US asks Israel to commit not to violate human rights with American weapons

The United States has asked Israel to sign a letter promising that it will not commit human rights violations with US weapons, State Department spokesman Matt Miller confirmed.

He noted that the request is not specific to Israel, but applies to all nations receiving U.S. military assistance.

Miller also pointed out that the letter calls on countries receiving U.S. assistance to “provide us with written assurances that the recipients, first, will use the weapons in accordance with the U.S. law of war and, second, will facilitate and shall not arbitrarily deny or restrict assistance.”

“There is a process that we are involved in with each country that receives military assistance from the United States to ensure that they are aware of the requirements of the national security memorandum,” Miller explained at a State Department briefing on Wednesday.

“A period of 45 days is required for these countries to provide written guarantees, which is why we are starting this process now”, he highlighted.

Israel has been criticized for the way it conducts the war in the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and U.S. officials have repeatedly called on the country to do more to lower the death toll.

There are growing calls from the US Congress to condition military aid to Israel. Nations around the world are warning against a potential military offensive in Rafah, where more than a million people have been displaced.

Miller previously confirmed that the US is assessing the civilian damage caused by US weapons in Israel.