The U.S. State Department criticized the Israeli attacks, but did not address the role of American missiles. HRW. s documentation indicates that Israeli troops used U.S. attack helicopters to fire AGM-114 Hellfire missiles in May 2000. The Section 655 annual arms sales reports for FY 1996-98 reveal that the U.S. has already delivered twenty Hellfire missiles to Israel, as well as authorizing DCS licenses for AGM-65 Maverick missiles, air-to-ground munitions for the F-15 or F-16. The U.S. Defense Department announced a sale of forty-one AGM-142D Hellfire missiles in February 2000, and a sale of twelve SH-64D Apache attack helicopters equipped with state-of-the-art missiles is currently in the works. Given past Israeli patterns, all of these arms sales risk contributing to future violations of humanitarian law. Hopefully, the chances of such abuses will decrease as Israel pulls out of southern Lebanon.

In Israel. s occupied territories, both Israeli and Palestinian Authority security forces have committed human rights abuses. According to the U.S. State Department. s annual human rights report, in 1999 . several Palestinians were killed in violent confrontations with Israeli security units, who at times used live ammunition against Palestinian demonstrators and shot at demonstrators or individuals indiscriminately. Israeli security forces abused Palestinians suspected of security offenses.. The United States willingly sells Israel a range of weapons that could be used in the commission of such human rights abuses, such as an export licenses granted by the State Department for $3.5 million worth of anti-personnel riot control chemicals authorized in FY1998, plus 28,539,400 rounds of ammunition, 12,768 military guns, and 32 grenade launchers delivered or authorized for export during FY 1996-98.