Blinken affirms preliminary report saying Israel violated humanitarian law in Gaza: 'Reasonable to assess' | 12 May 2024 | Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said he agrees with the preliminary State Department report that declared it is "reasonable to assess" Israel violated international humanitarian law in Gaza. "Given the totality of what we've seen in terms of civilian suffering; in terms of children, women, men caught in the crossfire of Hamas's making - who have been killed and injured, it's reasonable to assess that in a number of instances, Israel has not acted in a manner that's consistent with international humanitarian law," Blinken told CBS's Face the Nation. "Our assessments will be ongoing,' he added, stressing that the department hasn't yet drawn "definitive conclusions."