US officials warned the Biden administration about potential Israeli war crimes following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza, according to a report by Reuters detailing exchanges between top officials.
Dana Stroul, then the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, alerted senior Biden aides in an October 13 email that Israel’s directive for the forced displacement of Palestinians in northern Gaza might breach international law.
Stroul’s concerns stemmed from a discussion with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which she described as deeply alarming. In response, Brett McGurk, Biden’s senior Middle East advisor, indicated that the U.S. might try to push Israel to extend its deadline for Palestinian displacement, while the ICRC and other organizations should prepare for the situation.
In the same email chain, Paula Tufro, a senior White House official overseeing humanitarian efforts, stated that displacing people on this scale would inevitably cause a humanitarian disaster.