Middle East Crisis: U.S. Criticizes Israel for Failure to Protect Civilians in the Gaza Conflict

But it added that “the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions” as to whether the Israel Defense Forces are making sufficient use of those tools.

Even so, the report — which seemed at odds with itself in places — said the United States had no hard proof of Israeli violations. It noted the difficulty of collecting reliable information from Gaza, Hamas’s tactic of operating in civilian areas and the fact that “Israel has not shared complete information to verify” whether U.S. weapons have been used in specific incidents alleged to have involved human rights law violations.

The report, mandated by President Biden, also makes a distinction between the general possibility that Israel has violated the law and any conclusions about specific incidents that would prove it. It deems that assurances Israel provided in March that it would use U.S. arms consistent with international law are “credible and reliable,” and thus allow the continued flow of U.S. military aid.

The conclusions are unrelated to Mr. Biden’s recent decision to delay the delivery to Israel of 3,500 bombs and his review of other weapons shipments. The president has said those actions were in response to Israel’s stated plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The report said its findings were hampered in part by the challenges of collecting reliable information from the war zone and the way Hamas operates in densely populated areas. It also stressed that Israel has begun pursuing possible accountability for suspected violations of the law, a key component in the U.S. assessment about whether to provide military aid to allies accused of human rights violations.

Israel has opened criminal investigations into the conduct of its military in Gaza, the report said, and the Israel Defense Forces “are examining hundreds of incidents” that may involve wartime misconduct.

The report also did not find that Israel had intentionally obstructed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

While it concluded that both “action and inaction by Israel” had slowed the flow of aid into Gaza, which is desperately short of necessities like food and medicine, it said that “we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance” into the territory.

Such a finding would have triggered a U.S. law barring military aid to countries that block such assistance.

Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer now with International Crisis Group, said the report “bends over backwards” to avoid concluding that Israel violated any laws, a finding that would place major new pressure on Mr. Biden to restrict arms to the country.

Mr. Finucane, a critic of Israel’s military operations, said that the report was “more forthcoming” than he had expected, but that he still found it “watered down” and heavily “lawyered.”

The findings further angered a vocal minority of Democrats in Congress who have grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. They argue that Israel has indiscriminately killed civilians with American arms and intentionally hindered U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid.

Either would violate U.S. laws governing arms transfers to foreign militaries, as well as international humanitarian law, which is largely based on the Geneva Conventions.

The report did not define the meaning of its other criteria for Israel’s actions, “established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” though it cited Defense Department guidelines on the subject released last year, which include some measures “not required by the law of war.”

“If this conduct complies with international standards, then God help us all,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, told reporters after the report’s release. “They don’t want to have to take any action to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for what’s happening,” he added, referring to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Critics of Mr. Biden’s continuation of most military support to Israel had hoped that he would use the report as a justification for further restricting arms deliveries to the country. The United States provides Israel with $3.8 billion in annual military aid, and Congress last month approved an additional $14 billion in emergency funding.

Mr. Biden ordered the report with a national security memorandum known as NSM-20. It requires all recipients of U.S. military aid engaged in conflict to provide the United States with written assurances that they will comply with international law and not hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid provided by or supported by the U.S. government.

The report called on the secretary of state and the defense secretary to assess “any credible reports or allegations” that American weapons might have been used in violation of international law.

Since the president’s memorandum was issued, an independent task force formed in response issued a lengthy report citing dozens of examples of likely Israeli legal violations. That report found what it called Israel’s “systematic disregard for fundamental principles of international law,” including “attacks launched despite foreseeably disproportionate harm to civilians” in densely populated areas.

In a statement following the State Department report, the task force called the U.S. document “at best incomplete, and at worst intentionally misleading in defense of acts and behaviors that likely violate international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.”

“Once again, the Biden Administration has stared the facts in the face — and then pulled the curtains shut,” said the task force’s members, who include Josh Paul, a former State Department official who in October resigned in protest over U.S. military support for Israel.

The State Department report showed clear sympathy for Israel’s military challenge, repeating past statements by the Biden administration that Israel has a “right to defend itself” in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. It also noted that military experts call Gaza “as difficult a battlespace as any military has faced in modern warfare.”

“Because Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes and civilians as human shields, it is often difficult to determine facts on the ground in an active war zone of this nature and the presence of legitimate military targets across Gaza,” it said.

Even so, it singled out numerous specific incidents where Israel’s military had killed civilians or aid workers, the latter of which it called a “specific area of concern.”

Those episodes include the killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers in April. The report noted that Israel has dismissed officers and reprimanded commanders involved in that attack, which Israel has called “a grave mistake,” and is considering prosecutions.

