A highly anticipated State Department report is expected to be released to Congress on Friday afternoon, which Axios reported will be critical of Israel without concluding it has violated the terms for use of US weapons.
The Biden administration missed its self-imposed Wednesday deadline to report to Congress on whether Israel is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza in accordance with a National Security Memorandum Biden issued in February.
According to Axios' reporting, US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew and outgoing US Gaza humanitarian envoy David Satterfield said Israel is not violating international law in a memo sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Reuters reported last month that some senior US do not find Israel's assurances credible. The Reuters report, along with investigations by outside organizations like Amnesty International, has prompted some lawmakers to call on the Biden administration not to tilt the report toward Israel.
The memorandum bars any recipient of US military assistance from restricting the delivery of humanitarian aid. The report deadline comes amid concern about famine in Gaza and calls from the United States, other governments, and international bodies for Israel to refrain from launching a big offensive against Rafah, a city that Israel calls Hamas fighters' last stronghold but is also the refuge of more than 1 million displaced Palestinian civilians.