By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is reviewing reports that Israel has harmed civilians in its war in Gaza under a set of guidelines aimed at ensuring countries receiving U.S. arms conduct military operations in line with international humanitarian law, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.
The Biden administration has faced criticism for continuing to supply arms to Israel as allegations pile up that American-made weapons have been used in strikes that have killed or injured civilians.
Miller told reporters that a process was under way under the State Department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG) to assess incidents in the current conflict.
“That process is not intended to function as a rapid response mechanism,” Miller said. “Rather, it is designed to systematically assess civilian harm incidents and develop appropriate policy responses to reduce the risk of such incidents recurring in the future and to drive partners to conduct military operations in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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