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Some see the tragedy as a potential turning point in the Israel-Gaza war, which has lasted almost six months. Notably, 33-year-old American Jacob Flickinger was killed in the attack on the WCK convoy. “The killing of foreign aid workers in Gaza may finally exhaust the considerable patience of the US-led Israeli allies,” the BBC’s veteran international editor Jeremy Bowen wrote on Wednesday.
But did the attack cross President Biden’s “red line”? Biden and U.S. officials have repeatedly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership in recent months, but so far they have used no real influence to block military aid and arms sales to Israel. I’m refraining from doing that.
In fact, the Biden administration has likely done the opposite. Biden called for a historic increase in military aid to Israel after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Months after growing concerns about the war’s civilian toll and mounting criticism of Israel’s efforts to avoid civilian harm, U.S. weapons are still flowing out. The Washington Post reported last week that Washington approved the transfer of 1,800 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs and other weapons to Israel.
Biden harshly criticized Netanyahu in an interview with MSNBC last month, but was unclear about whether he would end aid to Israel. He said an Israeli ground attack on Rafah, one of the last places of refuge for displaced people in Gaza, could cross a “red line”, but he was not sure what that would look like. He seemed to be very aware of it.
“I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel remains important,” Biden said. “That’s why there’s no red line.” [in which] I’m going to cut off all of their weapons so there’s no Iron Dome to protect them. ”
It’s not clear whether WCK’s killing will change that. In response, Biden issued a strong statement linking it to the broader issue of aid delivery to Gaza. “This conflict is one of the worst in recent memory in terms of the death toll of aid workers,” Biden said Tuesday. That’s why aid distribution is so difficult, he said, adding: “Israel is not doing enough to protect aid workers who are trying to get desperately needed aid to civilians. That’s because we haven’t.”
Nevertheless, US officials said there was no change in the administration’s policy toward Israel. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the United States would allow Israel to complete its investigation before making any conclusions.
“No country should live next to a true genocidal threat like Hamas,” he said. “So we make no bones about the fact that we have certain problems with some of the ways things are being done, but we also want to make sure that Israel continues to have U.S. support in the fight that they’re doing. We make no bones about the fact that
Kirby added that the State Department has so far found “no incidents in which Israelis have violated international humanitarian law.” International humanitarian law is a legal designation that could cause the United States to block military exports to the country.
Critics argue that Israel is conducting broader, looser targeting in the Gaza Strip. An investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call published this week points to the use of artificial intelligence in military attacks, claiming the program allowed for massive amounts of “collateral damage” during assassinations of low-level militants. 1 expert called the system “Every international humanitarian lawyer’s nightmare comes true.”
U.S. officials told reporters that Biden was personally “angry” about the WCK attack. Part of that was due to widespread respect for the work of Washington-linked organizations, he said. But there were no signs of change. “Just wash and repeat against Israelis. The American political system can’t and won’t draw real lines with them, and that’s a shame,” Politico quoted an anonymous American official as saying. Quoted.
The Israel-Gaza war brought about some realignment. Recent polls have found that more than half of Americans now disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza, and that Democrats in particular are increasingly supporting the Palestinians. Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s Republican rival in this year’s election, recently shocked Israeli interviewers by telling Israel to “end” the war and build peace.
But in a sense, things are very familiar. The US response to the 2022 murder of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akre comes after an independent investigation found that it was “very likely” that an Israeli soldier shot her. Despite the final conclusion, he remained silent. “If she had been killed in another part of the world, of course she would have been treated very differently,” Shireen’s niece Lina Abu Akre told the Post last year.
Aaron David Miller, a former State Department diplomat who advises on Middle East issues and now works for the Carnegie Endowment, said in an interview with The New Yorker this week that, like many Americans, he believes Mr. He admitted with unusual candor that he had no idea. Israel sees it the same way everyone else does.
“I think it’s fair to say that the United States and Americans have pro-Israel sensibilities,” Miller said, adding, “I think it’s fair to say that Joe Biden has the same depth of feeling that he has toward the Palestinians in Gaza.” Do you think you have empathy?” he added. Will we do it for the Israelis? No, I haven’t told you, I haven’t told you. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. ”
Even if that’s true, some situations call for some tough love. “The United States must do more to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu that this war must end now,” WCK’s Andres said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, explaining the U.S. position. He added that it is difficult to understand.
“The United States will send its navy and military for humanitarian operations, but at the same time American-provided weapons are killing civilians,” Andres said.
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