Max Miller, speaking at Fox News stated that Palestine is "about to get eviscerated... to turn that into a parking lot." He has previously called on the Biden administration "to get out of Israel's way and to let Israel do what it needs to do best". He said there should be "no rules of engagement" during Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Miller also questioned the accuracy of the Gaza Health Ministry's claim that 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza, saying that he believes many of those killed have been "Hamas terrorists", not innocent civilians, and said the United States does not "trust an entity that puts munitions in mosques, and churches and in hospitals."

Former Republican Representative Michele Bachmann appearing in December in The Charlie Kirk Show stated "So, it's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there – they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park. And since they're the voluntary mercenaries for Iran, they need to be dropped on the doorstep of Iran. Let Iran deal with those people." She received a round of applause from the audience, while Kirk replied "I look at Israel and Israel says we never want another person into our country that doesn't share our values," Kirk said. "They said they don't want refugees. They don't want any of these people. I want American immigration policy to be like that."

Republican Representative Brian Mast compared all Palestinians to Nazis in November on the House floor. On January 31, 2024, Mast also said that Palestinian babies are not innocent civilians but "terrorists" who should be killed, that more infrastructure in Gaza needs to be destroyed, and that "It would be better if you kill all the terrorists and kill everyone who are supporters."

In an interview with Fox News on March 5, 2024, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stated that Joe Biden "dumped Israel" due to being overly influenced by pro-Palestinian protests, that "The Democrats are very bad for Israel," that he supports Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in which Israel has to "finish the problem", and that the Biden administration "got soft", which commentators has viewed as a call to continue and "double down" on genocidal acts. Trump's campaign also said that, if elected again, he would bar Gaza residents from entering the U.S. as part of an expanded travel ban.

In a town hall meeting on March 25, 2024, the Republican US House representative Tim Walberg of Michigan stated that Palestinian civilians should have nuclear weapons used against them, "like Nagasaki and Hiroshima" (the Japanese cities where the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War Two, killing hundreds of thousands of people) in order to “Get it over quick.”

A group of eight Democrat Senators led by Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen issued an official letter to President Joe Biden, calling on him to "enforce federal law" by requiring Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel" as "The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history" and "The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance." They cited the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which states that "no assistance" shall be provided under that law or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. "Stopping American humanitarian aid is in violation of the law. That should be clear. No more money to Netanyahu's war machine to kill Palestinian children," Sanders said.

On April 24, 2024, twelve Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Marsha Blackburn, Katie Boyd Britt, Ted Budd, Kevin Cramer, Bill Hagerty, Pete Ricketts, Rick Scott, and Tim Scott, sent a letter to the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, which warned him that any attempt by the ICC to pursue charges against Israeli officials over war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip will be interpreted "not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States." The Senators told Khan "Target Israel and we will target you ... [and] sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. ... You have been warned."

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said, "It is fine to express opposition to a possible judicial action, but it is absolutely wrong to interfere in a judicial matter by threatening judicial officers, their family members and their employees with retribution. This thuggery is something befitting the mafia, not U.S. senators."

On May 12, 2024, Donald Trump stated, "(Biden) is surrendering our college campuses to anarchists, jihadist freaks and anti-american extremists who are trying to tear down our American flag. ... If you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you. You'll be out of that school."

International right groups
Following the veto of another resolution in the United Nations Security Council, international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch condemned the U.S. for providing military and diplomatic support that risks complicity in war crimes. Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard, responded to the United States' veto saying, "When the US could do the right thing: protect Palestinians against serious risks of genocide; respect international law and universality; prevent massive killings and sufferings – it chose the opposite path". Doctors Without Borders said that united states veto "stands in sharp contrast to the values it professes to uphold," and that the US was providing "diplomatic cover for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza." Human Rights Watch said that the veto and the military support "risks complicity in war crimes". The international rights groups said in a statement: "By continuing to provide military and diplomatic support to Israel as it commits atrocities, including the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the US is complicit in war crimes." Human rights and legal experts have warned that forced displacement is a war crime under international law and could lead to ethnic cleansing. Michael Fakhri, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The United States is complicit in this starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza." Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said that Biden himself has described Israel's bombing of Gaza as "indiscriminate", making it a war crime, and that Washington clearly recognizes that Israel is blocking aid to the territory.

In April 2024, the executive director of Amnesty International USA stated that Israel was committing war crimes using "US-made munitions" and stated the U.S. must cease weapons transfers to Israel.

CCR
In reaction to the alleged Israel's genocidal attack on Gaza, beginning in mid-October 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a United States civil rights group, released its legal analysis of US complicity in "Israel’s unfolding genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza. CCR said that some courts have identified "the providing of weapons and other materials to the perpetrators of genocide as a form of complicity. To be culpable, the provider need not share the recipients’ genocidal intent." CCR warned Biden, Blinken and Austin that they could be held responsible for not preventing and supporting Israeli atrocities in Gaza. CCR filed a complaint on behalf of the Human Rights Organization, Defence for Children International - Palestine; al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group based in the occupied West Bank; and eight Palestinians and American citizens with their relatives in Gaza. Then on November 3, along with other Palestinian legal nonprofits and the National Bar Association, CCR took its case to Congress. It told delegates that if they voted for the aid package to Israel, they "could face criminal and civil liability for aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity". In a late December briefing to the court, 77 legal and civil society groups around the world supported the lawsuit. In the lawsuit filed in federal court in California, several Gaza residents and two human rights NGOs say that the Biden administration has failed to meet its legal responsibilities to "prevent the unfolding genocide of Palestinian people." The complaint lists a series of actions taken by Israel that, according to the CCR, constitute genocide against the Palestinian people. These include the scale of civilian deaths, systemic collective punishment and "deprivation of the most basic necessities of life".

South Africa
In addition to South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, a group of South African lawyers have also announced their intention to file a civil action against the US and UK governments for their support of Israel's actions.

Council on American–Islamic Relations
Reacting to the US support for Israel, the Council on American–Islamic Relations said that Biden should respect the International Court of Justice order to stop the Rafah offensive: "While the Biden administration stands alone in continuing to offer full support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the international community is increasingly pushing back against the slaughter, forced starvation and ethnic cleansing Israel’s far-right government is inflicting on the Palestinian people."

Hamas' officials
Basem Naim (Hamas' top diplomat), criticised the US’s role in the war, saying: “While these crimes have been committed with Israeli hands, they were sponsored and backed up by the US administration".