Human Rights Watch: U.S. Complicit in Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza Through Military Aid
The U.S. continues supplying Israel with weapons despite evidence of war crimes and mass civilian casualties.
Watan-Human Rights Watch stated that the United States remains complicit in Israel’s grave violations in Gaza as long as it continues supplying weapons and other military aid.
The organization pointed out that Israeli authorities have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide during their attacks on Gaza.
This statement came ahead of the scheduled meeting on Tuesday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the organization, the United States has provided Israel with unprecedented security assistance and arms sales since October 7, 2023, the date of the launch of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. It added that the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden continued transferring weapons despite the repeated use of American arms by Israeli forces to commit war crimes in Gaza, “making the U.S. complicit in the illegal use of these weapons.”
The organization noted that “if President Trump wants to sever ties with the Biden administration’s complicity in the atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza, he must immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel.”
The organization also cited findings from a Brown University study, which indicated that U.S. military aid to Israel has increased since October 7, 2023, reaching approximately $17.9 billion.
In March 2024, The Washington Post reported that the United States had approved more than 100 military sales to Israel since the previous October, “including thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker-buster bombs, small arms, and other lethal assistance.”
In early January 2025, the Biden administration notified Congress of an additional $8 billion arms sale plan for Israel.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that Israeli military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least 47,000 Palestinians, with Human Rights Watch suggesting that the actual number is “far higher.”
The organization further stated that Israeli authorities have forcibly displaced nearly all of Gaza’s residents, used starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, deliberately deprived civilians of water, electricity, medical aid, and other necessities for survival, and destroyed essential infrastructure, including most homes, schools, universities, and hospitals. It confirmed that “these actions amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide.”
Human Rights Watch also urged the United States to contribute to compensation and reconstruction in Gaza, given its role in supplying the weapons used in alleged war crimes.
