‘REASONABLE TO ASSESS’

Antony Blinken Cautiously Backs Claim of Possible Human Rights Violations in Gaza

Blinken said it was clear there have been acts “inconsistent” with Israel’s human rights obligations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken carefully doubled down on the claims made by a U.S. review of Israel’s conduct during its massive military campaign in Gaza, saying there was a clear “gap” between Israel’s intent to minimize civilian harm and the actual casualties it has caused. Speaking to CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday morning, Blinken reiterated the report’s conclusion that Israel had “inconsistently” applied its procedures designed to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza, and agreed with the assessment that more civilians had been killed in the campaign than Hamas militants. “It’s reasonable to assess, based on what’s happened, that there have been acts that have been inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law,” Blinken said. The comments came as Israel steps up its attacks on Rafah, where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. The Biden administration has repeatedly warned against invading Rafah and earlier this month paused a weapons shipment to Israel over the army’s apparent readiness to strike.