While Israel has denied the accusation, international law experts have said that the bombing of Gaza and restrictions on the entry of water, food and other humanitarian supplies could amount to genocide. The 1948 Genocide Convention, which the US ratified, states that "genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which [state parties] undertake to prevent and to punish". It also outlines that "complicity in genocide" is a punishable act. Joe Biden, the president of the United States, has said that there is "no red line" when it comes to US support for Israel. The US State Department has said there is no need for a formal investigation into whether Israel has committed war crimes.

The Biden administration has also been accused of enabling the Gaza Strip famine. An investigation by The Independent said that it failed to act on repeated warnings from its own experts and aid agencies. In September 2024, a ProPublica investigation found that USAID and other agencies found Israel had deliberately blocked humanitarian aid, but that the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected their findings.

Email correspondence between the Pentagon and White House from October 2023 showed U.S. officials were concerned early on about the risk of Israeli war crimes. During an August 2024 meeting with humanitarian aid organizations, U.S. diplomat Lise Grande reportedly responded to concerns about Israel's violations of international humanitarian law by responding that Israel was too close an ally for the United States to cease sending weapons to them, and that "the rules don’t apply to Israel". State Department officials stated there were more than 500 reports of Israel using U.S. weapons to cause "unnecessary harm to civilians" in the Gaza Strip, but that no action had been taken on any of the reports.

A report by The Intercept found that terms like "war crime" and "genocide" were not allowed to be used on-air in CNN's coverage of the war. According to Rami George Khouri, a professor at the American University of Beirut, media organizations like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and NBC "usually refer to blatant acts of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Gaza as 'evacuations', and claim Israel is 'defending itself ' against 'terror'". After Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation, the American media were criticized for not mentioning Bushnell's reason for self-immolation, which was to oppose what he called the "Gaza genocide". Instead, they argued that allowing pro-Palestinian protests and statements on campuses promotes anti-Semitism. Some media even suggested that the acceleration of the ceasefire and the pro-Palestinian protests could be considered part of an attempt at genocide against American Jews. Prism, a US-based progressive news agency, writes "through journalistic sleight of hand – including the use of passive language, ever-shifting headlines, bothsidesism, and the myth of objectivity – reporters across the US are fuelling the genocide their newsrooms are refusing to acknowledge is taking place". On November 10, protesters staged a sit-in at The New York Times, declaring that the newspaper was complicit in "laundering genocide" by reporting on rape and sexual violence in the October 7 Hamas attacks.

This section is an excerpt from United States support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war § Military support.[edit]

Weapons transfers

The Biden administration caused controversy after bypassing Congress on multiple occasions to authorize arms sales to the Israeli military. Unlike the United States' military support for Ukraine, details of weapons sent to Israel have been vague. Leaked details have shown that the U.S. has sent laser-guided missiles, 155mm shells, new army vehicles, among others, at Israel's request. According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the United States spent $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024.

In December 2023, the WSJ report stated that US arms shipments to Israel since the start of the war included 15,000 bombs and 57,000 155mm artillery shells. The United States also delivered 100 BLU-109 bunker buster bombs, 5,000 unguided Mk82 bombs, more than 5,400 Mk84 bombs, about 1,000 small diameter GBU-39 bombs, and approximately 3,000 JDAM guidance kits.

An investigation by The Guardian found the U.S. government was using special mechanisms to protect Israel from domestic human rights laws to continue sending weapons. Following a trip to Washington D.C. in June 2024, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant addressed Israeli complaints about slowed arms transfers, stating, "Obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed". A report by ProPublica found the U.S. State Department had ignored reports about potential human rights violations by the Israeli army to continue weapons transfers to Israel. Current and former State Department officials stated there were more than 500 reports of Israel using U.S. weapons to cause "unnecessary harm to civilians" in the Gaza Strip, but that no action had yet been taken on any of the reports.

