WASHINGTON: A confidential U.S. government assessment has concluded that Israeli forces carried out “many hundreds” of potential violations of U.S. human rights laws during military operations in Gaza, according to two American officials familiar with the classified report.
The findings — contained in a review by the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General — represent the first acknowledgment by a U.S. government entity that Israeli conduct in Gaza may have breached statutes known as the Leahy Laws, which bar U.S. security assistance to foreign military units credibly accused of “gross violations of human rights,” The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a classified document, said the scale of alleged violations is so vast that a full investigation would take “multiple years.”
According to The Washington Post report carried by Anadolu Agency, the assessment was finalized shortly before the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and has reignited debate in Washington about U.S. accountability and the extent of its complicity in Israel’s military campaign.
A system built on exceptions
The Leahy Laws, named for former Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), are designed to prevent U.S. aid from reaching military or police units implicated in torture, extrajudicial killings or other severe abuses. Yet, the officials said, Israel is treated under a special vetting system — one that has spanned both Republican and Democratic administrations — offering it more favorable terms than any other U.S. aid recipient.
While most countries face an automatic freeze on assistance when a single credible allegation arises, Israel’s cases require “consensus” among senior officials before aid can be suspended. “To date, the U.S. has not withheld any assistance to any Israeli unit despite clear evidence,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned in protest of U.S. arms transfers to Israel.
Charles Blaha, who previously oversaw Leahy Law reviews at the State Department, said he was briefed on the findings and fears that accountability “will be forgotten now that the noise of the conflict is dying down.”
The Biden administration’s most recent report to Congress stated that it had not reached “definitive conclusions” about whether U.S. weapons were used in alleged violations, despite mounting civilian casualties.
Billions in aid, little accountability
The United States provides Israel with at least $3.8 billion annually in military assistance, plus tens of billions in supplemental aid and weapons sales in recent years, making it Washington’s largest long-term aid beneficiary. Critics argue that the U.S. has effectively insulated Israel from the oversight applied to other allies.
Cases awaiting review include Israel’s April 2024 airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers and the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians near Gaza City in February 2024 when desperate civilians surrounded aid trucks.
The classified report also cited prior incidents, including the 2022 death of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American who suffered a fatal heart attack after being detained, bound and gagged by Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint. The Israeli army called the episode a “moral failure” but imposed no significant penalties.
Human rights organizations say the findings underscore a broader pattern of impunity — one amplified by U.S. political protection. Since October 2023, Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 68,500 people, according to local health authorities, drawing accusations of genocide and renewed scrutiny of Washington’s military support.
As one senior U.S. official put it, “The report doesn’t just raise questions about Israel’s actions — it raises questions about ours.”
