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BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S GAZA STRATEGY PANNED AS ‘MESS’ AMID
CLASHING GOALS
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Julian Borger
March 26, 2024
The Guardian
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_ Strain of aiming to influence Israel’s actions without leverage
and also avoiding starvation is showing, say analysts _
A Palestinian man mourns as civil-defense teams and residents search
for people trapped under the debris of a demolished building following
Israeli airstrikes that hit the Al-Shati refugee camp, in Gaza City,
Gaza, on October 24, 2023, Ali Jadallah / Anadolu / Getty
The Biden administration’s policy on Gaza has been widely criticised
as being in disarray as the defense secretary described the situation
as a “humanitarian catastrophe” the day after the state department
declared Israel [[link removed]] to be in
compliance with international humanitarian law.
Washington was also on the defensive on Tuesday over its claim that a
UN security council ceasefire resolution on which it abstained was
non-binding
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an interpretation that put the US at odds with other member states,
international legal scholars and the UN itself.
Analysts said the strain was increasingly showing as the
administration sought to maintain a policy that aims to influence
Israel’s actions and prevent a full-scale famine in Gaza
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leverage, like the restriction of arms supplies, which could have
political repercussions at home in an election year.
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior Biden official now president of the
Refugees International aid advocacy group, said “the strategy is a
mess”.
“The US is talking a big game about fighting the famine that its
bombs and diplomatic cover have helped create,” Konyndyk said on
the X social media platform
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“This is not how you fight a famine. This is dithering while people
starve.”
Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, acknowledged the depth and
urgency of the crisis on Tuesday when he met his Israeli counterpart,
Yoav Gallant, at the Pentagon.
“Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe and the situation is
getting even worse,” Austin told Gallant in remarks in front of the
press, calling for a significant expansion in aid deliveries by land.
Under US pressure, Israel has opened a third land crossing into
Gaza, Gate 96 [[link removed]],
giving access to the north, but continues to limit the scale of aid
convoys going through it – through restrictions on items it deems to
be of dual use, nominating a small number of drivers allowed to use
the crossing and other procedural requirements.
Israel announced on Monday it would stop working with the UN
relief agency Unrwa, the main aid agency serving Gaza. Unrwa said its
aid convoys had been blocked since 21 March.
On the same day, the state department spokesman, Matthew Miller,
insisted that the US currently had no reason to dispute Israeli
assurances that it was complying with humanitarian law in Gaza.
“We have not found them to be in violation of international
humanitarian law, either when it comes to the conduct of the war or
when it comes to the provision of humanitarian assistance,” Miller
said.
The US assessment is critical under a national security memorandum
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by Joe Biden in February, known as NSM-20, requiring “credible and
reliable written assurances” from countries receiving US weapons
that they would use “any such defense articles in accordance with
international humanitarian law”.
One of the criteria was that the “recipient country will facilitate
and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or
indirectly, the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance
and US government-supported international efforts to provide
humanitarian assistance”.
If the secretaries of state or defense deem the relevant country’s
compliance had been “called into question”, arms supplies could be
suspended.
Miller’s remarks on Israeli assurances drew outrage from aid
organisations and some progressive members of Congress.
“To pretend that Israel is not violating international law or
interfering with US humanitarian aid is absurd on its face,” Senator
Bernie Sanders said. “The state department’s position makes a
mockery of US law and assurances provided to Congress.”
Miller said there were “ongoing processes” for assessing the
legality of Israeli military operations in Gaza, a reference to a
review mechanism set up by the administration in September,
called Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance
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“As of yet, we have not made a conclusion that Israel is in
violation of international humanitarian law,” Miller said, but added
that the review process would continue and that a full report on
compliance required by the presidential memorandum was not due until 8
May.
Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator, said there was ambiguity about
the state department’s position but if it was saying Israel was
currently in compliance under the terms of NSM-20, “their decision
is totally detached from the reality on the ground, especially with
respect to the required standards for the delivery of humanitarian aid
into and within Gaza”.
Dylan Williams, vice-president for government affairs at the Center
for International Policy, said: “Treating the assurances received
from Israel as sufficient in the face of deepening famine,
disproportionate civilian casualties and repeated threats of an
offensive in Rafah against US wishes renders NSM-20 an empty gesture
in its first outing, and functionally greenlights Israel continuing to
use our weapons against US law, interests and values.”
_Julian Borger is the Guardian's world affairs editor. He was
previously a correspondent in the US, the Middle East, eastern Europe
and the Balkans._
* Israel-Gaza War
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* Biden Administration
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* US Foreign Policy
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* humanitarian disasters
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