Unnamed officials stated in March 2024 that the U.S. had signed off on an additional 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs. In May 2024, Israel used two U.S. made GBU-39 missiles during the Tel al-Sultan massacre. In June 2024, two U.S. officials stated the United States had transferred ten thousand 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles to Israel since 7 October. In late-June 2024, an Israeli official stated the Biden administration would soon transfer a delayed shipment of 500 pound bombs to Israel. In mid-July 2024, a U.S. official confirmed that the United States was resuming its transfers of 500 pound bombs to Israel.

In August 2024, the Biden administration approved a $20 billion arms sale to Israel, including F-15 fighter jets and tank and mortar shells. The United States approved a $165 million sale of military tank trailers, including replacement parts, tool kits, and logistics support.

Protests against transfers

Josh Paul, a senior State Department official specializing in arms transfers, resigned after stating the U.S. government continues to sell weapons to Israel despite its record of human rights abuses.

"Direct action" tactics were adopted against arms companies in the United States that supplied arms to Israel, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Textron, Boeing, L3Harris, Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman.

War protesters on university campuses are calling for universities to withdraw any funding from arms manufacturers and companies linked to the Israeli military, including Cisco, Caterpillar and General Electric.

A group of seven U.S. senators stated that the Biden administration was in violation of the Foreign Assistance Act, which stipulates that weapons cannot be transferred to governments blocking humanitarian assistance. Senator Chris Van Hollen called on Biden to cease weapons transfers, stating, "We need the president and the Biden administration to push harder and to use all the levers of US policy to ensure people don't die of starvation".

In June 2024, the NAACP called on the Biden administration to stop sending weapons to Israel.

In July 2024, a group of U.S. doctors and nurses returning from Gaza stated they had witnessed widespread war crimes committed by the Israeli army and called on the United States to implement an arms embargo. In October 2024, a majority of all American doctors who had volunteered in Gaza in the prior year signed a letter to the Biden administration calling for an arms embargo. Later the same month, the editorial board of the Financial Times called for an U.S. arms embargo on Israel, stating, "Biden has the tools to rein in Netanyahu. He must halt the offensive arms sales to Israel that enable its relentless bombing of Gaza and Lebanon."

Naval and air support

The United States has provided naval and aerial support to Israel on multiple occasions since October 2023. In April 2024, U.S. fighter jets, along with the U.K., France, and Jordan, shot down Iranian drones and missiles directed at Israel. In June 2024, the United States sent the USS Wasp and its marines aboard to serve as a deterrent to Hezbollah in its conflict with Israel. In August 2024, the United States deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, equipped with stealth F-35C Lightning II combat jets, and the ballistic missile submarine USS Georgia, to Israel.

In October 2024, the United States deployed the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, along with 100 U.S. troops to Israel. That same month, an investigation using available open source data found that U.S. aircrafts were responsible for 33 percent of reconnaissance flights, providing Israel with intelligence on ground movements in the Gaza Strip. In November 2024, the United States ordered ballistic missile defense destroyers, a fighter squadron, tanker aircraft, and Air Force B-52 long-range strike bombers to "make clear" to Iran that the U.S. would "take every measure necessary to defend" its interests in the region.

In response to the United States's involvement, U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush wrote a letter to the Biden Administration asking for an explanation as to the country's participation in Israel's military engagements and suggesting such collaboration was unauthorized and unconstitutional.

Pro-Palestinian protestors criticized US military and diplomatic support to Israel and Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip and its war conduct, which some called a genocide. On November 4, 2023, 100,000 to 300,000 people participated in the "National March on Washington: Free Palestine," marking the largest pro-Palestine protest in US history. "Ceasefire carols" were organized by activists throughout the United States and on 23 January 2024 in Manassas, Virginia chanted, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Genocide Joe." Protesters also demonstrated outside Antony Blinken's home accusing him of participating in genocide. A group of Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, including children of Holocaust survivors, were arrested outside Senator Chuck Schumer's home for protesting against the bombings in Gaza. Anti-war protesters outside the Virginia home of Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin chanted "No more money for Israel’s crimes."

