US lawmakers have expressed concerns that Israel may be using US-supplied intelligence to conduct bombings that result in civilian casualties in Gaza, according to a Washington Post report on June 14.
Since the onset of the war in Gaza, the US has shared substantial amounts of drone footage, satellite imagery, communications intercepts, and data analysis, including some powered by artificial intelligence, with Israel. Current and former intelligence officials from both nations have indicated that Israel’s demand for more intelligence has been described as “insatiable” by some US officials.
Given Israel’s history of targeting civilians and its claims that no Palestinians in Gaza, including children, are “innocent,” serious questions have arisen about the use of this intelligence. The Post reports that Israel’s bombing campaign has killed over 37,000 Palestinians in eight months, devastating large areas of Gaza.
Concerns among US lawmakers include the potential misuse of US-provided intelligence. The White House has stated that intelligence shared with Israel is intended solely for locating captives held by Hamas and targeting its top leadership, such as Yahya Sinwar and Mohammad Deif, and not for broader military operations against regular Hamas fighters.
However, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has acknowledged that the intelligence sharing is “not tied or conditioned on anything else.” During an operation to rescue four captives last week, which partly relied on US intelligence, Israel killed 247 Palestinians.
The Post notes that in practice, Israel is trusted to honor the US restrictions on the use of supplied intelligence, but effective monitoring is lacking. US Congress member Jason Crow, part of the House Intelligence Committee, has questioned how the White House ensures that Israel adheres to these conditions, given the extensive civilian casualties from Israel’s bombing campaign, which is widely viewed as genocidal by the international community.
Crow, a combat veteran, co-authored legislation requiring the director of national intelligence to notify Congress if US-provided intelligence results in civilian casualties. He criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy in Gaza, highlighting the severe civilian toll and the absence of a coherent strategy, and vowed to continue rigorous oversight to ensure that intelligence sharing aligns with US interests.
