A fireball erupts after an Israeli airstrike over Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 20, 2023. SAID KHATIB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Washington (Quds News Network)- A journalist pressed US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on the UK’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel, asking how the US has not reached similar conclusions about possible violations of international law.
Asked by CBS News national security reporter Olivia Gazis during a daily press conference on Tuesday if the U.K.’s decision “changed the U.S.’ position on whether international humanitarian rights have been violated” by Israel or if the U.S. is “rethinking any of its arms exports,” Miller said “no.”
“This is a decision that the United Kingdom made based on its assessments under its own laws,” he said. “We have our assessments that are ongoing when it comes to looking at possible violations of international humanitarian law, and those continue to be ongoing.”
Miller—who has admitted that the Gaza death toll could be even higher than the figure announced by the Palestinian Health Ministry—added that there are “a number of incidents” committed by Israeli forces that “remain under review.”
.@Olivia_Gazis asked StateSpox if the US is rethinking any arms exports to Israel after UK decision to halt some weapons
Miller: No…we have our own assessments
Gazis: Last we heard of those was in April, there’s been no updates since April
Miller: No… pic.twitter.com/SjYoaxkH7R
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 3, 2024
Pressed by Reuters foreign policy correspondent Hümeyra Pamuk how “two countries with pretty similar values” are “looking at the same battlefield and coming with very different conclusions,” Miller said that “we have not reached conclusions.”
“We have reviews that are ongoing, and we haven’t made any final determinations or any final conclusions yet,” he continued.
Miller said that the U.K. makes “their determinations based on the standard that is written in U.K. law. We will make our determinations based on the standard based in U.S. law, which I don’t think is that hard to understand.”
“We’ve said that it’s reasonable to assess that there have been violations of international humanitarian law committed,” Miller acknowledged.
“What we are doing is going and looking at specific incidents to make specific judgments on those specific incidents to find if they have been remediated… what are the actions that Israel took, if any.”
“You have to answer those two questions before you can make those determinations under United States law,” he added. “That’s what we’re doing.”
Asked when those assessments will be completed, Miller said, “As soon as possible.”
Source: aa
