Sixty-seven former national security officials and former diplomats made public on Wednesday night a letter, seen by Corriere, addressed to President Biden and copied to the secretaries of State Blinken and of Defense Austin, the head of the USAID development agency Samantha Power and the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Unlike numerous anonymous letters, in this case the signatories indicate their name, surname and role in past US administrations. The letter calls on Biden to take tougher concrete measures to promote humanitarian access and the protection of civilians in Gaza, suggesting that he make it clear to the Israeli government that practices that “reduce Palestinians to second-class individuals”, “expand settlements in occupied territories” or “deny food, water and other basic necessities to Palestinians” will be met with “serious consequences, including restrictions on aid to Israel, in compliance with American law and standards.”
The letter not only condemns the Hamas attack on October 7, but states that a military response was justified, but disputes the “indiscriminate” manner in which Israel responded to Gaza. Among the signatories are former national security advisor Anthony Lake, former special envoy for peace negotiations between Peru and Ecuador and former ambassador to the Organization of American States Luigi Einaudi, former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke, l former USAID administrator J. Brian Atwood, former US ambassador Nancy Ely-Raphel and dozens of other military, diplomatic and political officials. The letter comes as the administration is split over whether to suspend arms shipments to Israel after the State Department received written assurances from Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant that it will not violate international humanitarian law (the White House has time to decide until May).
“As foreign policy and national security officials who have served in several presidential administrations, we write to express our deep concern about what is happening in Gaza,” the letter reads. We also write to encourage your administration to continue and substantially increase efforts to protect civilians and promote a just and lasting peace. Like millions of people around the world, we believe that an Israeli military response to Hamas’s barbaric October 7 attack on Israeli civilians was necessary and justified. However, the military tactics employed by in this response were indiscriminate, created a humanitarian catastrophe, jeopardized the potential for further progress toward regional stability, and undermined American credibility and influence in the region. The Hamas attack on October 7 made a response that included counterinsurgency operations inevitable. However, it did not absolve the Israeli army of its responsibility to conduct operations in compliance with international humanitarian law, which requires that parties prevent indiscriminate killings and which prohibits the use of weapons that do not allow a party to the conflict to distinguish between combatants and civilians. The attacks on Gaza have been marked by repeated violations of these principles. Furthermore, the Israeli army has failed to respect the requirement that an occupying power provide the civilian population under its control with the basic necessities of life.”
The letter adds that “the Israeli authorities have set a very negative tone in their treatment of civilians”, quoting Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s own words on October 9: “No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.” And he continues: «The Israeli army has effectively placed under embargo not only the estimated 30 thousand Hamas militiamen, but also two million inhabitants of Gaza. Tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed, the majority of them women and children. Civilian killings of this nature and proportion cannot be justified. We are also concerned that the way Israel has waged this war risks making Gaza uninhabitable for the Palestinians.” The signatories explain that they support the request made by Biden himself “for an immediate ceasefire lasting at least six weeks”, noting that a long ceasefire is necessary to organize “a reliable system of humanitarian assistance and to ensure the release of the hostages ». But they also define it as “essential” that Israeli forces “change tactics in any future operation, to apply the rules of engagement required by international humanitarian law. An incursion into Rafah without these rules should be met with a cut in American security assistance for military operations in Gaza,” it stresses. The letter also demands that Biden limit US security assistance to “those who interfere with the delivery of humanitarian aid or commit serious human rights violations.” And – the former officials conclude – it is important that, even in the ongoing discussions on how to govern Gaza after the conflict, President Biden is guided by the same principles that he already set out in November: «No reoccupation, no embargo or blockade, no reduction of the territory. And after the war is over, Palestinian voices and their aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza.”