Trump’s New Arms Transfer to Israel Deepens US Complicity in Gaza War Crimes

July 1, 2025 – In response to the U.S. State Department approving a proposed sale of joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) and related support to Israel, Security Assistance Monitor (SAM) Director, Ari Tolany, issued the following statement:

“The Trump administration has a valuable opportunity to exercise leverage with Israel to advocate for improved humanitarian access to Gaza, a ceasefire, and regional de-escalation. Instead, it has chosen to grant Israel more of the very bombs used to totally destroy Gaza and slaughter its people. 

Joint direct attack munitions and other systems for munitions guidance are often marketed as a tool to mitigate civilian harm through more precise targeting. In the hands of a government like Benjamin Netanyahu’s, which has no political will to protect civilians, however, these weapons become tools to precisely target aid workers, journalists, and structures indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.

Under international law, Israel has an obligation as an occupying power to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza. Instead, it has turned nominal aid distribution sites into killing fields. The billions of dollars of weapons, aid, and logistical support the United States has provided to Israel for more than 20 months mean that the United States is complicit in bringing about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. By continuing to supply weapons that have a substantial likelihood to be used to facilitate gross violations of international humanitarian law, the United States runs the risk of being legally liable for aiding and abetting war crimes. After 20 months of failure to enforce U.S. law, Congress should use all means at its disposal to prevent the transfer of these JDAMs, and other weapons likely to be used in war crimes.”