Blinken denies US has double standards when assessing Israel’s compliance with international law

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denies that Washington has double standards when assessing Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.

“We treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, just as we would treat any other country,” he says in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Blinken was speaking two days after the publication of a State Department report to Congress that found “credible and reliable” assurances from Jerusalem that it will use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, allowing for the further transfer of American arms amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

WATCH: @SecBlinken says the U.S. does not apply “double standards” to Israel when it comes to holding the country accountable for actions in Gaza.

“We treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, just as we would treat any other country.” pic.twitter.com/mU9VGLuq6T

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 12, 2024

“I would invite people to read the report,” Blinken says during the NBC interview. “You have an enemy that intentionally embeds itself with civilians, hiding under and and within schools, mosques, apartment buildings; firing at the Israeli forces from those places. It’s very, very difficult in the heat of war to make a definitive assessment about any individual incident.”

He says that while the report found that “it’s reasonable to conclude that there are instances where Israel has acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law,” the US investigates each incident “critically.”

“So does Israel,” he adds, noting that there are “hundreds, as we understand it, of open inquiries, into particular incidents that have taken place since October 7. There are criminal investigations that are going forward.”

“Israel, unlike many other countries, has both the means and the will to try to police itself,” Blinken says.