U.S. Finds Israel in Compliance With Biden's Demands on International Law, Humanitarian Aid

"We've had ongoing assessments of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law. We have not found them to be in violation, either when it comes to the conduct of the war or the provision of humanitarian assistance. We view those assurances through that ongoing work we have done," he added.

Dozens of Congressional Democrats, as well as leading international NGOs, have warned that Israel is not in compliance with the memorandum. Leading State Department and USAID officials similarly insisted that Israel's assurances — as well as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew's endorsement — failed to account for realities on the ground.

"When it comes to finding a violation of international humanitarian law, that requires a fact-intensive analysis of relevant factors related to international humanitarian law," Miller noted.

"We have ongoing processes to look at those things, and those were processes that started before this memorandum was signed by the president," he said. "But as of yet, we have not made a conclusion that Israel is in violation of international humanitarian law."

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who was perhaps the leading advocate in Congress pushing for such accountability measures, is seeking clarification from the State Department on the findings. An official familiar says Van Hollen's office was informed earlier Monday that a final decision had not been made and the process was ongoing, and that the Israeli assurances were "credible and reliable" — despite the warnings from 17 Senate Democrats to the contrary.

The Biden administration issued the national security memorandum in February.

The memo marks a number of firsts — including the mandated credible and written assurances from countries prior to weapons transfers, as well as assurances that they won't deny or restrict aid efforts in conflict areas where U.S.-purchased weapons are being used, to guarantee they will not violate human rights with weapons purchased from the U.S.

It further requires the State Department and the Defense Department to send a report to Congress within 90 days of the use of U.S. weapons in armed conflict areas since January 2023.

The memo further creates an enforcement mechanism for holding accountable countries that violate U.S., international or humanitarian law – or used in manners inconsistent with mitigating civilian harm.

It does not apply to air defense systems or any strictly defensive or non-lethal defense articles.

Bernie Sanders, the senior United States senator from Vermont, said that "the State Department's position makes a mockery of U.S. law."

In a statement, Sanders said that "32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and almost 75,000 injured, two-thirds of whom are women and children. Some 60 percent of the housing units have been damaged or destroyed, and almost all medical facilities have been made inoperable. Today, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children are facing starvation because Netanyahu won't let in sufficient humanitarian aid, while thousands of trucks are waiting to get into Gaza. To pretend that Israel is not violating international law or interfering with U.S. humanitarian aid is absurd on its face. The State Department's position makes a mockery of U.S. law and assurances provided to Congress."