WASHINGTON — Leaked emails from senior officials in the State Department and Pentagon show White House ignored early warning of the humanitarian catastrophe and possible war crimes from Israeli offensives in Gaza, Reuters reported Friday.
The emails, dated Oct 11 to 14, 2023, a few days into Israel’s air strikes on Gaza following the Oct 7 Hamas attack, reveal that Washington was aware of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences yet chose to keep supplying munitions to Israel. They also show the White House’s refusal to call for a ceasefire at the starting stage of the conflict despite the impending crisis internal experts clearly warned.
After the exposure of the scandal, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said the emails show that “unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza was painfully clear from the earliest days of the war, with key experts warning that international standards were being violated,” said the Reuters report.
The Israeli military has used US weapons for attacks on refugee camps, schools, and hospitals, and in disproportionate attacks on military targets, all almost surely in violation of international humanitarian law, and has caused huge civilian casualties, according to a research report released by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in August.
Since Oct 7, 2023, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Israel, almost 42,000 in Gaza, and more than 700 in the West Bank, according to data from the World Health Organization.