WASHINGTON, 30 July — US displeasure over Israel’s use of a American-built F-16 fighter last week has been muted, but not silent. The attack in which an Israeli fighter jet dropped a one-ton bomb on a crowded Gaza City apartment block killing a leader of the radical Palestinian group Hamas, 14 civilians and wounding over 150 people, has angered US officials.

Administration officials told Arab News, on background, that although there has been no public or official accusation that Israel’s use of American weapons in the Gaza attack is in violation of US arms sales laws, the State Department has put Israel “on notice,” told Tel Aviv it is monitoring its actions carefully, and warned it of “consequences” if it misuses US-provided arms.

The 1976 Arms Export Control Act (US Public Law 90-829) prohibits the use of US weapons sold to foreign countries for anything other than “legitimate self-defense or internal security.” This specifically means US weapons cannot be used against civilian targets.

The State Department is required to report to Congress if it believes there has been a “substantial violation” of the terms of sale.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters last week that no such report to Congress resulted from the Gaza attack. But he did say there is deep concern in Washington about Israeli tactics in the operation, which the White House described as “heavy-handed.”

“We’ve not made a report like this since the current violence began,” said Boucher. “But we’ve made it quite clear that we’re seriously concerned about some of the Israeli tactics, some of the Israeli actions, including targeted killings and actions like this that endanger civilians. So we continue to watch and monitor Israeli actions very carefully. We urge Israel to consider the consequences of actions such as these.”

Two members of Congress, John Dingell, D-Michigan, and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia, sent a letter to President Bush late last week requesting an explanation as to whether this Gaza City attack constituted a violation of US law.

Last Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states requested a UN Security Council held debate on the Gaza. The United States attended the discussions.

“It was an open debate with no outcome. It was one of these debates where countries have an opportunity to state their positions, but nothing is expected as a result of the meeting,” Stephan du Jarric, associate spokesman for the Secretary General at the United Nations, told Arab News yesterday by phone.

Du Jarric said the council met again Friday in a closed consultation session to discuss a draft resolution put forward by Syria on behalf on the group.

During the three-hour debate, many speakers noted that Israel is obliged, according to international humanitarian law, to refrain from violence against civilians.

They said Israel’s recent actions were “unjustifiable and counterproductive” because they undermined trust between the parties and bred new violence. Speakers called on both sides to refrain from violence and to return to the negotiating table.

The UN observer for Palestine, Nasser Al-Kidwa, said the Israeli assault on Gaza City represented the first blatant war crime committed by the Israeli occupying forces since the International Criminal Court entered into force this month, and since the attack fell within the court’s jurisdiction, measures should be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Al-Kidwa said that the crime had been committed when serious efforts were being undertaken to curb violence and restore some cooperative measures between the two sides. He said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had initially labeled the attack a “great success,” was once more trying his utmost to prevent any progress towards restoring a meaningful peace process.

The council is scheduled to meet and re-examine the debate yet again today. But a senior official told Arab News that if the issue was put to a vote, the United States would likely oppose an Arab draft resolution condemning Israel.

Meanwhile, Arab and Muslim-American organizations are calling on the State Department last week to protest what they call “US complicity in Israel’s most recent attack on Gaza.”