A damning classified US military intelligence report has concluded that Israeli forces have likely committed systematic war crimes during their military offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to a bombshell investigation by The Guardian.
The assessment, which has not been publicly released, is based on detailed analysis of open-source intelligence, intercepts, and drone footage. It presents a stark contradiction to the Israeli government's official stance and places President Joe Biden in an increasingly difficult political position.
Key Findings of the Report
The intelligence document outlines a pattern of conduct that violates international humanitarian law. Its most severe findings include:
- Indiscriminate bombing in densely populated areas with munitions unsuitable for such environments.
- Repeated attacks on protected civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and UN facilities.
- The use of white phosphorus in urban settings, a substance infamous for the horrific burns it causes.
- A failure to apply necessary proportionality in a vast number of airstrikes, leading to excessive civilian casualties.
Political Fallout for the White House
This internal assessment creates a significant rift within the US government. While the State Department has been slower to make formal determinations, this military intelligence verdict carries substantial weight and undermines the administration's cautious public support for Israel.
The report's existence forces a critical question: will the Biden administration continue to authorise weapons transfers to Israel in the face of its own military's evidence of apparent war crimes? This issue is already a major point of contention, with growing pressure from within the Democratic party and from key allies.
For months, human rights organisations and international bodies have accused Israel of war crimes. However, this marks the first known instance of a formal US military intelligence assessment reaching the same conclusion, based on its own rigorous evidence collection and analysis.