Other episodes it cited included airstrikes on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 on the crowded Jabaliya refugee camp, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians, including children. It noted Israel’s claim that it had targeted a senior Hamas commander and underground Hamas facilities at the site, and that its munitions had “led to the collapse of tunnels and the buildings and infrastructure above them.”

And while the report did not find that Israel had intentionally hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid, it listed several examples of ways in which its government had “a negative effect” on aid distribution. They included “extensive bureaucratic delays” and what it called the active involvement of some senior Israeli officials in protests or attacks on aid convoys.

The report was delivered to Congress two days after the deadline set by Mr. Biden’s February memorandum, arriving late on a Friday afternoon — the time of choice for government officials hoping to minimize an announcement’s public impact. Earlier that day, a White House spokesman, John F. Kirby, denied that the delay had any “nefarious” motive.

John F. Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said President Biden remained “fully and firmly committed” to a Palestinian state, but the U.N. resolution was not the way to establish it.

“We continue to believe in the power and promise of a two-state solution, and an independent state for the Palestinian people,” Mr. Kirby told reporters. “We also believe that the best way to do that is through direct negotiations with the parties and not through a vote of the U.N. of this kind.”

Friday’s vote comes as the ties between the United States and Israel, its closest ally in the Middle East, are tested over the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 people have died in Gaza, including both combatants and civilians, and the director of the World Food Program has said that parts of the Gaza Strip are experiencing a “full-blown famine.”

The United States is the biggest supplier of weapons to Israel, and Mr. Biden is hoping to use that leverage to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to forgo a long-threatened invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than one million Palestinians have taken refuge.

Mr. Biden has halted a shipment of bombs to Israel and said he would withhold artillery as well if Israel moved forward in Rafah. But the Israelis maintain they need to go into Rafah to finish destroying Hamas, which killed 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack it led on Israel.

The U.N. resolution does not establish a Palestinian state, but it does recognize Palestine to qualify for full-member status at the United Nations. Its membership will need to be approved by the U.N. Security Council, which includes the United States.

The United States has repeatedly wielded its veto power on the council to block U.N. resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The U.N. General Assembly took up Friday’s resolution after the United States vetoed in April a resolution that came before the Security Council that would have recognized full membership for a Palestinian state, which is considered a “nonmember observer state.”

The resolution that passed on Friday would extend to Palestinians new privileges, such as sitting among member states in alphabetical order, speaking at meetings on any topic instead of being limited to Palestinian affairs, and submitting proposals and amendments.

The resolution was prepared by the United Arab Emirates, the current chair of the U.N. Arab Group, and sponsored by 70 countries. It declares that “the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations” under its charter rules and recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter with a favorable outcome.”

The resolution’s adoption prompted rousing applause.

Farnaz Fassihi contributed reporting.

South Africa’s latest move is part of a case the country filed in December in which it accused Israel of genocide. Since then, the court has ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and ordered the delivery of more humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the face of growing starvation in areas. But the court has not ordered Israel to stop its military campaign against Hamas.

Israel has strongly denied South Africa’s accusations and said that it had gone to great lengths to admit deliveries of food and fuel into Gaza and to lessen harm to civilians. It has also said that its war in Gaza was necessary to defend itself against the Oct. 7 attacks led by Hamas and other armed groups that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and led to the capture of about 250 others.

Friday’s request is the fourth time that South Africa has asked the U.N. court for temporary injunctions. The filings noted that conditions had deteriorated significantly for civilians sheltering in Gaza.

“Rafah is the last population center in Gaza that has not been substantially destroyed by Israel and as such the last refuge for Palestinians in Gaza,” South Africa stated.

The court has not indicated when it will respond to the South African request, but its rules require that it must give priority to petitions for emergency orders. The 15-judge court has no means of enforcing its orders.

The main case, dealing with the question of genocide, is not expected to start until next year.

The entry of aid into Gaza has been heavily restricted by Israel since the war started, creating what aid experts say is a human-made hunger crisis. Humanitarians warn that the crisis will worsen without the fuel necessary for bakeries and hospitals to operate.

Here is a look at the major routes for aid into Gaza and their status.

Kerem Shalom

Israel shut down the Kerem Shalom crossing after a Hamas attack on Sunday killed four of its soldiers in the area.

On Wednesday, Israel said it had reopened the crossing, but the United Nations and others disputed that claim because no trucks were being allowed through. On Friday afternoon, Israel allowed at least 157,000 liters of fuel to enter, according to Scott Anderson, a senior official at UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinians. But no humanitarian aid, which includes food and medical supplies, has entered since Sunday, he said.

Egypt, which plays an important role in facilitating aid collection and delivery, has complicated matters by resisting sending trucks to Kerem Shalom, according to several Western and Israeli officials; American and Israeli officials believe that Egypt is putting pressure on Israel to curb its invasion of Rafah.

