Biden receives hundreds of reports that US weapons caused 'unnecessary harm' in Gaza - report

Hundreds of reports that claim Israel used US-supplied weapons to cause ‘unnecessary’ harm to people in Gaza have been sent to the Biden administration, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

The reports, including various pictures of the destruction in Gaza, were sent by US and international government officials, human rights activists, and members of the public who have viewed the ongoing war over social media platforms. 

The Washington Post disclosed that despite over 500 reports tracked by the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG), which assesses humanitarian incidents in the current conflict, no single case has reached the stage where officials need to recommend a specific action to be done.  

Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department told the Washington Post, “We have not yet gotten to the point with any of them that we’ve been able to make final determinations.”

But he said that it is “reasonable” to assess that Israel may have violated international law but that reaching such a conclusion is “incredibly difficult.”

Letter of ultimatum 

This comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloy Austin sent a letter to Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, demanding that Israel take steps within 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid negative consequences regarding American weapons supply to Israel.

Following this ultimatum, IDF Arabic spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee announced on Saturday that the IDF is expanding the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi in the Rafah area. This will include expanded field hospitals, shelters, food, and medicine supplies.