Blinken reiterates human rights findings on Israel

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday continued to walk the fine line laid out in a long-awaited report released Friday about whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law.

The report, which Blinken submitted to Congress on Friday after a brief delay, found that Israeli forces have potentially violated international humanitarian law, though it did not formally find that they had done so.

Blinken didn't go any further when asked Sunday whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law.

“As you know, we put out a full report on that,” Blinken said, asked during an interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“The report that we put out lays out some of the concerns that we've had throughout this period when it comes to humanitarian assistance, particularly the early months after October 7,” Blinken said. “And when it comes to the use of weapons, concerns about incidents, where given the totality of the damage has been done to children, women, men, it was reasonable to assess that, in certain instances, Israel acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law.”

But Blinken declined to say that the U.S. had concluded that Israel violated weapons-sharing agreements, saying that Hamas’ style of fighting “makes it very difficult to determine, particularly in the midst of war, exactly what happened, and to draw any final conclusions from any one incident.”

The U.S. does not plan to slow down any further weapons shipments to Israel, beyond the high-payload bombs that have been held up as Israel begins its incursion into Rafah, Blinken affirmed.

“What we've been clear about is that if Israel launches [its] major military operation into Rafah then there's certain systems that we're not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation,” he said.

“But at present, the only thing that we've delayed and are holding back are these high payload bombs, because we're in an ongoing conversation with Israel, given the impact that those weapons can have when they're used in densely populated areas.” Israel has already entered Rafah, according to satelite images.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said during an interview on NBC's “Meet the Press” Sunday that while he has “a lot of respect” for Blinken, “the reality is, I think any objective observer knows Israel has broken international law, it has broken American law, and in my view Israel should not be receiving another nickel in U.S. military aid.”

Sanders has for months said that Israel's actions in Gaza constitute a violation of international law.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), meanwhile, blasted the Biden administration for considering any delay in aid shipments to Israel.

"When you're telling the world you're going to restrict weapons delivery to the Jewish state who's fighting a three front war for their survival, it emboldens Iran, it emboldens Hamas," Graham said. "This is the worst decision in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship to deny weapons at a time the Jewish state could be destroyed."

The report released Friday, known as National Security Memorandum 20, drew backlash from some progressive members of Congress, who claimed it failed to serve as the mechanism for accountability it was meant to be.

“The [Biden] Administration created a tool to promote accountability but has come up very short in its implementation. When it comes to applying international law and human rights, you can’t cherry-pick the facts and the law,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a statement Friday, noting that the report “largely fails to meet the mark of what NSM-20 requires.”

House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas), however, said he was not surprised by the report's findings and slammed the reporting requirement as politically motivated.

“NSM-20 serves no purpose other than to provide political cover to the president with his base. I am not surprised the administration concluded Israel is in compliance as this self-imposed reporting requirement is wholly redundant and unnecessary, and only contributes to politically-motivated anti-Israel sentiment,” McCaul said in a statement.