Gaza atrocities will ‘haunt’ Antony Blinken, says former US diplomat Israel-Palestine conflict news

Washington DC – A former diplomat who quit last year in protest of the war says Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza – and the United States’ support for it – will “haunt” outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the rest of his life.

Hala Rarrit told Al Jazeera in a phone interview that President Joe Biden’s administration is violating the US’s own rules by continuing to arm Israel despite well-documented abuses in Gaza.

“They are willfully — and I don’t say that word lightly, willfully — violating and evading U.S. law,” said Rarit, who resigned from the U.S. State Department in April.

“When I became a diplomat, I took an oath to protect the Constitution. They are disrupting the process to continue the flow of arms, not knowing how destructive it is. To me, that’s really inexcusable, and it’s criminal.

There are several US laws that prohibit arms transfers to human rights violators, including a ban on security assistance to countries that block Washington-backed humanitarian aid.

The Leahy Act also restricts US aid to military units that are credibly accused of gross human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, torture, and rape.

Additionally, the Biden administration has adopted a policy, called National Security Memorandum 20, which requires allies receiving US weapons to provide credible assurances that they are not using the weapons in violation of international humanitarian law. .

Despite these safeguards, the US continues to supply billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel – a country that leading rights groups say is carrying out genocide in Gaza.

Israel has killed at least 46,876 people in Gaza. It has also imposed a suffocating siege on the region, leading to a deadly, man-made hunger crisis.

Last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Galant, on charges of war crimes, including using “starvation as a method of war.”

Still, Blinken has certified to Congress that Israel is not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza – an assessment that aid groups have rejected.

Blinken’s State Department has also been accused of failing to act on allegations of abuses by Israeli soldiers under the Leahy Act, leading to the recent lawsuit filed against the Biden administration led by Palestinians and Palestinian Americans.

And so, critics say, Blinken has played a key role in ensuring that Israel continues to receive the American weapons it uses to destroy Gaza.

Blinken also oversaw the US delegation to the United Nations, which vetoed four Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The top US diplomat – who has a long history of staunch pro-Israel advocacy – has faced Palestinian rights protesters at congressional hearings, on the streets and even in front of his own home.

This week, several activists disrupted Blinken’s remarks at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, calling him “Secretary of Genocide.”

And on Thursday, at Blinken’s final appearance in the State Department press briefing room, a reporter was forcibly removed after repeatedly asking questions about Blinken’s involvement in Israel’s alleged war crimes.

Rurrit said it was natural to object to “genocides and the slaughter of human beings,” predicting that Blinken would continue to face protesters after leaving office on Monday.

“This will haunt him for the rest of his life,” the former diplomat told Al Jazeera.

“History, of course, will judge him, and it is already doing so today. The question is, will a future administration actually hold accountability for the crimes that were committed under this administration?

The war in Gaza appears to be nearing an end after a ceasefire agreement was reached this week, following reports of incoming President Donald Trump’s intervention.

For months, Israeli officials have promised to escalate the war, and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has openly bragged about thwarting efforts to reach an agreement that would end the conflict. And Israeli prisoners in Gaza will be released.

However, Blinken continued to insist that Hamas “played a spoiler” in the deal negotiations.

“I will tell you very clearly, Blinken is lying,” Rurrit said.

The former diplomat worked at the State Department for 18 years and served as a spokesperson for the Arabic language before leaving last year. He is one of several US officials who resigned from the Biden administration over failure to compromise US support for Israel.

Rahrit said he was grateful he left his position because he felt he was being “silenced” when he expressed concerns about US policy.

“I don’t think that as diplomats we are meant to implement illegal or inhumane policies or implement policies that are fundamentally contradictory to US national security interests,” he told Al Jazeera.

“So there was no way for me to be able to live in those conditions.”