On February 25, 2024, US Air Force serviceman Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside of the Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. Shortly beforehand, he recorded a Twitch livestream where he said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide".

This section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. Please help summarize the quotations. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote or excerpts to Wikisource. (August 2024)

In a speech on February 13, 2024, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen accused Israeli of committing war crimes in Gaza, stating, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals." In a letter to The Guardian, Democratic Congressman Andre Carson accused Israel of a "war crime," citing the Israeli Defense Forces' alleged use of white phosphorus and the deadly bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp. "I am very concerned that our taxpayer dollars may be used for violations of human rights", Carson wrote. Also, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez specifically cited the alleged use of white phosphorus, cited by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as a violation that bars Israel from receiving aid from the United States. "Deployment of white phosphorus near populated civilian areas is a war crime," she said. On February 7, 2024, US Senator Chris Murphy stated that he supports an amendment that would require arms sold internationally to be used in accordance with US law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict. A group of 40 White House interns have sent a letter to President Biden saying they will no longer remain silent about the genocide in Gaza.

US Republican Congressman and former aide to Donald Trump, Max Miller, speaking at Fox News stated that Palestine is "about to get eviscerated... to turn that into a parking lot." He has previously called on the Biden administration "to get out of Israel's way and to let Israel do what it needs to do best". He said there should be "no rules of engagement" during Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Miller also questioned the accuracy of the Gaza Health Ministry's claim that 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza, saying that he believes many of those killed have been "Hamas terrorists", not innocent civilians, and said the United States does not "trust an entity that puts munitions in mosques, and churches and in hospitals."

Former Republican Representative Michele Bachmann stated on The Charlie Kirk Show in December 2023 that "it's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there – they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park. And since they're the voluntary mercenaries for Iran, they need to be dropped on the doorstep of Iran. Let Iran deal with those people." She received a round of applause from the audience, while Kirk replied "I look at Israel and Israel says we never want another person into our country that doesn't share our values," Kirk said. "They said they don't want refugees. They don't want any of these people. I want American immigration policy to be like that."

Republican Representative Brian Mast compared all Palestinians to Nazis in November on the House floor. On January 31, 2024, Mast also said that Palestinian babies are not innocent civilians but "terrorists" who should be killed, that more infrastructure in Gaza needs to be destroyed, and that "It would be better if you kill all the terrorists and kill everyone who are supporters."

In an interview with Fox News on March 5, 2024, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stated that Joe Biden "dumped Israel" due to being overly influenced by pro-Palestinian protests, that "The Democrats are very bad for Israel," that he supports Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in which Israel has to "finish the problem", and that the Biden administration "got soft", which commentators has viewed as a call to continue and "double down" on genocidal acts. Trump's campaign also said that, if elected again, he would bar Gaza residents from entering the U.S. as part of an expanded travel ban.

In a town hall meeting on March 25, 2024, the Republican US House representative Tim Walberg of Michigan stated that Palestinian civilians should have nuclear weapons used against them, "like Nagasaki and Hiroshima" (the Japanese cities where the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War Two, killing hundreds of thousands of people) in order to “Get it over quick.”

A group of eight Democrat Senators led by Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen issued an official letter to President Joe Biden, calling on him to "enforce federal law" by requiring Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel" as "The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history" and "The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance." They cited the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which states that "no assistance" shall be provided under that law or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. "Stopping American humanitarian aid is in violation of the law. That should be clear. No more money to Netanyahu's war machine to kill Palestinian children," Sanders said.

On April 24, 2024, twelve Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Marsha Blackburn, Katie Boyd Britt, Ted Budd, Kevin Cramer, Bill Hagerty, Pete Ricketts, Rick Scott, and Tim Scott, sent a letter to the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, which warned him that any attempt by the ICC to pursue charges against Israeli officials over war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip will be interpreted "not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States." The Senators told Khan "Target Israel and we will target you ... [and] sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. ... You have been warned."

