US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

 People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

 People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)

US State Department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel's military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter, said this week.

The incidents - some of which might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources - have been recorded since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.

State Department officials gathered the incidents from public and non-public sources, including media reporting, civil society groups and foreign government contacts.

The mechanism, which was established in August 2023 to be applied to all countries that receive US arms, has three stages: incident analysis, policy impact assessment, and coordinated department action, according to a December internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters.

None of the Gaza cases had yet reached the third stage of action, said a former US official familiar with the matter. Options, the former official said, could range from working with Israel's government to help mitigate harm, to suspending existing arms export licenses or withholding future approvals.

The Washington Post first reported the nearly 500 incidents on Wednesday.

The Biden administration has said it is reasonable to assess that Israel has breached international law in the conflict, but assessing individual incidents was "very difficult work," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are conducting those investigations, and we are conducting them thoroughly, and we are conducting them aggressively, but we want to get to the right answer, and it's important that we not jump to a pre-ordained result, and that we not skip any of the work," Miller said, adding that Washington consistently raises concerns over civilian harm with Israel.

The administration of President Joe Biden has long said it is yet to definitively assess an incident in which Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its operation in Gaza.

John Ramming Chappell, advocacy and legal adviser at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said the Biden administration "has consistently deferred to Israeli authorities and declined to do its own investigations."

"The US government hasn't done nearly enough to investigate how the Israeli military uses weapons made in the United States and paid for by US taxpayers," he said.

The civilian harm process does not only look at potential violations of international law but at any incident where civilians are killed or injured and where US arms are implicated, and looks at whether this could have been avoided or reduced, said one US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A review of an incident can lead to a recommendation that a unit needs more training or different equipment, as well as more severe consequences, the official said.

Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave's health authorities.

The latest episode of bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.



Khiam: The Center of Arab-Israeli Conflict Faces ‘Fourth Wave of Destruction’

Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)
Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)
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Khiam: The Center of Arab-Israeli Conflict Faces ‘Fourth Wave of Destruction’

Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)
Intense Israeli airstrike targets Khiam, Lebanon (AFP)

Residents of Khiam in southern Lebanon, hit by 12 airstrikes on Wednesday morning, see the attacks as yet another wave of destruction for a town scarred by conflict.
“Khiam has been devastated repeatedly, enduring pain with each blow over decades,” residents say. The town has already been destroyed three times since 1948 and faces new fears amid an intense military campaign and assault attempts.
Khiam, the largest town in the Marjayoun district, houses 35,000 people and over 5,000 homes.
Since 2006, it has expanded significantly, becoming a tourist spot with guesthouses known as “chalets.”
Since Oct. 2023, parts of these buildings, mainly on Khiam’s southern and eastern edges near Israel’s Metula settlement, have been damaged.
A Historic Staging Point Against Israel
Perched on high ground overlooking the Galilee, Khiam is open from the east, west, and south, providing a strategic link to the Golan Heights, Jordan, and northern Israel.
The town is known as the “last major Shia community” near Lebanon’s southern border, neighboring Christian, Druze, and Sunni areas.
This position made Khiam a focal point for Arab fighters against Israel since the 1940s and a regular flashpoint.
Historian Dr. Munzer Jaber says Khiam and other border villages have long faced displacement and Israeli bombardment.
In the 1940s, Khiam became a base for the Arab Salvation Army, which gathered volunteers from southern Lebanon and Syria, including units from Majdal Shams and Deir ez-Zor, led by Abdul Salam al-Ajili.
Since then, Khiam has seen frequent clashes with Israel due to its proximity to Metula, which Israel considers a strategic stronghold, Jaber noted to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Adding to the tensions, overlapping property claims among Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, and Jewish residents often lead to disputes.
The repeated destruction and conflict in Khiam have driven waves of migration to Beirut, especially after Palestine fell, cutting off jobs for southern Lebanese. Key markets in Marjayoun, Bint Jbeil, and Khiam shut down, leaving the local economy in decline.
Khiam lost its political and economic role until 1965, when the first Palestinian guerrilla operation against Israel shifted its focus to militant activity. Palestinian and leftist groups gained influence, sparking local divisions and causing many residents to leave as Palestinian forces moved in.
Jaber told Asharq Al-Awsat that this conflict created a strong pro-guerrilla movement among Khiam’s youth, leading to clashes with local leaders.
The growing Palestinian presence gave Israel a reason for airstrikes and security raids, which intensified in late 1973, pushing more residents to flee.
The Khiam Massacre
Israel intensified its military operations in Khiam over the years. In September 1977, Israeli forces entered the town, leading to fierce clashes with the pro-Israel militia led by Saad Haddad and Lebanese-Palestinian joint forces.
Israel officially occupied Khiam on March 14, 1978, during the first invasion of southern Lebanon, following three days of heavy bombardment.
Just a few days later, on March 17, Haddad’s militia carried out a massacre, killing 61 people, the youngest being just 60 years old. Residents reported widespread displacement and complete destruction of the town.
Ongoing Destruction
For five years, residents did not return, as Khiam became unlivable. After Israel's occupation, some residents slowly returned as a security zone was established.
The “South Lebanon Army,” led by Antoine Lahad, took over the notorious Khiam prison.
In the 1980s, Israel turned the town into a training ground for urban warfare, conducting drills that left it in a state of sustained destruction for 15 years, until Israel withdrew in 2000.
After the liberation of southern Lebanon, Khiam began to expand as residents returned, rebuilding homes and starting businesses.
However, around 40% of these new structures were destroyed during the 2006 war, marking the third wave of destruction.
The conflict saw Hezbollah destroy several Israeli Merkava tanks in the Khiam plains.
Once again, residents rebuilt, creating a more modern town with new mansions, schools, and healthcare facilities, making it a key hub in the region.
2023 Conflict
The situation in Khiam is once again dire as Hezbollah launched its war in support of Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Official sources report that by Sept. 23, more than 550 residential units had been destroyed.
Each day, Khiam faces artillery shelling and Israeli airstrikes, with the frequency of these attacks rising recently. Israeli forces have begun a ground operation to take control of the town and its elevated areas.