The Kerem Shalom crossing has been a major artery for aid into Gaza since it opened in December and is where most aid trucks now enter. Before Israel’s incursion into Rafah, an average of 185 trucks entered Kerem Shalom daily last week, peaking at 270 trucks last Friday, according to United Nations data. Aid groups have said for months that at least 300 trucks are needed daily to prevent further malnutrition and worsening hunger.

Rafah

The Rafah crossing remains closed.

The crossing has been an important gate for injured and sick people to leave the enclave to receive medical treatment abroad. The Gazan Health Ministry has said that dozens of people with illnesses such as breast cancer and lymphoma have been unable to leave Gaza since Sunday.

Erez

The Erez crossing at Gaza’s northern border is open, but limited aid is trickling through, according to data from COGAT, the Israeli agency that oversees aid delivery in Gaza, and an UNRWA official. It is the only border crossing in the north and was only opened last month after pressure from President Biden.

COGAT said on its website that 36 aid trucks and one fuel truck passed through the Erez crossing on Thursday. Mr. Anderson said UNRWA sent 67 trucks through the Erez crossing on Wednesday and that nothing has passed through since. A reason for the discrepancy between the numbers and days was not immediately clear.

Sending more aid to northern Gaza would be crucial to prevent further malnutrition-related deaths in the area. In March, health experts projected that northern Gaza would soon face a famine, and, on Saturday, Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Program, said that parts of Gaza were already in one. As of mid-April, Gazan health officials said that at least 28 children younger than 12 had died from malnutrition in hospitals and perhaps dozens more outside medical centers.

By sea

Since Gaza has no international pier of its own — Israel has for years prevented the construction of one — the U.S. military said in March that it would build a temporary pier to get aid in by sea, part of what it said was a multipronged effort to deliver humanitarian assistance to the enclave.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that the floating pier and the causeway had been completed but that bad weather and sea conditions had prevented their installation. They remain at the Israeli port of Ashdod.

An American cargo ship, called the Sagamore, departed from Cyprus on Thursday, the Pentagon said, and ship tracking websites show the ship positioned at Ashdod. The Sagamore is carrying more than 170 metric tons of nutrition bars, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development, but cannot be unloaded and distributed in Gaza until the pier is installed. It is unclear when that might be, as the Pentagon said the installation would be dependent on security and weather conditions.

Airdrops

COGAT said on Thursday that 117 packages were airdropped in northern Gaza that day. Airdrop operations only began in March to try to prevent a greater humanitarian disaster as hunger grew in the Palestinian territory. COGAT said 99 airdrop operations by nine donating countries, including the United States and Jordan, had been completed since March.

But airdrops have been criticized by aid experts as perhaps the most inefficient way to deliver aid into Gaza, and in some cases, deadly. Airdropped aid packages in March fell on several Palestinians in Gaza City, killing five and wounding several others, according to Gazan health officials. In another case, a dozen Palestinians drowned while trying to retrieve packages that had been intentionally dropped over the water to prevent further deaths if its parachutes failed to deploy.

Hamas is still demanding that Israel abide by a permanent cease-fire and completely withdraw from Gaza as part of any truce, said Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’s political leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said Israel cannot end the war as long as Hamas’s rule in Gaza remains intact. On Friday, Hamas declared that Israel’s rejection of a framework that Qatar and Egypt had proposed, and Hamas had approved, had “brought matters back to square one.”

Mr. Abu Marzouk added that another obstacle in the talks is how many living hostages held in Gaza would be released during the first phase of a multistage cease-fire. His account was confirmed by an Israeli official and another official briefed on the negotiation. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations.

Palestinian armed groups still hold approximately 132 hostages in Gaza, the vast majority of them seized during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, according to the Israeli authorities. But Israel says it has also determined that at least 36 of them are dead.

Israel had initially demanded that Hamas release 40 hostages in the first phase of a cease-fire, including old captives, ill people and women, both civilians and soldiers. Male Israeli soldiers, seen by Hamas as higher-value captives, would be released in the second phase of the truce.

A recent Israeli proposal made a concession, reducing the number of living hostages Israel was demanding to 33 during the first tranche, according to the officials familiar with the talks.

On Monday, Hamas told negotiators it did not have enough living hostages for the first phase of agreement and said the 33 turned over would include both living hostages and the bodies of those who had died in captivity, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

But during this week’s meetings in Egypt — mediated in part by William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director — the Israeli negotiating team said that Hamas must release 33 living hostages during the first phase, said Mr. Abu Marzouk, the senior Hamas official, and one of the officials briefed on the talks. If the group could not muster that number, Israel demanded they release some captive Israeli male soldiers as well, said Mr. Abu Marzouk.

On Friday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said both Israel and Hamas needed to “show flexibility” in the talks so as to “reach an agreement for a truce that would put an end to the humanitarian tragedy.”

Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.