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said, "It is fine to express opposition to a possible judicial action, but it is absolutely wrong to interfere in a judicial matter by threatening judicial officers, their family members and their employees with retribution. This thuggery is something befitting the mafia, not U.S. senators."

On May 12, 2024, Donald Trump stated, "(Biden) is surrendering our college campuses to anarchists, jihadist freaks and anti-american extremists who are trying to tear down our American flag. ... If you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you. You'll be out of that school."

Following the veto of another resolution in the United Nations Security Council, international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch condemned the U.S. for providing military and diplomatic support that risks complicity in war crimes. Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard, responded to the United States' veto saying, "When the US could do the right thing: protect Palestinians against serious risks of genocide; respect international law and universality; prevent massive killings and sufferings – it chose the opposite path". Doctors Without Borders said that united states veto "stands in sharp contrast to the values it professes to uphold," and that the US was providing "diplomatic cover for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza." Human Rights Watch said that the veto and the military support "risks complicity in war crimes". The international rights groups said in a statement: "By continuing to provide military and diplomatic support to Israel as it commits atrocities, including the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the US is complicit in war crimes." Human rights and legal experts have warned that forced displacement is a war crime under international law and could lead to ethnic cleansing. Michael Fakhri, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The United States is complicit in this starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza." Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said that Biden himself has described Israel's bombing of Gaza as "indiscriminate", making it a war crime, and that Washington clearly recognizes that Israel is blocking aid to the territory.

In April 2024, the executive director of Amnesty International USA stated that Israel was committing war crimes using "US-made munitions" and stated the U.S. must cease weapons transfers to Israel. In July 2024, Amnesty International warned that the United States was complicit in war crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip.

In reaction to Israel's alleged genocidal attack on Gaza, beginning in mid-October 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a United States civil rights group, released its legal analysis of US complicity in "Israel’s unfolding genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza. CCR said that some courts have identified "the providing of weapons and other materials to the perpetrators of genocide as a form of complicity. To be culpable, the provider need not share the recipients’ genocidal intent." CCR warned Biden, Blinken and Austin that they could be held responsible for not preventing and supporting Israeli atrocities in Gaza. CCR filed a complaint on behalf of the Human Rights Organization, Defence for Children International - Palestine; al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group based in the occupied West Bank; and eight Palestinians and American citizens with their relatives in Gaza. Then on November 3, along with other Palestinian legal nonprofits and the National Bar Association, CCR took its case to Congress. It told delegates that if they voted for the aid package to Israel, they "could face criminal and civil liability for aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity". In a late December briefing to the court, 77 legal and civil society groups around the world supported the lawsuit. In the lawsuit filed in federal court in California, several Gaza residents and two human rights NGOs say that the Biden administration has failed to meet its legal responsibilities to "prevent the unfolding genocide of Palestinian people." The complaint lists a series of actions taken by Israel that, according to the CCR, constitute genocide against the Palestinian people. These include the scale of civilian deaths, systemic collective punishment and "deprivation of the most basic necessities of life".

In addition to South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, a group of South African lawyers have also announced their intention to file a civil action against the US and UK governments for their support of Israel's actions.

Reacting to the US support for Israel, the Council on American–Islamic Relations said that Biden should respect the International Court of Justice order to stop the Rafah offensive: "While the Biden administration stands alone in continuing to offer full support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the international community is increasingly pushing back against the slaughter, forced starvation and ethnic cleansing Israel’s far-right government is inflicting on the Palestinian people."

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim, criticised the US’s role in the war, saying: "While these crimes have been committed with Israeli hands, they were sponsored and backed up by the US administration".

• The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide
• Criticism of the Iraq War
• Allegations of United States support for the Khmer Rouge
• Germany and the Armenian genocide
• Anti-Palestinianism during the Israel–Hamas war
• Air strikes in the Gaza Strip (December 2008)
• Reactions in Iran to the Gaza War (2008-2009)