U.S. officials said intelligence collected in 2024 indicated that Israel’s military lawyers had warned of evidence supporting potential war crimes charges for its campaign in Gaza, operations largely reliant on American-supplied weapons, according to five former U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters. The findings, previously unreported, revealed internal doubts within Israel about the legality of its tactics, contrasting sharply with the country’s public defense of its military actions.
Two former officials said the material was not widely circulated in the U.S. government until late in the Biden administration, ahead of a congressional briefing in December 2024. The intelligence heightened concerns in Washington over Israel’s conduct in a war that began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which killed over 1,200 Israelis and led to Israel’s extensive military response. Officials worried that civilians and humanitarian workers were being intentionally targeted—a potential war crime that Israel strongly denies.
Reuters reported that the former officials declined to provide specifics on which incidents raised alarms for Israeli military lawyers. Gaza health authorities say Israel has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians during the two-year campaign, while Israel contends that at least 20,000 of the fatalities were combatants. Nine former U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters, including six with direct knowledge of the intelligence, described debates within the government about how to respond, all on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The intelligence triggered National Security Council discussions on whether U.S. support, including arms shipments and intelligence sharing, could legally continue. Under U.S. law, a formal finding of war crimes could have required halting military aid to Israel, a move some officials feared could embolden Hamas, delay ceasefire negotiations, and shift international political dynamics. Ultimately, lawyers across the U.S. government concluded that there was insufficient evidence that Israel had intentionally violated the laws of armed conflict, allowing support to continue.
State Department lawyers had repeatedly raised concerns about potential Israeli war crimes as early as December 2023, but they stopped short of a definitive assessment. A May 2024 State Department report similarly noted that Israel “might have violated international humanitarian law” using U.S.-supplied weapons, while citing the uncertainties of wartime conditions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s office confirmed the administration constantly reviewed Israel’s adherence to international law but declined to comment on specific intelligence matters.
International scrutiny of Israel’s Gaza operations has grown, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, as well as Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes. Israel rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction and maintains its operations target militants, not civilians. Reuters spoke to Israeli military officials who said investigations are underway into approximately 2,000 possible incidents involving civilian casualties and infrastructure damage.
Some U.S. lawmakers criticized the Biden administration for ignoring the implications of intelligence reports. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen told Reuters the findings highlighted “a pattern of deliberate blindness on behalf of the Biden administration with respect to the use and abuse of American weapons in Gaza.” Former officials said the Trump administration, briefed on the intelligence in January 2025, showed little interest and pursued a stronger pro-Israel policy.
The intelligence and internal debates underscore the tension between U.S. legal obligations and strategic alliances, illustrating the complex calculus behind America’s continued military support for Israel amid widespread allegations of civilian harm in Gaza.
