State Dept. officials hinted at Israeli ‘war crimes,’ pushed Gaza aid days after Oct. 7 Hamas attack: report

Newly revealed emails show senior military officials raised concerns with the White House within days of Israel commencing its operation in Gaza. 

Reuters obtained and examined emails between senior State Department and Pentagon officials between Oct. 11-14 that showed concern and alarm as Israel started hitting the Gaza Strip with missile strikes. 

The emails specifically focused on the mass evacuation of Palestinians as a potential legal issue. Dana Stroul, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East at the time, wrote to senior Biden aides Oct. 13 and warned that Israel could face war crime charges for its actions. 

The emails also include pressure to include messages of sympathy for the Palestinian people and to allow more aid into Gaza while seeking to remain in solidarity with Israel. 

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Israel’s invasion of Gaza has proven polarizing and painful for the Democrats. The progressive wing and younger voters are trying to hold the Biden administration to account for its support of Israel as tens of thousands of Palestinians die. 

Dana Stroul, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, speaks to reporters at a media roundtable in Kuwait City Oct. 19, 2022.  (Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images)

The invasion also made it difficult — if not impossible — for aid groups to help the displaced residents of Gaza who fled their homes to avoid getting caught up in Israel’s operations. 

Stroul outright alleged that Israel could be “close to committing war crimes” after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped leaflets over northern Gaza urging residents to flee their homes ahead of the military rolling into the territory as part of the early “targeted incursions.” 

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“Their main line is that it is impossible for one million civilians to move this fast,” Stroul wrote. One official said that such an operation was not possible without creating a “humanitarian catastrophe.” 

Three senior U.S. officials argued the White House was slow to address these problems, with Biden’s team at one point arguing that the U.S. was “leading international efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza,” which would remain a “top priority.” 

A man walks past shelter tents erected near collapsed buildings in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip Oct. 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

Bill Russo, at the time an assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, attempted to drive home the long-term impact of the U.S.’s “lack of response on the humanitarian conditions” in Gaza, calling it “ineffective and counterproductive” while also harming relations with Arab nations. 

“If this course is not quickly reversed by not only messaging, but action, it risks damaging our stance in the region for years to come,” Russo wrote in one email, according to Reuters. A colleague forwarded his emails to White House officials and warned that “otherwise would-be stalwart” Arab partners might think twice about relations with the U.S. 

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Russo eventually resigned from his post in March 2024, citing personal reasons for his decision.

Palestinians search for bodies and survivors at a site hit by an Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)

Far-left voters have placed the fate of Gaza front and center of their concerns approaching November’s election. The voters of Michigan started an “uncommitted” protest vote during the Democratic primary as a means of venting frustration at the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis. 

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Those same voters shredded Harris for her DNC speech in August, calling it “horrible” and accusing Harris of “downplaying” U.S. complicity in the Gaza invasion by providing Israel funding and weapons. 

Neither the White House, the State Department nor the Pentagon responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. 

Reuters contributed to this report.