Blinken’s report expected to criticize Israel but confirm it’s using US weapons in line with international law

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to deliver a report to Congress this week that will criticize Israel but ultimately conclude that the Biden administration has accepted assurances from Jerusalem that the IDF is using American weapons in accordance with international law, Axios reports.

Citing three US officials, the news site says that Blinken’s report could be submitted as early as today.

The report reviewing the use of weapons by Israel and six other countries engaged in different armed conflicts, which will be released to the public, was originally due on May 8, but the State Department requested an extension.

It is part of a new policy instituted by US President Joe Biden in February requiring foreign aid recipients to provide written assurances that they are using that aid in compliance with international law and not obstructing the provision of humanitarian aid.

While the order doesn’t place any tangible new conditions on foreign assistance, given that recipients have always been required to use the aid in a manner consistent with the laws of war, the White House has acknowledged that it was the result of pressure from progressive lawmakers who believe Israel might not be abiding by these terms.

The Axios report also quotes two US officials as saying that Biden’s Gaza humanitarian envoy David Satterfield, and US Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, sent a memo to Blinken in recent weeks confirming that Israel is not violating international law in its war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre.

The memo added that the report should say that Israel is not intentionally hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis is growing amid the ongoing fighting, noting changes since a call between Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April, according to the officials quoted by Axios.

Blinken’s report is due after the White House this week confirmed a delay in the transfer of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs over concerns that the IDF could use them in densely populated Rafah, as it has in other parts of Gaza, and Biden threatened that more arms shipments would be frozen if Israel launched a planned offensive in the Strip’s southernmost city.