The United States called on Israel to sign a letter pledging it will not commit human rights violations with US weapons, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller confirmed. He noted the request is not specific to Israel, but applies to all nations who receive US military assistance.
He said the letter calls on countries receiving US assistance to "provide us written assurances that recipients, number one, will use the weapons in accordance with the US with a law of war and, number two, will facilitate and not arbitrarily deny or restrict humanitarian assistance."
“There is a process that we are engaged in with every country that receives military assistance for the United States to make sure they are aware of the requirements of the national security memorandum, make sure that they are aware of the timeline that is outlined in the national security memorandum,” Miller explained at a State Department briefing Wednesday.
“It requires a 45-day timeline for these countries to provide written assurances, so we’re going about that process now,” he said.
More context: Israel has come under immense scrutiny for the way it has prosecuted its war in Gaza. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and US officials have repeatedly called on Israel to do more to decrease the death toll. There are growing calls from Congress to condition military aid to Israel. Nations around the world are sounding the alarm against a potential military offensive in Rafah, where more than a million people have been displaced.
Miller previously confirmed that the US is assessing civilian harm from US weapons in Israel.