WASHINGTON, 29 April. - (ANA) - USAID officials concluded that Israel is in violation of a White House directive requiring recipients of American weapons to comply with international humanitarian law and permit the unimpeded delivery of U.S.-funded humanitarian support, according to a confidential U.S. paper reviewed by my colleague Colum Lynch.

 

The paper was cleared by 10 USAID officials, underscoring the widespread backing of its findings.

 

Among other things, the USAID paper voiced “serious concerns that the killing of nearly 32,000 people, of which the [government of Israel] itself assesses roughly two-thirds are civilians, may well amount to a violation of the international humanitarian law.” But it added that a final determination would be subject “to detailed analysis” by U.S. government lawyers.

 

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein told Colum by text that “Israel operates and continues to operate according to international law.”

 

He added that “Israel will continue to fight Hamas until the destruction of its military and governmental infrastructure and until the release of the 133 hostages still held by Hamas.”

 

That fight comes despite the deteriorating humanitarian plight in Gaza. The Biden administration anticipates international experts will declare “ongoing famine” in Gaza by early next month, according to a separate internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken from U.S. experts on food security in the State Department and USAID. The subject line of the memo, which was also seen by Colum, reads: “Famine Inevitable, Changes Could Reduce but Not Stop Widespread Civilian Deaths.”

 

The bleak assessment claims the severity of the food crisis in Gaza — which has left a population of more than 2 million in need of food — is unparalleled in recent times; and that even the arrival of food to hungry Palestinians would be insufficient to stave off deaths from starvation.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/29 April 2024 - - -