The USA says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza

[Scirocco]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68984999

There are concerns that the report was watered down, but even so, it's a new level of criticism to say these issues formally in a report at this level.

It seems this is not a new scenario.

Interestingly there are no protests outside the Saudi Embassy.

I wonder why?

https://caat.org.uk/homepage/stop-arming-saudi-arabia/uk-arms-used-in-the-war-on-yemen/

No Jews, no news....ad infinitum.....

Are any of us surprised? It was obvious from the start that Israel wouldn’t abide by international laws. Many organisations have been warning about it, it’s been widely reported, and the US are just waking up are they?!

Will it make any difference? Will they stop sending arms to Israel when they have it writing they are breaking international law. Despite the unsurprising whatabouttery on this thread already, nobody should be above the law.

Is anyone even surprised that they have? Journalists, aid workers, doctors and healthcare staff have been killed in numbers not seen in any other way in recent times
And there's no way they could deny that it hasn't after the horrific way the IDF killed the foreign aid workers

It's all for optics. So that when the true extent of the atrocities are discovered/revealed after this is over America can pretend that they held Israel accountable.

Biden is also trailing Trump for the upcoming election partly due to the loss of the younger, minority and anti war vote, this is unashamed attempt to lure them back.

Apologies @Scirocco i know this is not fully the topic of the thread. There is no USA politics thread but several about USA and their support for Israel and thought it’s related
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/senior-state-department-official-and-expert-israel-palestine-resigns-amid-gaza-war

I have just realised your allusion to Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen with British bombs may be intended to imply that people only are interested in complaining if Jews are involved in using bombs.

From my own experience I want to say that have been very upset about Yemen for a long time, long before Gaza or knowing much at all about Israel. Unfortunately Yemen is almost never in the news now. You just see TV appeals to help the wretched people we have helped bomb.

The UK Turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia must be to do with it mattering too much to not remain firm allies with them. In regard to Israel, isn’t it also to help Israel to some extent? I may be confused about this, but isn’t Saudi Arabia keeping Houtis (attackers of Israel) in check?

Back to the thread, after what Netanyahu did appearing on a video with a Republican complaining about the USA withholding weapons when they had not , effectively digging at the Biden administration, perhaps this is a way of trying to right the boat.

They aren't just waking up. Americans have known all along. However, now there is a danger of the ICC issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu,and given Israel is being tried for genocide in the ICJ by South Africa with 13 other countries (plus more being added regularly), Biden is now worried that America could be tried for being complicit in genocide. That is all the reason he did his pretend pause on one shipment of arms to Rafah whilst ignoring his own red lines.

Agree - there is some talk in the media that Trump does not like Netanyahu and would cut off the funding to Israel - I wonder if that's true? It would be game changing, given that the US seems to really be the only supporter it has left now (except for silly Sunak who does whatever Biden wants)

I think they both dislike each other if you watch their body language.
Trump has openly spoken about feeling betrayed by Netanyahu. After the 2020 election, Netanyahu quickly congratulated Biden on winning. This was despite Trump moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and facilitating the signing of the Abraham accords (peace agreements) between Israel and several countries.

It would be a battle of Egos, will Trump hold a grudge? He is temperamental and doesn't like being disrespected. Netanyahu is openly disrespectful and has bragged about controlling American politicians. Washington is controlled by several Lobbying groups (Military, Pharma etc) to the detriment of ordinary people.

Let's hope that Trump is truly America First and refuses to send American troops to fight another needless war, looks at the 33 trillion US debt and says fuck that.

Not verified:

"However, the administration said it still found credible and reliable Israel's assurances that it will use U.S. weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law because it did not have complete information to verify that U.S. weapons were used in specific actions that were alleged to be breaches of international humanitarian law."

Nothing to see here.

Move on.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-may-have-breached-international-law-with-american-weapons-in-gaza-us-5636789

Yes, it seems to me that would be the only good thing about a Trump presidency. I am really looking forward to Sunak being booted out in a couple of weeks too. as Keir Starmer's position on this is more balanced thankfully. and Labour seem to have pledged to recognise the state of Palestine in their manifesto too. I would be so proud of the country if we came out and followed Ireland's lead in this regard.

I watched the Irish leaders press conference and it was superb when they made the announcement - it just felt like a real signal of support to those poor Gazan civillians that they are not forgotten - I hope it brought them some comfort and perhaps a moment of respite - it is so distressing to watch their plight.

If Starmer does this, it will not be in my name. Recognising a state that has a terrorist regime running it?

By all means recognise them when Hamas has been booted out by their citizens.

I'm not optimistic about either Trump or Biden. Both have shameful records when it comes to human rights and protecting vulnerable people, and both have shown a disregard for the law, both internationally and in their home country.

In the UK, neither Sunak nor Starmer have shown great integrity or compassion. Labour's policies seem less awful, but I can't give them my vote (definitely won't be voting for the Tories either).

Watching countries and people around the world start to finally recognise the right of Palestine to exist, has been a glimmer of hope in the middle of the darkness. People are hopefully starting to realise that, if a two-state solution is to be the way forward, there has to be recognition of the rights of two states to exist.

Yeah - I'm not sure about Trump either - but in the event he did cut off Israel's funding that would certainly be a game changer. Agree Biden has been absolutely appalling as has Sunak, whom I have no respect for whatsoever. The ICC would be within its right to issue an arrest warrant for Biden too imo.

Starmer is certainly less bad than Sunak but has to cope with lobbyists who exert pressure that I think should be banned in British politics.. Our foreign policy should be determined in Britain not in a third party country with pockets funded by America.

Interesting how so many lend credibility to the US, when it suits. The same US who were behind the unnecessary Iraqi war.

Thought Biden wasn’t happy with a war with Lebanon

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/06/21/politics/us-israel-hezbollah-assurances

Biden has ignored his own red lines about Rafah and made himself a fool internationally in doing so, with many commentators scathing of him. So I don't believe he has any red lines. Much as I don't like Trump, it seems only the Republicans have red lines. It is reported that it was Regan who made a phone call in the 80s that put a stop to this bulls*** and Trump has talked around cutting off funding to Israel, without which they couldn't escalate in the region which they are taking deliberate steps to. I wish those Israelis who condemn their government's actions and want them out, had the ability to force an election.

Don’t think last nights debate leaves none lf the candidates in a good place respect Palestine. Taking into account trump said about Biden that he’s a “bad Palestinian”

x.com/m7mdkurd/status/1806505317775061475

That debate really showed how frail and cognitively impaired Biden is. He didn't make sense. I'm sorry, but regardless of how much he might want to be president, someone should have said to him before now that he needed to retire. The humiliation of an old man in front of the world is something of which the people around him should be ashamed, and it's going to get worse from here.

There is something seriously wrong here, are these two guys really the best and only options that America have to lead it.

Has the occupation ever abided by international law?

Here's the full foreign policy clip (10 minutes mostly Ukraine). Trump failed to answer the question about the 2 state solution. Interestingly he focused mainly on the money America spends, which reflects the growing sentiment of America Firsters who don't care about Foreign Wars.

https://x.com/ConflictDISP/status/1806510289103327240

It was terrible, the Democrats have made such a mistake here. Biden should not be running again, they are handing the election to Trump who is now leading in the polls. Trump just lies and lies, I think factcheck spotted over 30 lies and his supporters don't care. It will just lead to another 4 years of chaos with the world moving on effectively ignoring the states until he is out of office.
Unfortunately it does not leave us with much hope for Palestine and Israel, he will not be capable of bringing any peace or solution to the region and he clearly has no interest in Palestine or the Palestinians. Hard to believe that the States has once again let itself come to this.